Amber for the GF...goldings, cascade, or both?

[Pdeezy]

So it's about time I make a brew for the girl friend as she doesn't enjoy what she calls "bitter" beers.

She gave me some kent goldings as a stocking stuffer so I think it would be cool to use those in the recipe. Usually KG = an irish red to me, and when I think IRISH red, I think about as dark as you can go and still call something red, with a touch of roastiness. However, she wouldn't like that.

So I was wondering if someone had a recipe, or suggestions for an Amber/red using some KG and/or cascade? Hopefully something with a sweet finish, and low IBUs for the lady.

I am an extract/partial mash brewer so I was thinking something like:


Original Gravity
1.046 / 11.4° Plato (1.041 to 1.048)

Final Gravity
1.010 / 2.6° Plato (1.009 to 1.011)

ABV around 4.8%

IBU
17.8

Color
18° SRM / 36°

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L Late
71% 5 0 Briess DME Gold info 34 5 ~
14% 1 0 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L info 34 60 ~
4% 0 4 American Crystal 120L info 34 120 ~
7% 0 8 American Dextrin (Cara-Pils) info 33 1 ~
4% 0 4 Briess Roasted Barley info 34 300 ~

use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 1.0 Goldings, East Kent 5.0AA


Thoughts?


Thanks guys

 

[Pdeezy]

Maybe a little bit of cascade on the backend for a little hop flavor, but she really likes them sweet.

I would probably add a pound of 2-row in the mash as well to help get a full conversion.

 

[Pdeezy]

I guess ambers are boring, Lol.

 

[Pdeezy]

I should have named this - Quadruple IPA soaked in General Sherman redwood chips.

 

[acuenca]

The hop profiles of those two are pretty different and I've never used them together but should be alright... you could make a smaller batch as a tester and see if she likes it before you progress to the full 5 gallons or whatever.

 

[Yooper]

That's a LOT of crystal malt- 25%. It'll be sweet and she may really like it. If you're going after that much sweetness, I'd leave out the cascades entirely. It's really not an American amber, more like a sweet English bitter.

4 ounces of roasted barley might be pretty discernible to her. If she isn't a roast fan, you might want to leave that out.

 

[Poobah58]

That's a LOT of crystal malt- 25%. It'll be sweet and she may really like it. If you're going after that much sweetness, I'd leave out the cascades entirely. It's really not an American amber, more like a sweet English bitter.

4 ounces of roasted barley might be pretty discernible to her. If she isn't a roast fan, you might want to leave that out.

^^^^^^^^^^

Plus the DME has at least a pound of C-Pils in it...

 

[Pdeezy]

Sorry for the late reply guys - rough holiday.

Anyways, thanks for the replies...

The hop profiles of those two are pretty different and I've never used them together but should be alright... you could make a smaller batch as a tester and see if she likes it before you progress to the full 5 gallons or whatever.

Ya, I've decided to just stick with the KG for a clean, citrus-free balance of the malts instead of trying to get any hop aroma.

That's a LOT of crystal malt- 25%. It'll be sweet and she may really like it. If you're going after that much sweetness, I'd leave out the cascades entirely. It's really not an American amber, more like a sweet English bitter.

4 ounces of roasted barley might be pretty discernible to her. If she isn't a roast fan, you might want to leave that out.

Ok I will back down on the crystal. I was thinking of dropping the crystal and adding some caramunich or melanoidin (she likes octoberfests)?

As for the roasted barley i was just going for the color, not the flavor - so maybe i should use some carafa special II instead?

Thanks again guys - I usually only make IPAs or PAs so I'm kind of lost here.