Amber Ale, need advice

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FreakinA

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Tomorrow I plan to brew my first ever amber ale! I want something hoppy and something not too light bodied so here is my attempt at an AG recipe for about 70-75% efficiency. It was based off a clone of Hopback amber ale clone.

Grains:
10lb 5 ounces Pilsner 2 row
2lb 8 ounces Munich malt
1lb american crystal 40L
4 ounces crystal 80L
1 oz chocolate malt

Mash at 152 for 60 minutes. 90 minute boil to follow.

Hops:
1 oz leaf Magnum 13.4 AAU 60 Mins
1.5 oz Tettnanger 4.1 AAU 30 Mins
1 oz cascade 5.4 AAU 10 mins
1 oz tettnanger 4.1 AAY 10 mins.
Yeast: Wyeast 2112 California Lager

Beer Calculus stats:
OG 1.069
FG: 1.021
12 SRM
51.7 IBU.

What are you suggestions for this recipe? I want to try and find an amber ale that I really like, so this was my first stab at it.
 
I find the pils malt out of place for an amber. A pale malt would be better suited for the style. Next is the mix of cascade and tettnanger, maybe go with another domestic flavored hop in place of tettnanger. Last thing is the chocolate. For a red I have to go with some roasted barley. I just associate chocolate with browns and milds.

Munich I just love in about everything. It just adds what I call that pizza crust bready flavor.
 
The pilsner malt is what came with the recipe from BYO originally. I have tons of Magnum, Amarillo, Cascade, and tettnanger. Anyone have a good idea for a hop schedule to get around 45-60 IBUs?
 
Shoot, I didn't even notice the lager yeast. I'll assume you meant an ale yeast for the sake of this reply.

I did visit the Troegs site and see what they had to say about their amber ale. Sure enough they list pils and munich as a base malt. They give you the hops and pretty much enough info to get you in the ballpark for a clone.

Just kind of a guess at the hop schedule. Nugget for bittering, Cascade and Williamette for flavor and/or later additions. They tell Nugget and Mt. Hood are used in the hopback so there's your flame out additition.

You just have to make a best guess at the crystal. To get that red color I've always used about 2% of roasted barley in the grain bill, the type kilned to about 300 lovi.
 
I think the Pils is fine and the grain bill looks good but I would mash a little higher. You didn't mention it but I would make a big starter. Agree with PT Ray on the hops and the roasted barley (chocolate malt would work in a pinch though).
 
Big starter is what Im going for. I normally make the starter the same time I make the wort, and then in 2-3 days when the starter is roaring pitch it in. The california lager yeast was something I wanted to try out. The BYO recipe had that listed with American Ale 2. I am not quite shooting for clone of Troegs, I was just using that for a base amber/alt/hybrid. I will not get the chocolate but instead some roasted barley. And the tenntanger has been subbed with Amarillo Hops.
 
If you want an excellent amber try Jamil's Evil Twin. I love it. I hop it to 48 IBU's and use Warrior, Cascade and Centennial which is a little high but it balances well. I have about 2 six packs left from the latest batch so it is time to brew another one.
 
Big starter is what Im going for. I normally make the starter the same time I make the wort, and then in 2-3 days when the starter is roaring pitch it in. The california lager yeast was something I wanted to try out. The BYO recipe had that listed with American Ale 2. I am not quite shooting for clone of Troegs, I was just using that for a base amber/alt/hybrid. I will not get the chocolate but instead some roasted barley. And the tenntanger has been subbed with Amarillo Hops.

You let your wort sit for 2-3 days before you pitch your yeast? Are you doing no-chill? Has that been working well?
 
Yeah I am doing no chill. I am brewing in an apartment and it is so darn hard to bring 5.5-6 gallons of wort to the pitching temp.
 
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