American Amber Ale Caramel Amber Ale

daggers_nz said:

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I don't agree, I will do 8 days MAX for an ale

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Without some specific reason, I'm with you... but I'll give KB the benefit of the doubt with my ignorance and see how his 30 days plays....

I dont secondary anymore unless it has to sit on fruit. Having said that, my primarys always sit for 21 days. 7 days each at 62/65/68. And thats fermenter temp, not air temp. I have virtually eliminated off flavors.

Im talking ales here of course. My lagers get 7 days each at 48/52/55 with a 2 deg / day rise to 65 for a diacetyl rest. Sits there for 4 days. Rack to secondary then 2 deg down/day to 45, sit 2 weeks, then 2 deg down/day to 38 and lager for however long, usually 4-12 weeks.

I like to get ales off the dead yeast cake asap, to prevent autolysis

So, I am ready to make this recipe but I wanted to clarify a few things before I start. I punched this into beersmith and I just want someone to confirm that it is right. I'm using a 5 gal MLT
Mash into 2.72 gal @ 167 F. Start temp of 154
Sparge with 5.4 gal at 168
Add water to achieve boil volume of 7.04 gal
Pre boil estimated sg of 1.041
I've got the other steps from the recipe at the beginning.
Let me know if you need more info from me.
Thanks

Here's and idea....what do you think about using this bourbon smoked sugar for the candy syrup?

https://bourbonbarrelfoods.com/shop/sugar/bourbon-smoked-sugar-24-oz-bag

It's not cheap, but I think I'll try it out and see if any of that smokey bourbon flavor makes it to the beer.

jsledd said:

Here's and idea....what do you think about using this bourbon smoked sugar for the candy syrup?

https://bourbonbarrelfoods.com/shop/sugar/bourbon-smoked-sugar-24-oz-bag

It's not cheap, but I think I'll try it out and see if any of that smokey bourbon flavor makes it to the beer.

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Sounds like a cool idea. Do it and report back!

I always do my beers in primary for 21 to 30 days and then 21 to 30 days in keg at 12 psi... I get 100% of the time a finished beer fermentation wise and a clean, clear and mature beer in the keg..... Patience is the key !!!!

I just bottled this and sample tastes awesome. The taste from the syrup is definitely there but its not overly sweet.

I'm hoping I get enough carbonation. My priming sugar, I use plain cane sugar, but I think it cooled too Mich and was too thick to mix while I siphoned to the bottling bucket. There was still some of the sugar on the bottom of the bucket when I finished bottling.

bolus14 said:

I just bottled this and sample tastes awesome. The taste from the syrup is definitely there but its not overly sweet.

I'm hoping I get enough carbonation. My priming sugar, I use plain cane sugar, but I think it cooled too Mich and was too thick to mix while I siphoned to the bottling bucket. There was still some of the sugar on the bottom of the bucket when I finished bottling.

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That is why I prefer primimg each bottle individualy, to keep the controle on the carbing

How long did you ferment it ?

Just tasted my first bottle after a week... I know, need to wait another couple of weeks but it was well carbed and a beautiful crystal clear amber beer.

I liked it but was disappointed that the hops over powered the excellent flavors of the candi. It is a slightly sweet beer but I couldn't detect any evidence of the caramel flavor.

Admittedly I'm not a fan of hoppy beers so my preference toward malty brews most likely colored my analysis. I wasn't surprised given the hop schedule which I did reduce slightly. In all fairness, this is a really good beer with a modest hop presence. Those of you that like some hop tang, will love this one.

All went well in the brewing and I controlled the ferment temp for the period defined even thought that was somewhat of a new thing for me. Everything was standard SOP other than making the candi. That was rather simple and I do plan on using this in future efforts. The caramel flavor was simply outstanding. I just need to find a way to get it to the final product.

I'm certain some additional time in the bottle will improve this brew as it does all beers. Should I find the caramel begins to shine through, I'll report back.

I fermented in primary for 6 weeks. I don't do secondarys unless I'm adding something to it. And with vacation and work schedule it got left for 6 weeks. This is the first time this happened with batch priming and its my fault. I was getting my son down for a nap and it just got left to cool too long. I debated heating it back up first but decided to just go for it.

It kind of went with my whole day. I brewed a porter before bottling, I do BIAB, kettle almost overfilled when I added grains, mash temps got high, boiled over, and for some reason my hop sock held 1.5 gal of wort that I had to "squeeze" out. Should've taken that as a clue to put off bottling.

I understand what you mean by carbing each bottle but that's just too much time. I know that if these don't carb up much it would've been better to take the time but that's another thread.

