Need help converting an extract recipe to AG

[CrookedTail]

After two years of extract with grains/partial mash brewing, I'm going to take a stab at AG. I have an American Red/Amber ale that I created as an extract recipe. I love how this beer comes out. It is fairly balanced and very drinkable. A great session beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/chairman-meow-proletarian-red-264196/

I want to try to convert this recipe to AG, and see the difference. The problem is I committed the sin of using amber LME in the recipe. The amber extract really gives it a nice maltiness to go with the hops used.

Here is the extract recipe:

Fermentables
3.15 lbs Amber LME
3.15 lbs Pilsner or extra light LME
6 oz Caramel 80L
3 oz Special B
2oz Roasted Barley

Hops
.75 oz Cascade (6% AAU) @ 60 min
.5 oz Cascade (6% AAU) @ 10 min
.5 oz Centennial (9% AAU) @ 10 min
.5 oz Cascade (6% AAU) @ 1 min
.5 oz Centennial (9% AAU) @ 1 min
1 oz Centennial dry hop


I tried the conversion tool in BeerSmith, but it didn't seem totally right. It upped the Caramel 80 and Special B amounts, then replaced the rest with basic two-row malt, basically getting the color to match. The thing is the Amber extract I use is from Northern Brewer, and I know it has some Munich malt in it. So I took the converted recipe and modified it. Here's what I've come up with:

Fermentables
8 lbs Pale Malt
2 lbs Munich Malt
8 oz Caramel 80L
4 oz Special B
2 oz Roasted Barley

Will 2 lbs of Munich be overdoing it? Should I just go with BeerSmith's conversion?

 

[Yooper]

Fermentables
3.15 lbs Amber LME
3.15 lbs Pilsner or extra light LME
6 oz Caramel 80L
3 oz Special B
2oz Roasted Barley

Fermentables
8 lbs Pale Malt
2 lbs Munich Malt
8 oz Caramel 80L
4 oz Special B
2 oz Roasted Barley

Will 2 lbs of Munich be overdoing it? Should I just go with BeerSmith's conversion?

I think that's a pretty good guess. I'd probably up the caramel to .75 pound so that you have a pound total with the special B.

 

[midfielder5]

I question the roasted barley. It seems out of place. Munich & the other specialty grains will darken up the color w/o the roastiness.

 

[CrookedTail]

I question the roasted barley. It seems out of place. Munich & the other specialty grains will darken up the color w/o the roastiness.

The roasted barley is in the original recipe. I added it for color, because I wanted a red beer. 2oz doesn't add a noticeable roastiness.

 

[CrookedTail]

I think that's a pretty good guess. I'd probably up the caramel to .75 pound so that you have a pound total with the special B.

I'll probably try that. Thanks.

By the way, I'm going to be rooting hard for the Pack to send the Giants crashing back down to earth. I'm a Jets fan, and the Giant fans have been excruciating the last few weeks.

 

[Yooper]

I'll probably try that. Thanks.

By the way, I'm going to be rooting hard for the Pack to send the Giants crashing back down to earth. I'm a Jets fan, and the Giant fans have been excruciating the last few weeks.

Exactly why I wanted to see Pittsburgh get beaten yesterday, so I understand!

You know I was just thinking more about this recipe, and I might even consider going to 12-15% with the crystal (total with the special B) if this beer had a sweetness to it in the finish. I'm thinking that "amber LME" might have munich and some crystal. Some American reds do go that high. What kind of finish do you typically get with the extract version? A little bit of sweetness on the end? Or is it less sweet on the finish?

 

[CrookedTail]

Exactly why I wanted to see Pittsburgh get beaten yesterday, so I understand!

You know I was just thinking more about this recipe, and I might even consider going to 12-15% with the crystal (total with the special B) if this beer had a sweetness to it in the finish. I'm thinking that "amber LME" might have munich and some crystal. Some American reds do go that high. What kind of finish do you typically get with the extract version? A little bit of sweetness on the end? Or is it less sweet on the finish?

The centennial hops really are the star. But you do get some sweetness in there as well, which I love.

 

[zeekage]

You could make a bunch of 1 or even a couple 2.5 gallon batches with different amounts of the Munich/C80/SpecialB to see which one ends closest. It would help ease into AG and give you more samples to compare at the same time.