American Amber Ale Much Better Amber Ale

MarcusKillion said:

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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My current recipe for Bud Light is to invite a dozen friends over for home brew beer and tacos. Collect their urine in sanitized bottles and add water to dilute to proper concentration. Cap these these and let them sit in the sun for several days.

mickaweapon ; Damn ! You deciphered their secret process !

MarcusKillion said:

mickaweapon ; Damn ! You deciphered their secret process !

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I forgit the most important step. Chill the bottles down to 33 F and then serve. I have always been told that revenge is a best dish when served ice cold like the silver bullet.

I brewed the recipe and fermented out in 8 days?! No kreusen. I mean like none. I started a little low for OG, but dropped 1.044 --> 1.011. So I'm leaving in the carboy for another 2 weeks to let it clear. Anyone else have this experience?

CMAC said:

I brewed the recipe and fermented out in 8 days?! No kreusen. I mean like none. I started a little low for OG, but dropped 1.044 --> 1.011. So I'm leaving in the carboy for another 2 weeks to let it clear. Anyone else have this experience?

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What yeast did you use for this batch? What temperature did you ferment at?

Wyeast American Ale 2 (60-72F) smack-pack. Was fermented at a pretty consistent 64F.

CMAC said:

Wyeast American Ale 2 (60-72F) smack-pack. Was fermented at a pretty consistent 64F.

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I have no experience with this yeast so I am curious to hear what other brewers might think. How large of a starter did you use?

No starter, just the slap pack (100B cells). This is the first time, even with a slap packs, that it hasn't taken off.

CMAC said:

No starter, just the slap pack (100B cells). This is the first time, even with a slap packs, that it hasn't taken off.

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Do not know if this applies to you but I use plastic buckets and after the first time or two the lid no longer seals good and it appears as if fermentation is not going on . No bubbles in air lock . I use " good " duct tape like scotch and definitely not Ace hardware brand because if you use cheap off brand tape it will not have enough glue to seal and wrap it around the lid real good to seal off any leaks .
Always put enough wort after adding yeast of course in a bottle and put a paper towel over it and twist tie it on . Use this for measuring gravity so you know for sure if it is fermenting .

CMAC said:

I brewed the recipe and fermented out in 8 days?! No kreusen. I mean like none. I started a little low for OG, but dropped 1.044 --> 1.011. So I'm leaving in the carboy for another 2 weeks to let it clear. Anyone else have this experience?

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Grated I've never used anything but dry yeast, but I've had a similar experience when fermenting a little low temperature wise. Increased the temp by a few degrees and it picked right up again.

I'm currently on day seven post-brewday. My fermentation went crazy on day three with a krausen being pushed out of the air lock (S-05 dry yeast at about 70 degrees). Now it's pretty flat looking again. I'm going to be talking some hydrometer reading today and tomorrow before moving it to a secondary.

since I ferment in a bucket I can not see the krausen unless of course fermentation gores crazy and it blows out the air lock , what a pain in the ass. I then use my siphon tube with the air lock on the end or if it is too much I just put the tube into some water or beer . I do usually have some beer in a bottle to use for checking FG and it does show a bit of krausen .

My Much better amber is in the bottles and in another couple weeks I am hoping for something drinkable . how ever in my experience i like beers only after a couple months in the bottle .

I'm really pushing this batch along. Two weeks in the primary, cold crashed with gelatin for 24 hours. Keg tonight. Serve next Saturday. It will likely be a little raw I'm guessing. Still - it's beer.

jsmcclure said:

I'm really pushing this batch along. Two weeks in the primary, cold crashed with gelatin for 24 hours. Keg tonight. Serve next Saturday. It will likely be a little raw I'm guessing. Still - it's beer.

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Let me know how it turns out. I usually go at least 3 weeks in the primary prior to kegging or bottling. Perhaps 2 weeks will be enough time.

The hydrometer taster is great. I upped the IBUs a little. My magnum stock is about a year old show i upped it 25%. It is pretty bitter. Tasty but not what my intended goal. That's the beauty of this hobby. I can brew it again, tweak it, and come up with something different. It's all beer! Thanks for the recipe!

I got as question about that 3 week fermentation . Does this not make the yeast die off ? Does it not run out of oxygen ?
Of course I guess if you are kegging this would not be a problem but what about us bottle carbers.

MarcusKillion said:

I got as question about that 3 week fermentation . Does this not make the yeast die off ? Does it not run out of oxygen ?
Of course I guess if you are kegging this would not be a problem but what about us bottle carbers.

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I bottled beer for my first 3 years of brewing prior to kegging. I still bottle 50% of my beer that I give away and all of my fermentations go for a minimum of 3 weeks and most go for 4 weeks in order to give the yeast time to clean up after themselves. I picked this tip up from Revy and noticed that the quality of my brewing improved with 3-4 weeks of primary fermentation. I even will split a 6 gallon batch that has been in the primary 4 weeks into separate 3 gallons to keg and 3 gallons to bottle and both come out just fine.

