Hoppy Amber Questions

So I've ordered my brew kit from Midwest Supply and am looking at my first solo brew on 12/08(I've assisted on a couple w/ a buddy of mine). My lady was kind enough to get it for me as an early Christmas gift(She's the best!!) The one that I ordered came with a recipe for an amber that I want to modify. I plan on using the malt extract and specialty grains but plan on changing the hops to meet my needs and was looking for some feedback.

The OG is going to be around 1.044 and an ABV of 4.5%(if anyone has any ideas to up these, I'll take those as well. Ideally I'd start with an OG closer to 1.060 and and ABV around 5.75% to 6.25%) . I want to hop it up but keep some semblance of balance. Looking for a bitterness ratio of .6 to .8. I've posted the recipe below for y'all to pick apart. My main concern is the hop schedule and dry hopping amounts/schedule. Thanks


6lbs of Gold LME

Steeping Grains
2oz of Special B
2oz of Roasted Barley
8oz of Caramel 80L

California Ale Yeast(WLP001)

.50 oz of Chinook at 60 min
.50 oz of Simcoe at 10 min
.50 oz of Amarillo at 10 min
.25 oz of Simcoe at 1 min
.25 oz of Amarillo at 1 min
.50 oz of Simcoe Dry hop for 5 to 7 days
.50 oz of Amarillo Dry hop for 5 to 7 days

I plugged this all into beer smith and it looks like what I was hoping for, but I'd like to see what the community thinks.

Thanks
ChickenSandwichCarl

Also if this is in the wrong forum please let me know.

Wait - you can get Simcoe and Amarillo??

I think you'll like it.

I love ambers!

One of the things I love about them is the crystal malt sweetness, with the hoppiness. Here's a great writeup from our wiki: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/American_Amber_Ale

As the key to an amber (also known as an American red) is the crystal malt, I'd use a lot more than 8 ounces. I'd probably go with a pound of crystal 40L and .5 pound of crystal 80L, and leave out the roasted barley. Two ounces of special B isn't really enough to even taste, but it's nice because of the toffee flavor it brings. I use about 13% (by weight) of crystal malt in my favorite amber recipes. That's a lot, but then I use enough hops to balance that out. You've got a really nice hopping there, so that would work out nicely.

Here's mine - all grain but easy enough to rework as an extract recipe:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Nottingham
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 58
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 14
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 28 @ 67 f
Tasting Notes: Truly the best amber ale I have ever had!

10 lbs 2 row
1.25 lbs English medium crystal (60ish SRM)
1 lb Vienna
0.5 lb Victory
2 Oz C 120
2 Oz Pale Chocolate
Mash @ 154 f

1 Oz Columbus 14.4% FWH
1 Oz Centennial 9.1% 10 mins
1 Oz Simcoe 12.2% 5 mins
1 Oz Cascade 0 mins

Dry hop with 1 oz cascade + 1 oz simcoe 10 days
1 oz Amarillo whole flowers in the keg

I am with Yooper you need more Crystal for a American Red ale. I would up your flame out additions to at least .50 oz each of your hops.
The dry hop I would kick up to 1 oz each of your hops, I like to use 3 oz for dry hopping a 5 gallon batch.

Easy enough to up the OG with a 1-2 pounds of light DME. Each pound will add another 8 or so points to your gravity.

Also, Simcoe can be pretty powerful stuff. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of it. Guess my point is to make sure you know you like it before you use it.

JLem said:

Easy enough to up the OG with a 1-2 pounds of light DME. Each pound will add another 8 or so points to your gravity.

Also, Simcoe can be pretty powerful stuff. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of it. Guess my point is to make sure you know you like it before you use it.

Click to expand...

I love me some Simcoe.

I've tweaked the recipe to include some of the suggestions and its definitely looking more like the beer I was thinking of.

Thanks for all the help

Here's the edited version I just plugged into BeerSmith. Its a much bigger beer, and I like it.

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: California Ale Yeast(WLP001)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.0
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 48.1
ABV: 6.4


6lbs of Gold LME
2lbs of Amber DME

Steeping Grains
2oz of Special B
2oz of Roasted Barley
8oz of Caramel 80L
8oz of Caramel 40L

1.00 oz of Chinook at 60 min
1.00 oz of Chinook at 30 min
.50 oz of Simcoe at 10 min
.50 oz of Amarillo at 10 min
.50 oz of Simcoe at 1 min
.50 oz of Amarillo at 1 min
1.00 oz of Simcoe Dry hop for 5 to 7 days
1.00 oz of Amarillo Dry hop for 5 to 7 days

Did you specify different yeast? If not, MWS only provides one small packet of Munton's with the kit, 5g, I think.

When I made the MWS Autumn Amber I wish I would have upgraded to US-05 11g pack or pitched 2 packs of the Munton's.

Maybe even two packs of US-05 for that gravity.

ChickenSandwichCarl said:

Here's the edited version I just plugged into BeerSmith. Its a much bigger beer, and I like it.

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: California Ale Yeast(WLP001)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.0
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 48.1
ABV: 6.4

6lbs of Gold LME
2lbs of Amber DME

Steeping Grains
2oz of Special B
2oz of Roasted Barley
8oz of Caramel 80L
8oz of Caramel 40L

1.00 oz of Chinook at 60 min
1.00 oz of Chinook at 30 min
.50 oz of Simcoe at 10 min
.50 oz of Amarillo at 10 min
.50 oz of Simcoe at 1 min
.50 oz of Amarillo at 1 min
1.00 oz of Simcoe Dry hop for 5 to 7 days
1.00 oz of Amarillo Dry hop for 5 to 7 days

Click to expand...

Ditch the amber DME and use light (or extra light) instead. You don't know what specialty malts were used to make the amber DME.

whoaru99 said:

Did you specify different yeast? If not, MWS only provides one small packet of Munton's with the kit, 5g, I think.

Click to expand...

I did not ask for different yeast, but I'm going to buy the California ale yeast and save the muntons for something else.

JLem said:

Ditch the amber DME and use light (or extra light) instead. You don't know what specialty malts were used to make the amber DME.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I wasn't sure about what to add to up the OG and found that Amber DME listed on beer smith, so it seemed to make sense to add it.