Amber Ale? A good start?

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houser31

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3.3 lbs Briess Amber LME
3 lbs Briess Golden Light DME
Crystal 60
Crystal 120
Roasted Barley

HOPS
Cascade
Centennial

Was wondering if this was a good start for an amber ale?
 
Think that might turn out a bit unbalanced. I don't think you need the barley.

Honestly, if this is your first beer or first amber, refer to the recipe section in the forums below. Pick out an amber that has gotten high marks and try and match it. It's really best to pick a recipe and try and follow it closely as possible until you get a feel for the ingredients.

MHO

Let us know how it goes!
 
Thus will he my 5th beer... copying a recipe I found... only switched the hops and don't need the barley really
 
3.3 lbs Briess Amber LME
3 lbs Briess Golden Light DME (dark)

Steeping grains
Crystal 60
Crystal 120
Roasted Barley

HOPS
Cascade (2 oz 60 minutes)
Centennial (1 oz 1 minute)

Was wondering if this was a good start for an amber ale?

I entered this into Brewers Friend recipe builder:

fermentor volume 5 gallons
boil time 60 minutes
partial boil 2.5 gallons
Yeast SA-05
Resaults:
Original Gravity 1.050 Final Gravity: 1.009 ABV: 5.26% IBU: 35.31 SRM: 13.42 Matches Style:

Looks pretty good. Could also do a full volume boil. I am just guessing with the steeping grains and hops for bittering and flavor additions.

Try out the recipe builder. Make some changes to see how it affects the the beer according to style parameters.
 
Hmmm, the roasted barley makes things dark quickly, how much of the steeping grains were you planning on using?

Props on the recipe builder I've used tastybrew.com for a while, but bf looks nice.

I've always felt the barely changes the flavor more than just a nice color. I'd still go for it w/o barley, but I'm not making it or drinking it, so have at it!
 
Roasted Barley is only 2oz steeped for 30mins... I don't need them it's just what a recipe had in it also
 
You need to include the amounts of the grains and hops so we can give a proper opinion. It's not uncommon to use an oz or two of roasted barley for color in a red or amber. You could also use debittered black malt or midnight wheat if you don't want to risk any roast. How much crystal does it call for? There is likely already some in the amber DME so you should take that into account, or swap it out for all light DME/LME.
 
I brewed a similar amber this weekend, but all-grain. I think it's fine and there's nothing wrong with a little roasted barley, just a touch though. I actually used pale chocolate in mine.
 
3.3 lbs Briess Amber LME
3 lbs Briess Golden Light DME
8oz Crystal 60
2oz Crystal 120
2oz Roasted Barley
.5oz Cascade 60mins
1oz Centennial 30mins
1oz Centennial 5mins
Irish Moss 15 mins

White Labs WLP001?? Should I use something else?

Steep grain at 150° for 25 mins

Bring heat up to boil add malt extracts and Cascade hops

At 30 mins add Centennial hops

At 45 mins add Irish moss

At 55 mins add Centennial hops

Hope this helps...
 
What's the reason for dark instead of light?

i wouldn't use amber OR dark extract.

There are crystal malts, and things like Munich malt, in the "colored" extracts. That means you can easily double up or triple the amount of crystal malt in your recipe, and sometimes the darker extracts get "stuck" at a FG at 1.020, because they are less fermentable.

A good amber ale is usually made with light extract, a light crystal malt, and a darker crystal malt. And that's about it, unless you want to add a "Fat Tire" sort of flavor and add some victory malt or biscuit malt.

I'd use light extract, and increase the amounts of your crystal malt.

More like this:

.75 pound crystal 40L
.25 pound crystal 120L
.5 pound victory malt (or biscuit malt)
1 oz of roasted barley, if you feel you need it but I'd leave it out.
3 lbs light DME
3.3 lbs pale LME or 3 lbs light (or extra-light) DME (at flame out)
 
Color-wise, I assume? But not flavor-wise, or to hit an appropriate FG. I'd really NOT use dark extract in a beer that needs to attenuate pretty well.

That is a large blanket statement to make. Is there only one style of amber ale? Are there no variations in the category?
 
That is a large blanket statement to make. Is there only one style of amber ale? Are there no variations in the category?

Of course there are lots of variations! And we can make it anyway we want. I'm sorry it came across that way.

Ambers can have up to 15% crystal malt, some have less, but in order to use that much crystal malt the yeast has to be able to attenuate fully, and the hopping has to balance it. Using a less fermentable dark extract with specialty grains in it (like more crystal malt) can be very problematic. Color can vary from 10-17 SRM, from barely darker than a light pale ale, to very dark copper. That's usually due to the amount and color of the caramel/crystal malts. Doubling up on them by using a dark extract may give a nice color, but won't improve the flavor or help the yeast to finish. That's all I meant!
 
Even using the small amount of amber I might use can still cause and unbalance?
 
Even using the small amount of amber I might use can still cause and unbalance?

I think the concern is that the amber LME includes some amount of crystal malt extract. You could likely brew an amber ale with just amber LME. (I'm not suggesting you do that, to be clear. You clearly intend to craft a nice extract plus steeping grains recipe.)

Using amber LME and steeping crystal malt is going to result in a disproportionate amount of crystal and a less attenuative wort which won't necessarily get you the beer you're targeting. Better to start with lighter LME and layer it with the steeping grains you need to get it to an amber ale.

Full disclosure--I don't have a lot of experience with extract.
 
Could I make a red ale with this?

No problem, just cut back on the steeping grains if you extract is already red.

In general with crystal malt I like going with small amounts of darker crystal (especially cara aroma) as you get flavor and color but not that much sweetness since you're not using much of it since it's pretty potent stuff and a little goes a long way. Will taste a bit different, more dark fruit and less candy but I like that so it's all good, good way to give my US-05 beers a bit of fruitiness.
 
This beer turned out really good... comparable to a local small brewery near where I live... it was a little low in Abv like 3.5% but it taste really good and the most important part was the wife loved it
 
This beer turned out really good... comparable to a local small brewery near where I live... it was a little low in Abv like 3.5% but it taste really good and the most important part was the wife loved it
You just won the game. :mug:
 
here is a pic... the amber is on the left

IMG_20160121_195726.jpg
 
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