In the end it will still be beer, just not as carbed as much as I might like. And, who knows it might be better less carbed.

I opened a bottle last night after 3 days in the bottle, call me impatient it's true. Was still pretty much completely flat which given my priming sugar issue it may stay that way. Taste and smell are god though, after drinking almost a whole bottle flat it gets slightly cloying, but carbed up I don't see that being a problem. It's a little reminiscent of SA Oktoberfest, don't think clone just in the ball park. For me it's the first beer that I've truly been able to taste caramel/toffee flavors in but maybe my palette is just expanding. Very clear, dark copper, makes me think of the fall season coming upon us, get a nice head on this and she'll be a pretty brew.

Sudz - are you sure the AA% of your hops match the recipe? I'm far from a hop lover, I stay more towards Belgian and maltier style beers, and I would say the hops just balance this one out.

bolus14 said:

Sudz - are you sure the AA% of your hops match the recipe? I'm far from a hop lover, I stay more towards Belgian and maltier style beers, and I would say the hops just balance this one out.

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Yeah, I took this into consideration. I even lowered the AA% slightly. I must admit I'm puzzled why my hop impact seems to be more so than the rest of you guys.

Still a really good brew it's just I can't find the caramel flavor I was expecting.

What temp did you ferment at and what yeast did you use. Some yeast bring out the maltiness more and and depending on the temp maybe you didn't get those qualities.

I currently don't have the ability to control my temps much. I have to ferment at my in laws house so I can't keep as close am eye as I would sometimes like. With that said I pitched my yeast into wort cooled to 65, I used WLP051.

I fermented with US-05 and I got a huge hop flavor and aroma. I agree with Sudz's post, but I happened to enjoy it this way. I guess to dial back the aroma you could ditch the flameout hops, you would still have the right IBU values

It would be interesting to hear if others that have used US-05 have noticed this as well, just to see if it's possibly the yeast contributing to the hoppier flavor and aroma. Or do a split batch and use US-05 and one of the yeasts mentioned in this thread that seems to have given a maltier finished product, just bear in mind this could all just be individual taste and what some of us say is malty/caramel/toffee might still have a pronounced hoppiness to others. I personally don't like the aroma/flavor of Cascade hops, I sub Citra or Centennial in any recipe that calls for them, so even if they're only slightly present I tend to pick them up more than others. Only other thing I would consider is did you get the candi made to the right "darkness."

I have become an advocate for liquid yeast, out of the 10 brews I have done so far I have only used dry yeast once. That beer turned out fine, I just didn't get the flavor character that I expected from it, it was there just not as pronounced as what I've seen with WL and WY. From talking to a couple guys that have been home brewing for 5 or 6 years they only use liquid yeast, more consistent results from their experience. Basically get the same type of response from the 3 microbreweries local to where I live, the owners all say when they started out and with experimenting with new brews they only use liquid for it's consistency. Always build a starter, it ensures good yeast health and proper pitching rates.

If it's the cost that steers you to dry yeast talk to your LHBS about letting you know when they have "expired" liquid yeast, Both of my local stores will cut the price in half or more, even if it's only a month past it's use by date, this makes it the same price or less than dry. Just ensure you give yourself enough time to make a start and use Mr Malty's pitching calculator, might have to make a bigger starter than normal due to the yeasts age.

Given your stated preference for maltier brews I hope you can figure this one out because to me it's a keeper as far as malty brews go, especially given it's simplistic grist!!

Thanks guys.

I did use US-05 which I've used frequently in the past. I'm actually fond of this yeast however I typically ferment @ 68 for about 3 weeks and bottle. I can control the temps and did per the recipe. Fermented @ 63*F for 30 days then 1 week @ 68*F.

Don't get me wrong... this is a good beer and I look forward to drinking it. It's just more hoppy than I would prefer but as I said previously, looking at the hop bill I'm not totally surprised. I'll make it again but I'll change the hop process to something a little more in line with my malty brews.

I definitely will be brewing with the candi again. That stuff has a fantastic flavor which should be a big asset to a malty brew.

US-05 is very neutral and I don't think it should be to blame

Did you ever concider that the problem might be that the company had a mix up in the bags ? Actualy you got an other strain of hops by mistake ? Even if the bag was taged right does not mean that you actualy got what was writen

Here I am back with the kegging day info it's been sitting in primary for 30 days at 20/68 degrees and today was kegging day I skipped the secondary and finning agent that was recomended The taste of this beer was soooooooo out of bounds & off the charts perfect....

I will leave it in the fridge pluged on gas at 12.5 PSI for an other 30 days then report later with pics ans taste info before reporting back again

I can honestly say that this is by far the best beer i've ever made, can't wait to carb her up and get CRUNK ))))

jesseroberge said:

Did you ever conceder that the problem might be that the company had a mix up in the bags ?

