American Amber Ale Much Better Amber Ale

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msa8967

mickaweapon
HBT Supporter
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
2,894
Reaction score
113
Location
North Liberty, Iowa
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 1056, US-05
Yeast Starter
yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.0
Original Gravity
1.057
Final Gravity
1.015
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
40
Color
12.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21-28 days at 67 F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
N/A
Additional Fermentation
N/A
Tasting Notes
This is my second most popular beer that I brew for my friends. Scored 40/50.
7.5 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.5 lbs Munich
1.5 lbs Crystal 60L
4-6 oz Amber Malt (optional if you want to add a bisquit flavor and darker color)
1.0 oz Centennial (60 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (10 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (5 min)
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast or US-05 dry yeast

Mash at 154 for 60 minutes.

I call this beer Much Better Amber Ale because it was much better the second time I made it. This is a variation on a traditional kit with a higher hop profile. It is probably the second most popular flavor that I share with my friends. I have probably made 50 gallons on this recipe.
 
I'll answer for my own sake: I use mostly LME because it's cheaper, and steep like Mt. Everest. I'm very interested in an extract version!
 
According to BeerSmith 2.0 the easiest conversion would be to use:

6 lbs 12 oz of pale malt liquid extract
1 lb amber liquid extract
13 oz Crystal 60L steeped
1.0 oz Centennial (60 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (10 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (5 min)
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast or US-05 dry yeast

I would probably round the pale malt liquid extract to a full 7 lbs to prevent waste depending on the size of your container.
 
Hi Mick, I am going to try your Much Better Amber Ale recipe and had a question or two. What temperature do you store it after boil? How long do you normally ferment, do you use a second ferment? I normally brew with Amber LME and do a primary ferment for 5-7 days on average, then move to a second ferment for an additional 7 days before bottling. Usually let it sit for 10 days after that before I try the beer. With that process work with your recipe? Or do you recommend longer periods?
Thanks
Wayne
 
Hey Mick, you said this was your second most favorite with your friends. What was your first most favorite recipe?
 
Hi Mick, I am going to try your Much Better Amber Ale recipe and had a question or two. What temperature do you store it after boil? How long do you normally ferment, do you use a second ferment? I normally brew with Amber LME and do a primary ferment for 5-7 days on average, then move to a second ferment for an additional 7 days before bottling. Usually let it sit for 10 days after that before I try the beer. With that process work with your recipe? Or do you recommend longer periods?
Thanks
Wayne

allow me to answer your question . Look at post #1 and you will find your answer.
 
Hi Mick, I am going to try your Much Better Amber Ale recipe and had a question or two. What temperature do you store it after boil? How long do you normally ferment, do you use a second ferment? I normally brew with Amber LME and do a primary ferment for 5-7 days on average, then move to a second ferment for an additional 7 days before bottling. Usually let it sit for 10 days after that before I try the beer. With that process work with your recipe? Or do you recommend longer periods?
Thanks
Wayne

Wayne,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I have been at the hospital for the last 72 hours with my wife welcoming our second child. I usually let all of my beers go for 3-4 weeks in the primary and I don't use a secondary anymore unless I am adding dry hops. I have found for my brews the extra week in the primary gives better results for me with a cleaning tasting beer. I ferment in my basement which stays in the 66-68 F range.

I moved away from doing 7-10 day primaries and 7-10 day secondaries several years ago and found that the longer primary time gave the needed time for the yeast to clean up after themselves and also gave me the chance to cold crash the beer for a few days and get more yeast to drop out of suspension which is ideal for yeast washing.

Let me know if you have anymore questions. Good luck with your brew

Mick
 
Whats your most popular beer :)

Depending on the time of year my most popular brews are either a porter or a pale ale. Sorry for the delayed reply. Our baby daughter came 2 weeks early and I have been slow to catch up on things.

