Focus

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I've got the following laying around from a few odds and ends purchases lately and want to put together just a basic Amber - nothing fancy, but good tasting:

6.6 lb canned muntons amber LME
2 lb muntons crystal two-row malt
1 oz cascade pellets
1 oz chinook pellets
1 oz toasted oak chips (never used these before and am very skeptical)
3.3 lb each of Breiss Dark, Amber, Light LME
1 packet of basic dry ale yeast

I don't necessarily have to use all of this stuff. What I'm really looking to do is make a nice basic amber out of some of this stuff I have on-hand. The freshness of the yeast and hops are a little suspect as I got them from my brother and have no idea how old they are or how they were stored. But dry yeast is some pretty hearty stuff, right?

Anybody got a greative suggestion?

Focus

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cweston

Recipes 

Are the hops pellets vacuum sealed? If not, and you don't know how they were stored, I'd be very skeptical.

For an Amber Ale, I'd use the 6.6 lbs LME, and a lb of the crystal (steeped), which should get you a gravity in the mid 40s. The color will probably be a little on the dark side because it's LME. (I suggested using the LME because I think DME keeps better, so I'd use that for a later batch.)

Split the cascade 1/2 and 1/2 between 15 minutes and 2 minutes additions for flavor and aroma.

If you're boiling 2 gallons, then the whole ounce of Chinook for bittering would be about right. If you're boiling more, this might lead to too much bitterness.

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Drinking: Saison Dupont clone, tripel
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Focus

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The hops aren't vacuum sealed, but they're in the standard light and oxygen-proff pouch.

I usually boil 3-3.5 gals, so I may take your suggeston on the cascades, and go halves on the chinooks. I don't want anything too hoppy as I'm not an IPA / "Big Hoppy Monster" fan.

Any other suggestions?

__________________
Upcoming Projects: Return to brewing!
The Online Brewery: www.twospooks.com (Recently, and completely renovated. Stop by, sign the guestbook, and leave some feedback!)

cweston

Recipes 

BTW, I made a mistake on the gravity. For a 5gal batch, 6.6 Lb LME and a pound of steeped crystal gets you more like 1.050.

If you boil 3 gallons, .67 ounce Chinook would get you in the 32 IBU range, which stikes me as about right for a 1.050 amber ale.

__________________

Primary: none
Secondary:
Bottle conditioning: Robust Porter
Drinking: Saison Dupont clone, tripel
Coming soon: Columbus APA, Rich Red ale