First recipe, please critique

Well since this is my first recipe, I thought I'd call on the help of you fine folks. Basically, I went on the BJCP website and picked grains and hops that I thought fit the style. Because, I've never made my own recipe before I'm open to any and all opinions and ideas. The only thing I for sure want out of this beer is for the malt and hop character to be more balanced as opposed to leaning toward the hoppy side. I kinda want this to be a beer that the "general public" will enjoy because if it turns out well I will be brewing it often. So, here goes:

American Amber Ale

Type: Extract
Boil volume: 2.5 gal
OG: 1.047
FG:1.014
IBU: 32
SRM: 13

Fermentables

6lbs Amber LME
1lb Crystal 60L
.5lb Dextrin
.5lb Munich Light

Hops

.5oz Centennial 60min
.5oz Cascade 20min
.5oz cascade 1min

If it matters, I used the recipe calculator on tastybrew.com. And once again, I really have no idea if the ingredients I have chosen make sense so, I'm ready for any criticism, just be gentle haha.

Only change I would make would be to drop the dextrin for DME; maybe go with all DME instead of LME too.

I think it looks good as is. I like DME vs. LME, too, but that's just me. My only question would be, do you know what the alpha acid percentages of your hops are? Centennials can sometimes have pretty high AA%'s. Might affect the balance you're after.

Are you going to do a partial mash? Otherwise the munich won't do much for you.

Professor Frink said:

Are you going to do a partial mash? Otherwise the munich won't do much for you.

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I disagree; I find that steeping Munich adds some nice body characteristics that I don't get with crystal alone. It may also be used for color and flavor just like any other specialty malt.

So I switched the LME for DME and that seems to work out better anyway as it gets my OG up. The ABV was just under the low side for the style. The reason I had the dextrin in there was to help with head retention, but after a little research, I found that it probably won't do much for me in an extract recipe.

Rhoobarb said:

My only question would be, do you know what the alpha acid percentages of your hops are? Centennials can sometimes have pretty high AA%'s. Might affect the balance you're after.

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Yeah, I think the centennials have an AA% around 8-11. What would be a good replacement? Maybe use the cascades as bittering and flavor and use some fuggles for aroma? Comments on that? I think the hops is where i could use the most advice.

if you are brewing it for the "general public" as you say then the lower AA% may not be a bad idea. However, if you are a hophead, then something higher may be in order. Possibly nugget? Just a thought... Cheers!

TheJadedDog said:

I disagree; I find that steeping Munich adds some nice body characteristics that I don't get with crystal alone. It may also be used for color and flavor just like any other specialty malt.

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As long as he is not calculating it into his OG, since it will be unfermentable without a partial mash. And also will leave some extra starch in his beer. Which i suppose does not matter a lot as long as he is not cellaring it....

To get the max from Munich malt it must be mashed, it can be considered as a base malt that's been kilned at a higher temp. But since it has been kilned at higher temps, the malt exhibits a caramel like flavor and aroma that can be extracted from steeping, you just won't get too much sugar from it.

Iordz said:

To get the max from Munich malt it must be mashed, it can be considered as a base malt that's been kilned at a higher temp. But since it has been kilned at higher temps, the malt exhibits a caramel like flavor and aroma that can be extracted from steeping, you just won't get too much sugar from it.

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I guess I'm not too worried about not getting sugars from it because I'm doing an extract. If the Munich has a caramel flavor, do you think that will be too much with the Crystal? I've decided to go with a lower AA hop than the centennial. What to you guys think would be a good fit? I was thinking maybe fuggles or willamette. Any thoughts?

[Bo][Rn][Ez] said:

... I was thinking maybe fuggles or willamette. Any thoughts?

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Either of those would work or, you could dial down the Centennial to 1/4 - 1/3 oz. and leave the rest as is.

Yeah I guess that's an option too. Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm gonna get the ingredients ordered and see how this thing turns out.