cadarnell

Recipes 

just looking for some advice before I brew an amber ... I took this info from several other ambers I saw online .. any thoughts would be helpful as this is my first attempt at putting together a recipe ..

It's a 4 gallon recipe, I don't have a pot big enough to make it 5 gallons, and it will be the first time I've used a cooler to mash in and just my second all grain ..

American 2-Row .. 7.00 Lb
Crystal 60 .. 0.75 Lbs
Chocolate, Pale .. 0.25 Lbs

East Kent Golding .. 0.75 oz Boil 60 mins
Liberty .. 0.75 oz Boil 30 mins
Willamette .. 0.50 oz Boil 15 mins



Danstar Windsor Dry

brodie113

Recipes 

What color does that come out to be? It seems like that might be a tad heavy on the chocolate...like closer to a brown ale.

Maybe add a touch of dark crystal - 90 L or 120L - to replace some of the chocolate.

cadarnell

Recipes 

SRM is 14.3 using some free software I found online (Brewmate) ... it says it fits into the amber catagory .. any other thoughts ??? and thanks

Yooper

Recipes 

I'm not a fan of chocolate malt in an amber. It imparts flavor, not just color. An ounce would be ok if you just want a darker color, but I'd add it as crystal 120L rather than chocolate.

I love ambers- that's one of my favorite styles. Here's a nice article from our wiki on the style: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/American_Amber_Ale

In short, I'd crystal malt from 40-80L in the amount of 15%. I'd use about 5% Munich malt, and hop it up with only American hops. The willamette is ok if you feel you have to use it, but the goldings are out of place. I've never used liberty so I don't know about those. I'd use cascade and another US hop, and hop to about 35-40 IBUs with an OG of 1.050ish.

I also wouldn't use Windsor English yeast- I'd go with S-05 for a cleaner flavor and better attenuation.

So, let's see. I'd suggest:
US two-row (80%)
Crystal 40L (6%)
Crystal 80L (9%)
Munich malt (5%)

Centennial 1 ounce (60 minutes) or to about 30 IBUs

Cascade 1 ounce 15 minutes
Cascade .5 ounce 5 minutes
Cascade .5 ounce 1 minute

You can add the willamette, .5 ounce, in with one of the last two additions of cascade if you'd like.

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

cadarnell

Recipes 

hey thanks for all that .. I'm going to work on it some more ... I've read so many things online that I've probably mixed my styles a little.. man, all grain is going to be a blast ..

Yooper

Recipes 

Oh, it is. Brewing is addictive, that's for sure!

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

cadarnell

Recipes 

ok .. here is what I have yopper ... if you have one more minute, could you look at it and tell me if everything looks to be about right for a good amber? Thanks

http://www.brewmate.net/recipes/Gdw6T1UI7DHWYXbjpjaJ.xml

Yooper

Recipes 

That looks good to me! I'd suggest mashing just a little higher, to keep some of the great malt sweetness from the crystal, but not underattenuating, so maybe mash at 153?

If you really like hops flavor and aroma, you could increase the late additions of cascade to an ounce, or .75 ounce since it's a 4 gallon batch.

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006