Honey Amber Recipe- How does this look?

[MikeWI]

I'm about a week from trying my second batch. After doing a lot of reading (Joy of Homebrewing, this board, etc) I wanted to try my own recipe, a Honey Amber Ale. This is what I have so far:

6 lbs Northwestern Amber Liquid Extract
1/2 lb 20L Crystal Malt
1/2 lb Honey Malt
1.0 - 1.5 lbs local Clover Honey
2 oz Cascade Hops for bittering
1 oz US Golding Hops for aroma / flavoring

I want the honey to shine through, but this recipe might be a little sweet. Any suggestions or recommendations would be welcome. Thanks!

Mike

 

[Pommy]

If it were me I would be using some medium crystal malt with light LME rather than the amber which has a proportion of crystal malt for the colour and body. I always used to use light LME in the place of my base malt then use my grains as I would in an AG batch on top of my pale malt base.

 

[permo]

I think the amber LME is a great idea. This will help offset the drying effect of the honey. IMO. Honey makes a beer dry, not sweet. It also lightens the body but leaves flavor.

Your recipe is great, but I think you should limit IBU's to 15-20 as well.....you aren't creating a hop bomb here. 2 oz is a quite a bittering charge with the AA% of most of the 2011 cascades I am getting up around %8.