Amber ale

[Amff]

I was scaling my amber ale recipe in Beersmith to account for my efficiency. Beersmith still had the SRM pretty light so I also scaled the crystal 60 to 2 lbs Is 2 lbs of 60 too much? I have 12 lbs of 2 row and I'm only anticipating 60% efficiency.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

It really depends on what the rest of your grain bill is. If you post the rest of the recipe I'm sure you'll get answers that you're looking for. You generally only want to use a percentage of crystal malts to base malts I forget what the recommended percentage is I want to say 15-20% of your grain bill would be the most you'd want to be crystal malts. I'm sure if I'm off someone will be by shorty to correct the error. But obviously if your grain bill is 6pounds and your using 2pounds of crystal would be considerably different if your grain bill is 20pounds and 2 of that 20 are crystal.

Again post your recipe and someone will tell you what would be more an appropriate usage.

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

Let us know your set-up and recipe, 60% efficiency seems pretty low, perhaps you can work on that. Honestly if you're not doing competitions and trying to get to style, lower SRM is not a big deal. What size batch are you doing? if it's 5, then 2lbs of crystal 60 is too much. You want it lower than 5% of your grain bill.

 

[Amff]

It is a 5 gallon batch and I'm using 12 pounds of 2 row in addition to the crystal. This is only my 2nd AG beer which is why I'm estimating the low side. Im batch sparging and not crushing myself. Im still trying to dial in the Ph as well. I figure if I shoot low and I hit my target then I get the beer I want but if I get better efficiency ill have an imperial amber. If I shoot high and come in low then ill have a lite amber. I'd rather have a bigger beer than a thinner beer.

 

[Jayhem]

Let us know your set-up and recipe, 60% efficiency seems pretty low, perhaps you can work on that. Honestly if you're not doing competitions and trying to get to style, lower SRM is not a big deal. What size batch are you doing? if it's 5, then 2lbs of crystal 60 is too much. You want it lower than 5% of your grain bill.

How much crystal to use depends on the style.

I have an Amber Ale recipe that uses 75% 2-row, 15% Crystal 80 and 10% Candi Syrup that is awesome. The Crystal adds sweetness and body while the Candi syrup dries it out some so it's not overly sweet.

5% Crystal is typical for IPA's and Pale ales where you want the hops to shine and a dry beer.

 

[Yooper]

Two pounds of crystal isn't too much for an American amber- you can easily to go 15% for a nice beer as long as it's hopped correctly.

Instead of 2 pounds of crystal 60L, though, I'd "layer" the crystal malts. Say, 1.25 pounds of 40L, and .75 pounds of 80L, for a deeper richer flavor.

 

[Amff]

Two pounds of crystal isn't too much for an American amber- you can easily to go 15% for a nice beer as long as it's hopped correctly.

Instead of 2 pounds of crystal 60L, though, I'd "layer" the crystal malts. Say, 1.25 pounds of 40L, and .75 pounds of 80L, for a deeper richer flavor.

I'm already committed to the crystal 60 but I like the layer idea. Ill try it after I polish off this batch. Thanks Yooper.