American Amber Recipe Critique

[nosoup4me]

First time brewing an American Amber and this is what I've come up with. How does it look:

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.3%
SRM: 15
IBU: 33 (.635 Bitterness Ratio)
Batch Size: 10.5 Gallons

84% 18.5# 2-Row (US)
7% 1.5# Crystal 40
3.5% .75# Crystal 120
3.5% .75# Victory
2% .5# Chocolate, Pale (220 SRM)

Mash @ 152°

24 IBU of Nugget @ 60 min
6 IBU of Mt. Hood @ 20 min
4 IBU of Cascade @ 10 min
1 oz of Cascade @ Flame out

Split Batch:
Wyeast 1332
WLP001
@ 64°

 

[carloslavin]

Looks good to me, bit interested on the small Choc addition. Do you expect some roastiness out of it or is it just color adjustment?

 

[nosoup4me]

Looks good to me, bit interested on the small Choc addition. Do you expect some roastiness out of it or is it just color adjustment?

Really just more for color.

I read in https://byo.com/bock/item/127-american-amber-tips-from-the-pros that:

"Use a good caramel malt made from 2-row barley at around 60 to 80 °L. A little dark roasted barley will help turn the color towards red. It will also lend a greater malt character and a slight nuttiness."

The brewer can use any number of malts to achieve a desired flavor, but what is most important is the color. The use of a small amount of darker caramel malts will give the final beer its characteristic red color.

and then looking at a Full Sail Clone just for a base I saw that they use around 3.6% of chocolate malt in the clone.

I am putting it in as a Pale Chocolate Malt ~ 220 SRM for the color and I think I'll make up the nuttiness with Victory Malt. If I increase the % or use regular chocolate I'll be on the threshold of the style (I know not a huge deal) at around 17.5 SRM.

 

[Yooper]

I don't like chocolate malt in my ambers. A tiny tiny bit for color is ok, but 2% might give some flavor impact. Consider a tiny bit of sinimar if you want color without flavor, or some dehusked carafa III. Or use a darker roasted malt, 500 L, and use less to avoid the roasty dry flavor it imparts.

Otherwise, I like the recipe. I might cut the victory malt down a tad, especially if you keep the chocolate malt, because it might be too drying in the finish. I like the basic hopping and the crystals alot!

 

[nosoup4me]

I don't like chocolate malt in my ambers. A tiny tiny bit for color is ok, but 2% might give some flavor impact. Consider a tiny bit of sinimar if you want color without flavor, or some dehusked carafa III. Or use a darker roasted malt, 500 L, and use less to avoid the roasty dry flavor it imparts.

Otherwise, I like the recipe. I might cut the victory malt down a tad, especially if you keep the chocolate malt, because it might be too drying in the finish. I like the basic hopping and the crystals alot!

What about reducing the Chocolate to 5 oz (1.4%) and Victory (10 oz)

So
18.5# 2 Row 85.3%
1.5# C40 6.9%
.75# C120 3.5%
10 oz Victory 2.9%
5 oz Pale Chocolate 1.4%

Or does reducing the victory only 2 oz not really do anything significant. Maybe just put it at .5# of Victory and change my base malt to Maris Otter of a darker color?

 

[Weezy]

I'd ditch the chocolate too. You could replace some of the c40 with C90 (for color and flavor) and use just a pinch of blackptintz or carafa dehusked or midnight wheat if you still need more for color.

I like the hops too.

I generally don't target color so much. Target flavor comes first.

 

[nosoup4me]

I'd ditch the chocolate too. You could replace some of the c40 with C90 (for color and flavor) and use just a pinch of blackptintz or carafa dehusked or midnight wheat if you still need more for color.

I like the hops too.

I generally don't target color so much. Target flavor comes first.

OK. So, 2 for losing the chocolate and adding dehusked carafa III. 3 oz get's me to where I want it to be color wise.

Would you stick with 2 Row or would you consider using something like Domestic Pale Ale Malt or Golden Promise?

 

[z-bob]

Any pale malt should do. I'd use plain 2-row because I have 50 pounds of it already. If I was buying malt for this beer, I'd get US or Canadian (cheap) pale ale malt.

 

[Weezy]

OK. So, 2 for losing the chocolate and adding dehusked carafa III. 3 oz get's me to where I want it to be color wise.

Would you stick with 2 Row or would you consider using something like Domestic Pale Ale Malt or Golden Promise?

I see amber ale as more of a showcase of layered crystals so I avoid adding much bready, nutty malts, personally. I'd stick with the plain 2-row.... Not that there's anything wrong with using those kinds of malts! That's just my take on the style.

 

[rhys333]

Original recipe looks good to me. 2% pale chocolate could be nice, if it shows at all. If anything, I think it'll just act like a boost to the victory malt.

 

[nosoup4me]

I see amber ale as more of a showcase of layered crystals so I avoid adding much bready, nutty malts, personally. I'd stick with the plain 2-row.... Not that there's anything wrong with using those kinds of malts! That's just my take on the style.

After posting the original recipe in another forum there was a consensus that the crystal additions are all wrong and that they should be replaced with a single C60. But a lot of recipes I've seen (Winning AHA's, BYO, Brewing Classic Styles and clones) all call for the split malt bill.

I figured splitting the crystal would give it complexity whole others are saying it will borderline a brown ale. Opinions?

 

[z-bob]

After posting the original recipe in another forum there was a consensus that the crystal additions are all wrong and that they should be replaced with a single C60. But a lot of recipes I've seen (Winning AHA's, BYO, Brewing Classic Styles and clones) all call for the split malt bill.

I figured splitting the crystal would give it complexity whole others are saying it will borderline a brown ale. Opinions?

If it's too dark, leave out the chocolate we were discussing earlier.

 

[nosoup4me]

Yeah. Going to switch it with dehusked carafa iii but keep the 15 srm. But still curious about if the slightly raisin-y taste the c120 will bring will be "out of style".

 

[rhys333]

After posting the original recipe in another forum there was a consensus that the crystal additions are all wrong and that they should be replaced with a single C60. But a lot of recipes I've seen (Winning AHA's, BYO, Brewing Classic Styles and clones) all call for the split malt bill.

I figured splitting the crystal would give it complexity whole others are saying it will borderline a brown ale. Opinions?

You can't go wrong with a blend of crystals... just depends what you're looking for. SRM is a blurry line too. Many pale ales look amber, ambers look brown, and browns nearly black. I'd just consider what you want from this brew in terms of flavor and apperance. For a lighter sweetness, lean heavier on the C40 and maybe drop the victory and/or chocolate. If you'd like to see more depth and complexity, lean towards the blend you started with.

 

[RevKev]

I want to ask who is the maltster behind the chocolate malt. That is also a huge factor

 

[carloslavin]

I once did the Amber Light recipe from morebeer , which has most of the Caramel being C120 (the same 12oz you're adding, but less C40 and no other specialties). Didn't find it to be too raisiney, but that could just be my crappy taste buds.

Still got some bottles. It's a simple, very drinkable beer.

 

[Weezy]

After posting the original recipe in another forum there was a consensus that the crystal additions are all wrong and that they should be replaced with a single C60. But a lot of recipes I've seen (Winning AHA's, BYO, Brewing Classic Styles and clones) all call for the split malt bill.

I figured splitting the crystal would give it complexity whole others are saying it will borderline a brown ale. Opinions?

Just C60 would make it an old school pale ale recipe.

I use 4 crystals in small percentages.