The Elements of Style

Just looking for a bit of input and assistance.

I want to try to brew an Amber Ale. I've been messing around with the Beer Recipator and using its entry for American Amber Ale to put together an extract with specialty grains recipe to try to 'tailor' a recipe list.

Currently, it's looking like;

2 kg/4.4 lbs of Light Dry Malt Extract
.5 kg/1.1 lbs of Dark Malt Extract
250g/Approx 1/2 lb of American 60L
250g/Approx 1/2lb of dextrine malt (cara-pils)
1 oz Northern Brewer hops (60 min)
1 oz Cascade Hops (15 min)
Nottingham Ale YEast

According to what I'm getting, it'll put the OG at ~1.052, SRM ~15, IBU ~29, which according to the recipator, fits the style...

The question is, are these numbers all that's important? What am I missing here?

Missing late hop additions.

alecoholic said:

Missing late hop additions.

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Can you give a little more elaboration on this? This is fairly vague.

Valcarde said:

Can you give a little more elaboration on this? This is fairly vague.

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not to speak for alecholic, but I would add 0.5 - 1 oz of hops somewhere between 0-5 minutes left in the boil. something like centennial or amarillo (or more cascade if you want)

JLem said:

not to speak for alecholic, but I would add 0.5 - 1 oz of hops somewhere between 0-5 minutes left in the boil. something like centennial or amarillo (or more cascade if you want)

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And that's to add more hop flavor instead of just raw IBU's, correct? So the hops chosen there should be more for tailoring the flavor to fit what you're going for?

Valcarde said:

And that's to add more hop flavor instead of just raw IBU's, correct? So the hops chosen there should be more for tailoring the flavor to fit what you're going for?

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more aroma than flavor, but flavor too...IBU contribution will be minimal, so yes, you want to look at hops with good "finishing" aroma and flavor. And remember that neither flavor nor aroma are tied to AA%, so you would use the same amount of a 5% AA hop as a 13% AA hop.

JLem said:

more aroma than flavor, but flavor too...IBU contribution will be minimal, so yes, you want to look at hops with good "finishing" aroma and flavor. And remember that neither flavor nor aroma are tied to AA%, so you would use the same amount of a 5% AA hop as a 13% AA hop.

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Thank you. This is the kind of information I was looking for. So, you're saying that currently, the recipe I have put together fits the numbers, but not necessarily the aroma or flavor profile of an Amber Ale, as I'm missing crucial hop aroma/flavor due to missing late additions.

Good to know. That'll teach me me to look at nothing but raw numbers. I'll likely use a bit more Cascade hops. My local hops selection is... somewhat lacking.

Valcarde said:

Thank you. T So, you're saying that currently, the recipe I have put together fits the numbers, but not necessarily the aroma or flavor profile of an Amber Ale, as I'm missing crucial hop aroma/flavor due to missing late additions..

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that depends, american ambers are kinda wide ranged. they can be malty or they can be hoppy or a mix. up to you which way you want to go
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php#1b

IMO, i'd ditch the dark DME as its not really fitting of an amber. use more light dme and steep a touch of chocolate malt if you want the color instead.

dcp27 said:

that depends, american ambers are kinda wide ranged. they can be malty or they can be hoppy or a mix. up to you which way you want to go
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php#1b

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Pardon me while I go facepalm myself for not thinking of checking there.

That link is a big help. Thanks!

Valcarde said:

Just looking for a bit of input and assistance.

I want to try to brew an Amber Ale. I've been messing around with the Beer Recipator and using its entry for American Amber Ale to put together an extract with specialty grains recipe to try to 'tailor' a recipe list.

Currently, it's looking like;

2 kg/4.4 lbs of Light Dry Malt Extract
.5 kg/1.1 lbs of Dark Malt Extract
250g/Approx 1/2 lb of American 60L
250g/Approx 1/2lb of dextrine malt (cara-pils)
1 oz Northern Brewer hops (60 min)
1 oz Cascade Hops (15 min)
Nottingham Ale YEast

According to what I'm getting, it'll put the OG at ~1.052, SRM ~15, IBU ~29, which according to the recipator, fits the style...

The question is, are these numbers all that's important? What am I missing here?

Click to expand...

I brewed an extract american amber recently.

6.6 lbs (2 cans) Coopers light liquid malt extract
8 oz Cara-Pils (Dextrine malt)
8 oz Caramel 60L
2 oz Roasted Barley

1 oz cluster hops @ 60 minutes.
0.5 oz Willamette @ 5 minutes

US-05

It turned out really nice, but if I brew it again, I'll cut the amount of cara-pils in half. There was just too much crystal going on. I realized, too late, that many light malt extracts are made with some cara-pils.

Egghead said:

I realized, too late, that many light malt extracts are made with some cara-pils.

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forgot about that. I'd cut the cara-pils and use vienna/munich, victory, or rye instead.

Read my writeup on AAA on the HBT Wiki. Here's a synopsis in bullet points:

* Use American ingredients only.

* Use a relatively high proportion of Crystal/Caramel malts. They must possess a distinct crystal-malt note.

* Use a broad spectrum of crystal malts instead of only one.

* Use a hops variety instantly recognizable as "American" - Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo - for flavor/aroma.

@ dcp27: Practically speaking, your suggestions won't work, as the suggested substitutions must be mashed to be at all effective. They cannot be steeped.

@ Egghead: AFAIK, Cooper's extracts have no CaraPils. The only extract I know has CaraPils is Briess - after all, CaraPils is a registered trademark of Briess - because Briess lists the ingredients in the online MSDS for each extract.

Cheers,

Bob

I have been brewing an AAA as my house ale for over a year now. I used extract up until my recent batch (which is yet to be bottled). Your recipe sounds ok. As previously stated, there is a wide range for flavor profile. Typically it can be a bit more hoppy, but I like mine perfectly balanced: a great malty smell and upfront flavor with a clean hop finish.
You don't neccesarily need to add the aroma hops, its all (as the title of the thread states appropriately) in the element of personal style. However, I agree that the DME is a bit out of character. Try Amber instead. If the color is off, Go with Amber instead of the Light, and Light in place of the dark.