Amber Recipe thoughts?

Any input on this one my friends? I'm wanting something almost Amber like maybe a bit on the lighter side though. Would like it to be a smooth easy drinking beer and not overly bitter. Any input would be great. Plan to brew this weekend. Thanks



Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 12.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.5 %
8.0 oz Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2 4.9 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.9 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.9 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.9 %


1.00 oz Cascade [6.60 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 27.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [6.60 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 3.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [6.60 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 8 2.3 IBUs

1.0 pkg Nottingham (Danstar #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 16.01 qt of water at 161.3 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 7.17 qt of water at 207.9 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.60 gal water at 168.0 F

Interesting, I'm unfamiliar with Amber Malt, am curious to see others' comments. Usually, I would include a modest amount (no more than 5%)of Caramel Malt 60L

Looks easy enough. Isn't the amber malt kind of biscuity, like the Victory? They seem to be two of something kind of the same, which I guess isn't a bad thing but would make it tough to tell which is contributing what to the beer. I've gotten great deep amber beers around 16-17SRM so yours is a tad light in color for what I like but that's not a huge deal. However, a titch of roasted barley or Carafa III would solve that.

I thought the amber was more caramel like then biscuit like but I could be totally wrong. Beersmith shows 20L as a substitute I'll definitely have to ask my lhbs & or maybe taste a few grains. Thanks for the feedback guys. I agree it is a bit light still maybe i could up the special B for more color / caramel flavor too? Was thinking of avoiding the standard crystals and doing these other malts that i don't normally use. On the cascade i could change them too is there a good hop that fits Ambers better? Lhbs has everything in stock right now.. thanks again for feedback.

Just a thought, the Amber I do is a combo of 8oz C-120 and 8oz Special B. That get a nice deep red color a nice full body. I mash a bit low, around 150-152, to make sure it doesn't leave behind too much sweetness. I also use cascade/centennial for mine.

I brewed this Amber over the weekend. I changed the hops from Cascade to Centennial during the boil. I did use about 1/2 of an oz of Cascade and whirl-pooled it after the boil during chilling. I also added a little bit of C-120 to the recipe. The wort was a ruby orange color and had an amazing sweet melted caramel smell to it. Here is the final recipe and a couple of pics just for kicks.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Actual OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 12.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 38.6 IBUs (rager)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs 4.0 oz Northwest Pale Malt (2 Row) (3.0 SRM) Grain
8.0 oz Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)

.66 oz Centennial [10.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop
.66 oz Centennial [10.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop
.67 oz Centennial [10.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop
.50 oz Cascade [8.2 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 min Hop

Wyeast 1318 with Starter


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash out
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 16.25 qt of water at 161.3 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge: Fly sparge with 5.36 gal water at 168.0 F

Note: I Ended up Dry hopping with 1.25 oz of Cascade for 10 days the AA on them was 8.2%