Feedback: Amber Ale

I'm about to brew my first all-grain batch and we're aiming for an Amber Ale, this is what we looking for:

ABV: 4+ (less than 5)
SRM: 8-12
IBU: 20-30

So far we got:

4 lb American Two-row Pale
2 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -60L
1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L

1.125 oz Cascade
1.5 oz Liberty
0.5 oz Cascade

Wyeast American Ale (1056)
Irish Moss

We don't really want it to be too hoppy and we're looking for a real amber color, all the help is really appreciated.

Are you making a 5 gallon batch? You'll need more than 4 lbs base malt

I'd recommend using at least 7 lbs base malt, and only 2 pounds of crystal. 3 pounds would be too sweet for a moderate strength beer IMO.

TimTrone said:

I'd recommend using at least 7 lbs base malt, and only 2 pounds of crystal. 3 pounds would be too sweet for a moderate strength beer IMO.

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Sorry, yeah, it's going to be a 5 gallons batch
By only having 2 pounds of crystal won't sacrifice the amber color?

Any thoughts on the hops?

3 lbs crystal is too much both in color and sweetness. I'd go 6 lbs base malt, 1 lb Munich 10L (gives some great malty notes), and 1.5 lb 60L. If you want to go even darker, try 1 lb 60 and .5 lb 80L.

You'd get ~ 16 SRM with the 1.5 lbs of 60. And be darker than style guidelines at 19.7 SRM with 1 lb of 60L and .5 lb of 80L.

As for hops, I'd drop them some. You didn't specify boil times for what you proposed. It might be good with lower boil times. 1 oz of Cascade (60min, 21.4 IBU) and 1 oz of Liberty (20 min, 10 IBU) would get you to 31 IBU which is just under the style centerline. Add 1 oz of Cascade as dry hopping if you like the Cascade aroma.

You don't want to go over 20% crystal malt in an amber, and that's pushing it. I'd rather see 12-15% crystal malt with enough bittering hops to balance the sweetness.

A good rule of thumb is to look at the IBU/OG ratio, to make sure you have enough bittering (without too much) for the beer you're making.

If you want to stay under 5%, you'd want to target an OG of about 1.048, assuming it'd finish at 1.010-1.012. If your efficiency is 70%, that's 8 pounds two row, and 1.5 pounds of crystal malt. You'd want about 35 IBUs from the hops, to balance that.

How about this?

8 pounds two-row
1.5 pounds crystal malt (how about 1/2 80L and 1/2 40L?)

.75 oz cascade 60 minutes
.75 oz liberty 15 minutes
.75 oz cascade 5 minutes

You guys have been so helpful, this is what I got so far:

7 pounds Two-Row
12 oz Crystal Malt 80L
12 oz Crystal Malt 40L

1 oz cascade 60 minutes
1 oz liberty 15 minutes
.75 oz cascade 5 minutes

Trying to keep it under 5.0% ABV

julypena said:

You guys have been so helpful, this is what I got so far:

7 pounds Two-Row
12 oz Crystal Malt 80L
12 oz Crystal Malt 40L

1 oz cascade 60 minutes
1 oz liberty 15 minutes
.75 oz cascade 5 minutes

Trying to keep it under 5.0% ABV

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That's much better. You'll get that rich amber color, without it being too sweet. Your hopping schedule will keep it pretty balanced.