After 3-4 weeks the yeast may go dormant for a bit of time if they are out of food but when you bottle adding the corn sugar provides the right amount of food to the right amount of yeast for carbonation. When I started brewing I subscribed the 2,2,2 method (2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, 2 bottle condition.) Now I usually do 4 weeks primary, skip the secondary and 3 weeks bottle condition.

I probably follow a similar schedule but do 3-4 weeks in primary then keg for 1-2 depending on my thirst. Oxygen isn't a big concern for the fermentation/carbonation steps. oxygen is important in the initial growth phase. Once you start fermenting sugar to alcohol and CO2, oxygen isn't part of the equation. In fact any oxygen around causes off flavors. A fresh source of sugar is important (priming sugar).

thanks mickaweapon I will give that a try next time .
thanks jsmcclure . that oxygen info is helpful as I thought it needed it all through the fermentation process . I think my beers would taste better if left longer in bucket . I usually leave them in bottles for a month or more after 3 weeks carbonation time anyway before I drink them . So it will not be any longer to drink time and my beer will settle out more and have less crap in the bottom of the bottle I recon.

I got a question about 3 week fermentation and dry hopping .
What do you guys think about leaving a muntons Canadian in for 3 weeks that i am going to dry hop . should I still dry hop after 5 - 7 days as is usual ?
Can I put it in secondary and achieve the same results as leaving in primary ? Reason being is I am going to remove 1 gallon of it to dry hop with a different hop than the other 5 gallons so I do not want to leave it in primary with all the ( 2 1/2 gallons ) of head space .

MarcusKillion said:

I got a question about 3 week fermentation and dry hopping .
What do you guys think about leaving a muntons Canadian in for 3 weeks that i am going to dry hop . should I still dry hop after 5 - 7 days as is usual ?
Can I put it in secondary and achieve the same results as leaving in primary ? Reason being is I am going to remove 1 gallon of it to dry hop with a different hop than the other 5 gallons so I do not want to leave it in primary with all the ( 2 1/2 gallons ) of head space .

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How large is your carboy that you plan on using to secondary? Do you have any access to CO2 that would could push into the top of your carboy.

my secondary is a 5 gallon bucket so that would be good for the 5 gallons of beer left after I draw off 1 gallon to dry hop with the fuggles . I am going to use Hallertauer Hersbrucker to dry hop the 5 gallons in secondary ( may toss some in my pilsner while I am at it . ) . Just do not want to leave it in primary since it would have a 1 1/2 gallon space full of air .

I brewed this one a few weeks ago, kegged it about two weeks ago and was letting it condition. Well, I had a keg kick, so this went on.

I had to swap out Falconer's Flight for the Centenniel, since my lhbs was out of Centenniel at the time, but wow, this is definitely going to be on full rotation at my house. This really hit me right in my wheelhouse of the perfet beer. Great Malty character you'd expect in an amber, with just enough hops to make you wonder if it's still in style.

Great beer, thanks for the recipe.

Good to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I am going to try this with Falcon's Flight hops just to see how it compares to using Centennial.

msa8967 said:

Good to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I am going to try this with Falcon's Flight hops just to see how it compares to using Centennial.

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The Falconer's was recommended by my LHBS as a good substitute, since it's a mix and I believe Centennial is in that mix.

Either way, yeah, I'm going to brew this up again soon, but will definitely do it with Centennial to see how it compares.

What sort of water profile do you use to brew this? Do you add anything to your tap or start with RO and build up?

nutty_gnome said:

What sort of water profile do you use to brew this? Do you add anything to your tap or start with RO and build up?

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I just used city tap and send it through a carbon block to remove chlorine. I haven't gotten into water profiles yet. Water quality is pretty good in the area, according to their report, except for a lot of Chlorine, so that's all I bother with at this time. I remember reading an article a few years ago about how Goose Island just used Chicago tap water, my source, and filtered out the chlorine as well. So, at this point I haven't really bothered with building water profiles.

Again, I just started all-grain though, so that may change over time. I'll probably send my filtered water out, to get a test done on it with a report to see how much of anything is still left in it this summer. For now though, everything seems to be working for me, so I don't want to change too much.

When I brewed this orignal batch for this recipe I used tap water but now we live in a different town where we have very hard water so I use RO water with nothing else added. It comes out just fine.

just drank a much better amber after almost 1 month in bottle . Pretty good I suppose . I do not know what ambers really taste like so I have nothing to compare it to . Taste a bit bitter . Other than that I can not tell but my taste buds do not work so good any more so a lot of them hop and malt flavors elude me unless they are strong . Not bad . I just put two more in the fridge and put the rest in a cold room to condition a bit . i kept them in a 72 degree room that hops up to 78 when the heater comes on for a bit for carbonation time . Works good for my ales .

MarcusKillion said:

just drank a much better amber after almost 1 month in bottle . Pretty good I suppose . I do not know what ambers really taste like so I have nothing to compare it to . Taste a bit bitter . Other than that I can not tell but my taste buds do not work so good any more so a lot of them hop and malt flavors elude me unless they are strong . Not bad . I just put two more in the fridge and put the rest in a cold room to condition a bit . i kept them in a 72 degree room that hops up to 78 when the heater comes on for a bit for carbonation time . Works good for my ales .

