2nd batch questions/thoughts

New brewer just finished my second batch and would like to hear from some experienced brewers here about what I have attempted to make.

I started with a True Brew Amber Ale kit

Hopped Amber Malt Extract – 1 can
Light Dried Malt Extract – 2 lbs
Hop Pellets – 1 oz - alpha 7.3%
Ale Yeast – 1 pack - 6 grams

Then I added

1.5 lbs organic light brown sugar
2 gallons Murray's All Natural apple cider - No preservatives

The boil

3.5 gallons Crystal Springs water in brew pot
Added DME at 160 degrees, brought up to boiling point.
At 30 minutes in I added the brown sugar
At 40 minutes in I added the LME
At 45 minutes in I added the hops
Total boil time 60 minutes
Cooled wort to 65 degrees and added 2 gallons of cider to make 5 gallons.
Dumped through a wire mesh strainer 4 times to mix and aerate.
Yeast soaked in 80 degree boiled water for 15 minutes, then stirred and pitched.
OG reading 1.076, sample was at 60 degrees

My plan is to leave in fermentor for 2 weeks then move to secondary and add a couple cinnamon sticks. Not sure what I am concocting but i would rather experiment with making beers than reproducing someone elses. So for you that know what you are doing can you give me an idea of what I created and if there is any chance it will be worth drinking?

Any input anyone has will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

* Edit this is what the kit says the gravities should be - Before i started adding my own ingredients

Beginning Gravity: 1.042 - 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.010 - 1.012

http://beercalculus.hopvillebeta.com/recipe

check out this site. It is a lot of fun to punch in your recipe and technique.

Sounds good to me but I am still a bit of a rookie. I added vanilla to a porter kit.delicious. I say if it sounds to you like it would be good in that style of beer,Then i am sure it will be good. who knows. maybe one day one of us will find that adding celery sticks to a dunkelweizen recipe improves it immensely. just on a whim ya kno?speaking of..i think I am gonna try that.just to see what happens.all part of the fun i suppose

Great minds think a-like. The next beer I'm going to try is a porter with vanilla as well. Was even thinking of adding some chocolate and raspberries too. Going to have to research that one a bit before I start.

Thank you for your reply.

Update on the Amber Apple. My wife just called and said it has started bubbling. Pitched the yeast yesterday about 4:30pm and it started bubbling today about 8:30am, so about 16 hours to start fermenting.

The brown sugar will ferment all the way out, lightening your beer and leaving some residual flavor

The apple juice will also ferment out completely, so you won't get a lot of apple flavor.

Good luck on your experiment!

I forgot to mention that Unibroue makes an apple-y beer that is delicious. Don't remember the name but if you go to their site you'll find it.

Thanks for the reply pappers.

I knew the sugar would lighten it out which I what i was looking for in this beer. I'm making this one for my wife and she doesnt like a heavy beer. I wasn't sure how much taste it would provide to the beer but it sounded interesting to try.

I'm surprised though that the apple juice will ferment out as you say. I was hoping to get king of a hard cider result from it. I had considered adding the 2 gallons when I moved to the secondary but I didnt know what the results would be if I just put the 3 gallons of Amber wort in the fermenter.