American Amber Ale Anniversary Amber Ale

[goodsuds]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

US-05 rehydrated

Batch Size (Gallons)

5.35

Original Gravity

1.054

Final Gravity

1.012

Boiling Time (Minutes)

90

IBU

30.5

Color

16

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

4 weeks at 68*F

Tasting Notes

Like a more flavorful Fat Tire

I brewed this beer for my wife for our 18th anniversary coming up on 6/16. She really likes amber ales like Bell's and Fat Tire and brown ales like Ellie's Brown and Moose Drool, so I was trying to come up with a beer that she would like, but I didn't want anything too big or heavy since I plan to serve it in June. I am VERY pleased with the results. She hasn't tried it carbed (she wants to wait until our anniversary to tap it) but she really enjoyed the hydrometer sample when I kegged it. This is super tasty! I really like the combination of the cascade and tettnang hops. Hopefully there's still some left by our anniversary!

5.35 gallon batch
6.8 gallon boil
Chloride/Sulfate Ratio 1.69
IBU 30.5
SRM 16
OG 1.054
FG 1.012
ABV 5.5%
Brewhouse Efficiency 80%

8lb 2 Row
1lb Carapils
8oz Crystal 80L
4oz Crystal 120L
4oz Chocolate Malt
Mash at 150*F for 60 minutes
Boil for 90 minutes
.4oz Cascade (8.4%) FWH
.4oz Tettnang (2.6%) FWH
.6oz Cascade (8.4%) 15 min
.6oz Tettnang (2.6%) 15 min
US-05 rehydrated

Ferment at 68*F and leave in primary for 4 weeks.

Prost!

 

[goodsuds]

Been in the keg for a week now at 10psi at 37*F and it's pretty close to carbonated and starting to clear. I've pulled a few pints over the last couple of days to share with my neighbor, strictly for scientific purposes . I did not fine this or cold crash it prior to kegging, I wanted to see how clear it got on its own and I didn't have the room to cold crash the bucket. I've also been paying closer attention to my water chemistry and noticed a huge improvement in how clear the wort looks after chilling it and having the break settle to the bottom of the kettle, so I was curious to see if that made any difference in terms of finished clarity.

In ambient lighting it looks like a nice ruby brown, but held to a window it is more orange. I really don't plan to serve it for another 4 weeks so I'm sure it will be carbed and cleared by then. This is definitely one tasty beer and I'm really pleased with the bitterness I got from the FWH hops. I was skeptical there would be sufficient bitterness to balance this beer since I used so few hops for bittering, but it's perfect. I'm going to have to rig up a beer gun like Biermuncher made so I can bottle some of these for competition.

 

[rhys333]

Looks good.

 

[SGTSparty]

Please post a final picture for comparison. Love to see how this looks once its finished clearing.

 

[goodsuds]

Well, my wife wanted to start drinking the keg, and I can't say I blame her, but it's about half full and I figured I'd better snag a pic since it cleared. I had to move the keg last night to swap out an empty from the back of the fridge so some crap got stirred up, but it's still pouring pretty clear. If, after a couple more pours it clears some more I'll update the pic. I'll be brewing another batch of this later this month and I don't plan on changing anything in the recipe at all, though, just out of curiosity I may see how it tastes with Notty, or maybe Denny's Favorite (1450).

 

[goodsuds]

So, I had been trying to save this for our anniversary on the 16th but I just found out I'm losing my job in a couple of weeks. What a kick to the teeth! We've been drinking this beer now since I'm trying to avoid spending any money on anything (including store bought beer), and my other two full kegs aren't quite ready. It's cleared up pretty nicely, but, it definitely took a lot longer than if I would have cold crashed the bucket before kegging or fined it with some gelatin. I've also noticed that the chocolate malt has faded quite a lot, as have the finishing hops (which I expected). I may play around with upping the FWH and finishing hops in the next batch. It's not cloying by any means, but, it isn't quite as flavorful as it was a couple of weeks ago. I'd be curious to hear other's opinions if they make a batch and try it over time.

 

[jafo28]

Beer looks great, I'm gonna brew your recipe tomorrow. Sorry to hear about your job, I've been there too, and it sucks, good luck.

 

[goodsuds]

Beer looks great, I'm gonna brew your recipe tomorrow. Sorry to hear about your job, I've been there too, and it sucks, good luck.

Thanks, I appreciate that! Good luck on your brew day and let me know how it turns out!

I should mention that after I shared this with more people I decided to leave the recipe as is. I found that it appeals to people who don't particularly care for "dark ales" (you know the type, the one's who insist they only drink "lager") as well as people like myself who drink Belgian Dark Strong ales and such fairly often.

Cheers!

 

[jafo28]

Didn't get a chance to brew this on the 4th, maybe this weekend.