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Give this beer another month and some of the bitterness will mellow. Depending on your hop additions it may taste different 8 weeks after bottling compared to 4 weeks.

MarcusKillion said:

just drank a much better amber after almost 1 month in bottle . Pretty good I suppose . I do not know what ambers really taste like so I have nothing to compare it to . Taste a bit bitter . Other than that I can not tell but my taste buds do not work so good any more so a lot of them hop and malt flavors elude me unless they are strong . Not bad . I just put two more in the fridge and put the rest in a cold room to condition a bit . i kept them in a 72 degree room that hops up to 78 when the heater comes on for a bit for carbonation time . Works good for my ales .

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According to Beersmith, this is towards the top end of IBUs for an Amber, but still well within style. As far as the taste goes, The Crystal and Amber malt in this should definitely come through on the palette. I think that's why I'm such a fan of ambers in general. I love that contrast between the malty smooth taste, with that hop finish to it.

I just had some friends tasting this last night. It was a huge hit and still not fully carbed yet. Getting there in the keg, but it takes time as I keep it at serving pressure for the other beers on tap. Anyways, yeah, I didn't expect this to get hit so hard, since it wasn't fully carbed yet, but alas, about half the keg was drank last night. So, I'm not the only one who thinks this tastes pretty good. I'll be buying the ingredients to brew this again over the weekend.

I am drinking another one now and it just tastes mostly bitter to me . I am going to try the next one in a glass so as to allow all the flavors to come out . I notice a lot of beers taste much better after a good pour . Kind of like holiday ale . I hate it in a bottle but in a glass it is not bad stuff.

MarcusKillion said:

I am drinking another one now and it just tastes mostly bitter to me . I am going to try the next one in a glass so as to allow all the flavors to come out . I notice a lot of beers taste much better after a good pour . Kind of like holiday ale . I hate it in a bottle but in a glass it is not bad stuff.

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I didn't know that you were drinking the first few straight from the bottle. It will interesting to hear if drinking from a glass improves things.

My bitter edge has softened really nicely after a few weeks in the keg. Now it has a very smokey flavor. I'd still back down on my hops ever so slightly but a very good beer

msa8967 said:

I didn't know that you were drinking the first few straight from the bottle. It will interesting to hear if drinking from a glass improves things.

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Most beers do taste better from a glass . I think the pouring lets loose flavors that are locked in . Like the head has that nice malty hop taste and aroma to it in the glass . Kind of like that draft beer in the bar . I bet if it was in a bottle instead of keg it would be horrible .
Also this beer has not had time to age properly I think . I bet it mellows out after a month or so more . But it will be drank up before that I bet .
I will update this evening after I dump in glass.

Well I am drinking one out of a glass with a good stiff pour . Nice head . Now that the head has mellowed down some it is ready to drink . So this one is a bit warm maybe 50-ish . Tastes much better as the name says . Less bitter which could also be compounded by not having so much trub mixing in it . If I was a fan of bitter I would like this .
I think I shall make some more soon and back off the bittering hops a bit .
All in all a very good beer. Good looking also . Nice amber color , clean looking with a nice cream colored head that hangs on the sides of the glass. Well that beer lasted me about 2 minutes . So, very drinkable also.

MarcusKillion said:

Well I am drinking one out of a glass with a good stiff pour . Nice head . Now that the head has mellowed down some it is ready to drink . So this one is a bit warm maybe 50-ish . Tastes much better as the name says . Less bitter which could also be compounded by not having so much trub mixing in it . If I was a fan of bitter I would like this .
I think I shall make some more soon and back off the bittering hops a bit .
All in all a very good beer. Good looking also . Nice amber color , clean looking with a nice cream colored head that hangs on the sides of the glass. Well that beer lasted me about 2 minutes . So, very drinkable also.

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The initial recipe I posted is the one I brew for my wife and friends that enjoy my home brew. Most of them are hop heads so when I brew a batch for me to drink I prefer to back the initial 1.0 oz of Centennial to 0.67-0.75 oz depending on the age of the hops.

Well one more review .
A nice cold one in the glass is very good indeed . I never drink bitter beers so the bitter was a bit strong for me but you know what , after I drank a couple of these I really like them . Just downed two of them . I will be making this again for sure .
thanks for the great recipe .

jsmcclure said:

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!

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My house amber is a recipe similar to this and last batch I FWH'd 1/2 oz of Magnum rather than the 1 oz Cascade I usually bitter with -- I agree that a full oz of Magnum is a bit hefty for this style. Turned out good but I'll probably go back to Cascade or try Centennial for bittering my next batch. I also like to use Saaz for flavour/aroma (1 oz total) and have typically used Wyeast 1007 and fermented pretty cool -- like sub-60 in some cases. 1007 is perfectly happy to do that. Then bottle conditioned at 70 for 3 weeks and then at the coolest temp I can find (typically mid-50s) for several more; really I'm lagering it.

Just some variations if any of you would like to try them.

Recipe sounds good. On my to try list

I am drinking a MBA right now . Nice and hoppy and a little bitter . hell this one did not get capped off tight and is flat and it is still good .