PBJ Porter (5 gallons)
10 lbs 2-row/pale malt
1 lb Carmel 60L
8 oz Chocolate malt
4 oz Victory malt
2.5 oz Fuggles 60 minutes
Nottingham yeast or US-05

My Best Pale Ale
8 lbs Pale Malt
1 lb Crystal 20L
1 lb Vienna
1 lb Flaked Wheat
1.25 oz Willamette 60 min.
1 oz Cascade (or Centennial) 10 min
1 oz Cascade (or Centennial) 5 min
1 oz Cascade Dry Hop 3 days
Wyeast 1056, US-05
 
I used the recipe as a model. I switched the two row to Maris Otter, added a half ounce of Fuggles as a first wort hop addition, pre boil, and I switched the five minute hop addition to a flame out addition. It turned out to be the best beer I have ever brewed.

The point of my post is to compliment the OP on his grain bill and choice of hops. A recipe that looks good as is and has the room to play a bit. Well balanced choices.

Das Boot !!!
 
I used the recipe as a model. I switched the two row to Maris Otter, added a half ounce of Fuggles as a first wort hop addition, pre boil, and I switched the five minute hop addition to a flame out addition. It turned out to be the best beer I have ever brewed.


Das Boot !!!

Your success with this recipe has now given me the reason to go ahead and buy a 50 lb sack of Maris Otter next grain shipment in the spring. If it comes out as well as your version I may have to call this Much Much Better Amber Ale.

Thanks for the feedback.:tank:
 
First off Congratulations on the birth of your daughter !

thank you for the recipe . I will be trying them . Hopefully my second AG will be a more pleasant experience than the first .
 
I used the recipe as a model. I switched the two row to Maris Otter, added a half ounce of Fuggles as a first wort hop addition, pre boil, and I switched the five minute hop addition to a flame out addition. It turned out to be the best beer I have ever brewed.

The point of my post is to compliment the OP on his grain bill and choice of hops. A recipe that looks good as is and has the room to play a bit. Well balanced choices.

Das Boot !!!

So are you saying that you added a half ounce of fuggles before boil and also used the willamette ?
 
@MarcusKillion

I used a half ounce of Fuggles as a First wort, pre boil addition. I used the Cascade and Centenial during the boil. I changed the Cascade 5 minute addition to a flame out addition. No Williamette in mine though, but I am intrigued at the thought of some Williamette in this too!

Das Boot !!!
 
I am referring to the Amber not the IPA, just info. Sorry for the confusion

Das Boot
 
Depending on the time of year my most popular brews are either a porter or a pale ale. Sorry for the delayed reply. Our baby daughter came 2 weeks early and I have been slow to catch up on things.

PBJ Porter (5 gallons)
10 lbs 2-row/pale malt
1 lb Carmel 60L
8 oz Chocolate malt
4 oz Victory malt
2.5 oz Fuggles 60 minutes
Nottingham yeast or US-05

My Best Pale Ale
8 lbs Pale Malt
1 lb Crystal 20L
1 lb Vienna
1 lb Flaked Wheat
1.25 oz Willamette 60 min.
1 oz Cascade (or Centennial) 10 min
1 oz Cascade (or Centennial) 5 min
1 oz Cascade Dry Hop 3 days
Wyeast 1056, US-05
Congrats on your little lady!
Thanks for updloading this recipe. I was looking for a good porter to Finnish with bourbon chips. This maybe the one.

Cheers!
 
@MarcusKillion

I used a half ounce of Fuggles as a First wort, pre boil addition. I used the Cascade and Centenial during the boil. I changed the Cascade 5 minute addition to a flame out addition. No Williamette in mine though, but I am intrigued at the thought of some Williamette in this too!

Das Boot !!!

I was looking at the wrong recipe , my bad . I am going to use your changes to brew-stein's amber ale either this weekend or next . Not sure as I also want to use Brew-stein's best pale ale as it looks nice and hoppy . Can't make up my mind !
even with my limited one time AG brewing experience I think these will be great beers.
Now I only have to go research what a " pre boil " addition is .
 
