American Amber - Questions

[bigchristheman]

I have not made an Amber before and had some questions and was hoping for some recipe critique. I want an American Amber that isn't as hoppy as Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale, but still uses American hops and has a decent malt body to it. I really like Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale!


Questions:

Will be it too sweet for an Amber with 1 lb Munich AND 80L?
Will the yeast leave too full a body even with a mash around 152?



Yeast: British Ale (White Labs #WLP005)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 32.8
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 13.2 SRM


Grain:

11.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 86.46 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.20 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 5.40 %
2.00 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 0.94 %

Hops:

0.70 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 24.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops



Thanks!

 

[smagee]

I have limited experience with ambers too, but 1lb of crystal and munich seems reasonable. I'd think 152f might be slightly high, if anything. If you're worried about body, I might drop it to 151f or so.

 

[944play]

American Amber is where crystal malt comes to play. You'll want a good half-pound of C120 also to get the Hop Head Red feel. Don't be worried about blowing it out with the Munich, either. It's a base malt, after all.

As much as I love Cascade, GFHHR is all about Amarillo.

 

[dcp27]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-ballast-point-calico-amber-175381/

 

[pm5k00]

The roasted barley looks out of place to me, but i like 152 with 005, i would bump it up to 155 if using a more attenuating yeast (001).

 

[bigchristheman]

I've seen the recipe for Ballast Point Amber and wanted to make something similar but not a clone.

I did some taste testing before coming up with a recipe and I like cascades and centennial as finishing hops more than the Amarillo in Green Flash.

If I add a half pound of C120 and drop the roast barley, should I switch it up with WPL007 to make sure the FG gets low enough?

I want to make sure it is well balanced of an amber and neither too hoppy or too sweet.

SRM 14.4

11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.5 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.4 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.7 %