AHS Alaskan Amber Kit

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hawgwild81

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Was thinking of getting this kit. Just wondering if anyone has tried it. How did it turn out? Was it close to the original? Cheers!
 
Brewed it last fall and gave it out in Xmas gift packs. I'm not a huge fan(bit of a hop head myself) but it was a tasty brew, however I couldn't believe all the compliment I received for it.
 
I just bought this and it's due to arrive Wednesday. It received good reviews on AHS, do I'm hoping it is tasty. I bought it for my non hop loving buddies.
 
It is close but not quite there. I had my friend send me down a 12 pack so I could Pepsi challenge the real stuff vs. the AHS stuff. So, I am currently tweaking the AHS version to try to get it closer; my first attempt is adding more Saaz hops for flavor, and this is currently in the bucket fermenting.

As others have said, everyone who has tried it liked it, but at the same time I want as close to the original as possible.

Same kind of thing with the AHS Mac and Jack recipe; it makes a nice pale ale, but it's not quite there. My possibly "improved" version is in the keg carbonating at the moment.
 
Seattleducati

Let me know how your "tweaked" one turns out. I've tried several different recipes over the past couple of years and nothing came close. They all came close, but like you said something was missing.
 
Well the Mac and Jack went the wrong direction, and that's what's on tap at the moment. I did speak to a friend who use to work at the brewery, and now I have a parts list for that beer. Because of that, the Alaskan is still sitting in the primary, however, I would imagine I'd have an update on that in a couple of weeks. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten :)
 
It got put in the keg last night and I'm force carbing it at 30psi right now; I should have an answer in a couple of days.
 
Here is why I'm so interested…
My neighbor and his father went fly fishing in Alaska a couple of months ago. His father (A Genesse man) fell in love with the Amber. My neighbor had a case shipped to his house to give to his father as a Christmas gift. $150 later I told him, I can do two cases for under $20.
 
seattleducati said:
Well the Mac and Jack went the wrong direction, and that's what's on tap at the moment. I did speak to a friend who use to work at the brewery, and now I have a parts list for that beer. Because of that, the Alaskan is still sitting in the primary, however, I would imagine I'd have an update on that in a couple of weeks. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten :)

If you can would you post the Mac and jack recipe ? I am looking for one to do as I have a lot of friends who love that beer and I would like to do that one. Thanks
 
Just got this kit in yesterday and I'm excited to start on it. Let me know If you have any tips on it. I'm not gonna brew till next Tuesday
 
I'm hoping to keg mine this weekend, I'll post up tasting notes if I do. I have never had a real one to compare it to though, but I plan on asking at the local beer store to see if they have one.
 
I just tired it and it's not bad. What I did to the kit was add 1.5oz of Saaz at the 15 minute mark (as opposed to AHS .75oz) and .5oz at the 5 minute mark. It is closer, but there's still something that needs to be done. I don't know if the flavor is off of the original because the beer is so young or if there's another ingredient I need to add.
I would say that making these changes got me closer to real Alaskan Amber than what AHS puts out.

As for the Mac and Jack recipe, here's what I got from my friend....
Here's what I found out from Greg (who's knowledge is kind of limited, but here's what he told me) None of this really means anything to me, so bear with me:
They use '2-Row' Barley for a base.
There's some amounts of wheat, Caramel Malt and C41.
They use Cascade Hops
And the kicker is, they have some kind of proprietary yeast .
That's about all he knows. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask and I'll see what I can do.
 
I kegged mine two weeks ago. It's a good beer. Not sure how close to the original it is since I can't get it here, but I like it. I added 1oz of cascade at 60 min and 1 oz of saaz at 15 min. The kit called for .75 and .5.
 
I kegged mine today and just pulled off to growlers to take to a buddies for the Shootout. I made it per recipe (mini mash) but my thermometer was wacky (iGrille) as compared to my next brew and something went weird. Anyway the OG ended up spot on at 1.052 but it finished at 1.020. It tastes great but I don't have access to the real thing to compare. I would compare mine to Fat Tire.
 
I used to travel to the Pacific NW and Alaska for work many years ago. Alaskan Amber on tap was one of the best perks of the trip.
When I started home brewing a couple of years ago, Doing a AA clone was high on my list. I hadn't had the real thing in almost 8 years, but I thought I was close.
It's not distributed hear, so I had a buddy who lives in Colorado send me a sixer.
I have to say that bottle-to-bottle, they were pretty close. Mine had a slightly more earthy hop note than the original.
Ultimately, I liked what I had made just as well or better, but it was a fun experiment.
I started kegging about 8 months ago, and haven't brewed my version of AA since then. I'm due to brew, so I think I'll get some of that recipe in a keg and see how it is.
For the record, I use MO as the base malt and .75oz Cascade @ 60 and 1 oz of Saaz @ 5.
 
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