I was looking at the wrong recipe , my bad . I am going to use your changes to brew-stein's amber ale either this weekend or next . Not sure as I also want to use Brew-stein's best pale ale as it looks nice and hoppy . Can't make up my mind !
even with my limited one time AG brewing experience I think these will be great beers.
Now I only have to go research what a " pre boil " addition is .

This may be the same thing as first wort hopping. Look up "first wort hops". This is where you add a portion of your hops to the first runnings from your mashtun or vessel. These stay in the beer brewkettle to steep as you complete your sparge process. This is intended to give a more refined flavor to a portion of your hop addition.
 
Markus


First wort additions are added after you Lauder your first runnings, prior to sparging. That allows hop oils to get into your wort, before you boil. I think it added a dimension to the over all final product. Mine turned out very citrusy.

Das Boot
 
Markus


First wort additions are added after you Lauder your first runnings, prior to sparging. That allows hop oils to get into your wort, before you boil. I think it added a dimension to the over all final product. Mine turned out very citrusy.

Das Boot

thanks . I may leave that out as I do not like citrus flavor in my beer.

As a side note ... I need some castor oil and turpentine to wash the nasty flavor from this beer I just tried . Yuk gag barf ughhh puke ... Brewers best holiday ale . Worst beer i ever drank . Tastes like a pine tree was ground up with orange peels .
anyone need two cases of toilet flush liquid?
 
Sud-Paw , do you know what made yours turn out citrusy ? I was thinking the pre boil but then realized that it would be adding more bitter . Perhaps the flame out addition ? If so could there be a different hops that would work well in this beer and not leave a citrus flavor ?
 
So which recipe are you guys referring to here with these questions.?

We are on the better better amber . Sud-Paw said his came out citrusy . The hops used are all hops that have this characteristic so I am interested in which addition is actually more responsible for citrus taste in this brew .
If I am right , not that I know much about this , it would not be the ones boiled for long times as that would make more bitter to cover up the citrus . So I guess it would be the .5 oz cascade for 10 minutes or the flame out cascade .

One more question . How much mash water and sparge water do I use for this ?

Here is the original and modified recipe :

much better amber ale

7.5 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.5 lbs Munich
1.5 lbs Crystal 60L
4-6 oz Amber Malt --- (optional if you want to add a bisquit flavor and darker color)

( .5 oz fuggles pre boil addition ) added recipe for better better amber )

1.0 oz Centennial (60 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (10 min)

0.5 oz Cascade (5 min) ---( flame out for better better )

Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast or US-05 dry yeast

Mash at 154 for 60 minutes.
 
One more question .. Damn I am full of them .
What would happen if I used briess 6 row victory Lovibond 25 instead of the amber , for the biscuit flavor ?
I just happen to have some victory I need to use up
 
Hey guys, sorry for the delayed response. I think the citrus came from the Cascade addition at flame out.

I am not a huge fan of too much citrus either, and I will be tweaking the recipe for next time. Possibly moving the last hop addition back to 5 minute, like the original recipe called for. Or choose a different hop for the flame out addition.

This hobby is such a shaky science that any one thing can change the final product real quick, as I'm learning after each brew

Cheers
 
Markus

Victory would give a good biscuit flavor, but I think that amber and victory are similar in that they both give a biscuit dimension to your beer.

Anyone, please correct me if that's not accurate.

Das
 
Hey guys, sorry for the delayed response. I think the citrus came from the Cascade addition at flame out.

I am not a huge fan of too much citrus either, and I will be tweaking the recipe for next time. Possibly moving the last hop addition back to 5 minute, like the original recipe called for. Or choose a different hop for the flame out addition.

This hobby is such a shaky science that any one thing can change the final product real quick, as I'm learning after each brew

Cheers

Oh well I hope citrusy is tasty as I made the stuff last night . The wort tasted very good and hoppy . Did not notice the citrus then but who knows after fermentation . I will taste again then and decide how long I want it to sit in the bottles . I have found that some really bad tasting beer gets much better after a few months in the bottle . I hope that works for my muntons wheat that I added in a lot of very strong tasting honey and the beer just came out with a bad flavor which is actually from the honey I think .
 