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No problem with my hops unless the supplier packaged them incorrectly and I highly doubt that.

Actually, I don't believe there's anything wrong with this beer. It's just more hoppy than I personally prefer. My friends seem to like it.

Sudz said:

No problem with my hops unless the supplier packaged them incorrectly and I highly doubt that.

Actually, I don't believe there's anything wrong with this beer. It's just more hoppy than I personally prefer. My friends seem to like it.

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I took a sample before kegging yesterday and if there is somthing, hop flavor was VERY light if any... Weird compared to yours

Right, got my DAP, candy thermometer arrives tomorrow, beer ingredients the day after that.
Brewing this on Saturday, very keen to see how it works out.

MongooseMan said:

Right, got my DAP, candy thermometer arrives tomorrow, beer ingredients the day after that.
Brewing this on Saturday, very keen to see how it works out.

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You're all set!
I'm brewing this beer again, probably tonight or tomorrow. There's no need to condense the caramel syrup once you get to the right color (temperature). Actually it is much easier not too. Just pour the thin syrup into the wort at flameout.
And stir well.

I just wanted to say thanks to KingBrianI, this is one tasty beer! Has anyone tried entering this in a competition? If so, do you recommend entering it in category 10B-American Amber Ale or 23A-Specialty Beer (because of the candi syrup)?

Thanks!

MacrosNZ said:

Kind a looks like the description I guess.. Hopefully get a bit clearer after a bit of lagering.

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Love the murphy's glass. Definitely my favorite irish stout

Has anyone tried mashing a slightly higher temp? Or have most find great success with mashing at 150?

I mashed at 154 and really enjoy it. I usually mash around 152 but figured the candi syrup might thin the body a little. You still get a smooth bitterness from the first wort hop addition and it finishes a little caramelly sweet. But everyone's tastes are different. I might try going lower next time and possibly higher the 3rd time just to see how it changes.

This definitely seems like a recipe I won't get tired of brewing.

Made this over the weekend. Took absolutely ages for the syrup to go from 100C to ~143C. Eventually had to stick a lid over the pot to get the temp up.
Once it did get there it was pretty dark, but still smelled good, so we chucked it in.
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

King Brian,


Great recipe, thank you for including the candi sugar links and inclusion. Nice touch to this beer. I never understood why ambers don't get more credit.

Either way, what was the thinking with high ibus? It sort of makes it an ipa in disguise, lol. Next time I brew this I think I'll drop the ibu's down to the 20 range to let the candi sugar come out. I also used some marris otter, which helped the malt profile.

Fixing to brew this tasty lookin concoction Saturday. Read most of this thread and am excited to try some for myself.

After letting this condition longer I think others posts about the IBU's are accurate. I think it's too high and takes away some of the malt characteristics that an amber should have. It's still good, but for those of us that prefer malty over hoppy I would lower the IBU's.

In response to Kevreh my personal feeling on Ambers not getting attention is that it's hard to point people in the direction of good, widely available commercial examples of the style. People just don't know what to expect.

The Marris Otter sounds like it would be a good addition, I have dabbled with the idea of using Vienna or Munich in place of some of the Pale and possibly remove some of the Crystal. Or maybe going with a SmaSh using Munich and Cluster, this idea could be way off base but it sounds good to me. I have yet to build my first recipe so...

I brewed this up today... I only had 1 oz of Chinook so I had to make a substitution with what I had on hand. For the boil I used Columbus and I'm hoping that will not alter the outcome too much?? I bought some Simplicity brand amber (45L) syrup... I tried a little raw to compare the flavors for what is called for here and got raisins and plums notes. Fingers crossed this will be good.

Camamel Amber Ale for thanksgiving on tap!

Kegged this bad boy today. Sample tasted great! Can't wait to see how this comes out in a week or so.

I don't know about a revolution, but Ambers are some of my most favorite beers to drink, I keep my IBU's mild so the Amber and caramel notes really shine through. Matter of fact, I enjoy a couple last night while watching my Saints destroy the Panthers !

Took a small sample off the keg last night. The aroma is what truly struck me. The caramel syrup is much in evidence as is a great piney hint from the hops. The taste basically follows the nose. Very rich body. Pictures to follow soon.

Drinking a pint (or three) of this tonight. Boy did this turn out great! A very beautiful beer and it smells like heaven!

I can't stop brewing this! I try not to do the same brew twice but this one has me! I find myself trying to decide what to brew and finally just give in and make this one! I love how simple it is! I might dry hop it in the secondary this time...