Creamy Smoked Amber Ale

Will be brewing a Creamy Smoked Amber Ale for a party,but I want just a hint of the smoke flavor not ,but also want it to to a slight sweet taste but not over the top sweetness any hint or thoughts????

You can smoke the malts yourself, total control over the type of wood and how long you smoke. I just finished an extract smoked beer and I smoked all the steeping grains w/ mesquite for about 30mins, the brew smells like campfire... very nice.

All you need is a cardboard box and either a hotplate or blowtorch and a small electric fan (Good Eats teaches you awesome stuff), put your soaked woodchips in a pan and heat it on the hotplate until it smolders and smokes. Enclose in cardboard box (make sure it's big enough not to set on fire) with your grains and smoke to where you want.

I used a blowtorch to create some embers then used a fan to keep the woodchips smoldering, same thing.

Mesquite is suppose to be one of the strongest smokes, so I'd suggest applewood or cherry if you want a lighter smoke. You could also just smoke it for less.

Personally, I'd start with the classic, beechwood-smoked rauchmalt. If you're looking to be subtle, probably not more than a couple pounds. If you just want a hint - maybe a pound, pound and a half.

For "sweet", use a fair amount of a medium crystal malt, upwards of a pound. Could probably get more like a pound and a half (maybe split between some 40 and something a little darker), I've heard of people going north of two pounds but that's pushing it. I'd probably go with ~0.75 of C60 and about the same of 80L, or some combination. Lighter crystals are more pure-sweet, medium (60-90L) more caramel or toffee, darker ones (north of 90L) get more dark-fruity (good but maybe not for this beer).

Munich malt's another real nice complement in both smoked beers and in Amber ales, gives a deeper maltiness and a little toastiness (not sweetness, that's why you need the crystal).

Whatever you do, avoid peated malt, that's a harsh, acrid smoke (kinda like licking the inside of an ashtray) that's the exact opposite of what you want to accomplish.

The only reason I'd caution against smoking your own is that it's a little more difficult to control the amount of smokiness. Using the rauchmalt at least for the first attempt is a way of getting a fairly known, consistent level of smokiness (assuming the rauchmalt is fresh).

It is already mixed with 8oz Cara Pils Malt 5 oz Peated Malt 8oz 2-Row Malt 12oz Crystal 60L Malt ,I am thinking of addind more of the Crystal 60 L 1/2 Pound .Thoughts

Don't be shy. Add plenty of smoked malt.

I just made a smoked cream ale with 20% beechwood smoked malt and 20% cherrywood smoled malt. IMO, could me stronger smoked. Probably will do fine in my next comp, which is what it is for, but I know from past that the smoke will recede with time.

I did a smoked porter about 1 yr. ago and only put in 20%. Hardly detectable. Disappointed.

My next lagered rauchbier will be 100%.

interesting, i am brewing a smoked amber today. i haven't been able to find many examples of it, but it just seemed like a smoked amber would be tasty. here's the recipe i settled on:

5.00 lb Smoked Malt (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 45.45 %
2.00 lb Munich (Cargill) (9.5 SRM) Grain 18.18 %
2.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 18.18 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.55 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.55 %
13.00 gm Magnum [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 20.5 IBU
14.00 gm Williamette [4.80 %] (30 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
14.00 gm Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 125 ml] Yeast-Ale

shooting for 1.053 OG with 80% eff, mashing at 154 for 60 min

i was gonna throw in 0.5 oz of cascade at flameout, but i don't want to cover up the smoky aroma.