Markus

Victory would give a good biscuit flavor, but I think that amber and victory are similar in that they both give a biscuit dimension to your beer.

Anyone, please correct me if that's not accurate.

Das

We shall find out as I used 6 ounces of victory . wort was not real sweet as with my brown ales I normally make which taste like sugar . The OG was 1.063 and had a nice flavor . My pre boil hop addition sat in the wort for about 3 hours because the filter was clogged in my tun and ran very slowly so that may have added to big hop flavor and bitter.
 
We are on the better better amber . Sud-Paw said his came out citrusy . The hops used are all hops that have this characteristic so I am interested in which addition is actually more responsible for citrus taste in this brew .
If I am right , not that I know much about this , it would not be the ones boiled for long times as that would make more bitter to cover up the citrus . So I guess it would be the .5 oz cascade for 10 minutes or the flame out cascade .

One more question . How much mash water and sparge water do I use for this ?

Here is the original and modified recipe :

much better amber ale

7.5 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.5 lbs Munich
1.5 lbs Crystal 60L
4-6 oz Amber Malt --- (optional if you want to add a bisquit flavor and darker color)

( .5 oz fuggles pre boil addition ) added recipe for better better amber )

1.0 oz Centennial (60 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (10 min)

0.5 oz Cascade (5 min) ---( flame out for better better )

Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast or US-05 dry yeast

Mash at 154 for 60 minutes.

I mash in with 3.5 gallons of water at 165 F for an hour. I then do 2 sparges of 2 gallons each at 168 F.
 
So i did this yesterday. I substituted an oz of magnum for the 60 minute and an ounce of amarillo for the aroma. Can't wait!
 
So i did this yesterday. I substituted an oz of magnum for the 60 minute and an ounce of amarillo for the aroma. Can't wait!

Just great . where were you with this grand idea the other day before I brewed mine ?
Just my luck .. A day early and few hops short.

the magnum may be the trick here . It seems that it is very good for bittering . the amarillo is interesting with the spicy orange bouquet character

Judging by the taste of my wort I would say that I am going to have a very tasty beer . How ever I may try your version next time .
 
Hello all,

First off congratulations Mick!

Secondly I don't know if this is a stupid question, but what %AA where your hops in the original recipe posted for the Much Better Amber? Do you find that it makes much of a difference? Because I got some Cascade in the freezer that's 9.1% and I know this won't make much of a difference due to the timing of the additions, but what about the Centennial hops? I find that the hops supplied at my LHBS tend to be on the higher of the %AA.

I can't wait to try this recipe!
 
Hello all,

First off congratulations Mick!

Secondly I don't know if this is a stupid question, but what %AA where your hops in the original recipe posted for the Much Better Amber? Do you find that it makes much of a difference? Because I got some Cascade in the freezer that's 9.1% and I know this won't make much of a difference due to the timing of the additions, but what about the Centennial hops? I find that the hops supplied at my LHBS tend to be on the higher of the %AA.

I can't wait to try this recipe!

There are no stupid questions when it comes to brewing our own beer (unless you count the typical questions I get from my neighbors, Is it safe to drink? Can you make Budweisser or maybe Coors light?)

I use Centennial at 9.2% and Cascade at 5.5% this gives about 40 IBUs. Your 9.1 cascade will give 44 IBUs. This will also put it just outside the recommended IBU range for American ambers, which is ok. You could use the 9.1 casade and just add the first addition at 6-7 min and the second at 1-3 minutes.

Hope this answers your question.

I also do a version that is all cascade for lower IBUs for less hoppy drinkers.
 
Hey thanks for getting right back to me, I'm actually about 10minutes away from the boil. :rockin:

I ended up with some Centennial @ 10.5%AA and lucky for me I have a digital scale. So I'll just use 0.876 oz Centennial and 0.6oz Cascade, divided in to portions of course.

Thanks again
 
Mickaweapon ;
When you get that Bud and Coors Light recipe figured out please send it to me so I can deposit it in the proper receptacle out by my curb.

thank you
 

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