First Recipe Advice (Amber Ale)

[mythbustingpyro]

So I just tried my hand at designing me first recipe using Brewtoad, as it was the easiest for me to follow so far. https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/honey-amber-28


Honey Amber
an Extract, American Amber Ale by mythbustingpyro

Fermentables Efficiency: 75.0 % Batch size: 1.0 gal

Fermentable Amount Use PPG
Dry Malt Extract - Amber 1.0 lb 66 % Boil 42
Caramel/Crystal 40L (US) 4.0 oz 16 % Steep 34
Honey Malt (CA) 2.0 oz 8 % Steep 37
Honey 2.0 oz 8 % Late Boil 42
Hops Boil time: 30 min

Hop Amount Time Use Form AA
Cascade (US) 0.25 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 7.0%
Cascade (US) 0.25 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 7.0%
Yeasts

Name Lab/Product Average Attenuation
American Ale Wyeast 1056 75.0%
Predicted Stats

1.057 OG 1.014 FG 28 IBU 5.6% ABV 13 SRM 0.49 IBU/OG Recipe conforms to the American Amber Ale style


So do you think any of the amounts are off? Is there any reason for me to do a full 60 minute boil vs 30 minutes I planned? I want a fairly stong honey flavor to come through, and tried to stay toward the lower end on the IBU. Is there a dry yeast I could substitute for the American Ale liquid. I think I planned on going with a 30 minute steep @154, sound good?

I have the DME on hand and based the recipe off that, hoping the LHBS has the malts and yeast, don't remember from last time I was there.

 

[rodwha]

No real reason to do a 60 min boil from what I understand, especially using extract. But you won't get as much bitter from the hops. It will have more flavor to it. And that might conflict with the honey profile I'm guessing you are after.

Add your honey at flameout or in the fermentor a week after fermentation began for better honey results.

You may want to up the amount of honey though.

I use 1/2 lb of honey malt and 2 lbs of honey at flameout in my honey beers (wheats/blondes) of 5-6 gals. Too much more honey and it thins it out too much and becomes weird.

 

[rodwha]

Oh, and US-05 is supposed to be the same yeast, but dry. In Brewtoad I adjust the attenuation to 75 and 85% as it's more accurate (their numbers are off).

 

[mythbustingpyro]

Thanks, I have plenty of the us05/around. I was trying to stay within style for the american amber and thats why I didn't add more honey, but that is a possibly, and I was adding it once cool but didnt have the option to click.

 

[rodwha]

I prefer to add honey at flameout mostly so I can figure the gravity. But it's also a good idea if you plan on saving the yeast as honey that hasn't been pasteurized could possibly have wild yeast that may show it's face a few brew days later down the line...

 

[SubjectB]

Wow, your looks very similar to the first recipe I ever designed, even down to the hops! Except I used Nottingham, Crystal 60L and a full lb. of Honey Malt--I wanted an über malty Amber.

After tasting the finished beer, I revisited the recipe and took out the honey, because it's almost entirely fermentable and it gave the beer a dry finish, which wasn't what I intended. Suit yourself though!