American Amber Ale Caramel Amber Ale

[bovinejony]

Great! Thanks so much Brian. I'll post the results when finished.

 

[chelero]

this recipe sounds really cool. i had to jump to the last pgae, not enough time read everything just yet. but I had a question(s): what about using piloncillo unstead of the candi syrup??? and northern brewer instead of chinook?

 

[KingBrianI]

this recipe sounds really cool. i had to jump to the last pgae, not enough time read everything just yet. but I had a question(s): what about using piloncillo unstead of the candi syrup??? and northern brewer instead of chinook?

You can do any changes you want, it just won't be the same beer. Piloncillo probably won't have the richness or depth of flavors of the candi syrup but feel free to try it. Northern Brewer will of course give you a more herby, minty beer than the citrusy, pungent chinook.

 

[chelero]

brewing this today! I went ahead and made the candi syrup, so the only change will be the northern brewer instead of chinook. the syrup got dark really fast, and I never made it past about 250F. i'm at 8700ft, so I probably should have taken that into account. I stopped it as soon as it started going dark. it's probably darker than it should be, but man, the flavor is insane-figgy, raisiny, just awesome. had some on pancakes this morning for breakfast!

 

[KingBrianI]

brewing this today! I went ahead and made the candi syrup, so the only change will be the northern brewer instead of chinook. the syrup got dark really fast, and I never made it past about 250F. i'm at 8700ft, so I probably should have taken that into account. I stopped it as soon as it started going dark. it's probably darker than it should be, but man, the flavor is insane-figgy, raisiny, just awesome. had some on pancakes this morning for breakfast!

Yeah, the candi syrup is awesome. Try some on vanilla ice cream!

 

[noodledancer77]

Thanks for the recipe guys. I brewed a batch of this recently and am considering entering in a competition. Any ideas on what style this fits? American Amber Ale 10B?

 

[KingBrianI]

Thanks for the recipe guys. I brewed a batch of this recently and am considering entering in a competition. Any ideas on what style this fits? American Amber Ale 10B?

Yep, American Amber Ale.

 

[drkaeppel]

My batch just finished bottle conditioning. Amazing beer! I will definitely be brewing this one again soon as well as your Pumpkin Ale for the Fall.

EDIT: On a slightly different note: I noticed that the hop aroma from late addition hops declines pretty noticeably after a few weeks in the bottle (I've noticed this with several of my beers). Any remedies to this?

 

[bovinejony]

Just brewed this over the weekend. The caramel was an anxiety-ridden experience but was really fun. Pretty sure I overshot the 290F by a little bit but it still smelled full of raisin/plum and rich flavor. I overshot the OG by 6-8pts, undercalculated my efficiency due to trying a new method. Luckily though I enjoy hoppy beer so I had added more hops then the recipe called for. Can't wait =)

 

[jstofer]

I brewed a recipe based off this about a month ago. Here is what I did

3 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 35.0 %
2 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 20.0 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4 15.0 %
0.55 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 26.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1 lbs Candi Sugar, Amber (40.0 SRM) Sugar 5 10.0 %
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 10 -

I ended up mashing for about 85 min as I utilized some iodine to test for my starch conversion. I mashed at 152.
I bottled it last Sunday. Cracked a bottle yesterday to see how it was coming. It isn't fully carbonated, but holy cow....this beer is awesome! Had a buddy over and he was amazed....even though it was still green...can't wait for a couple weeks when it will be ready!

 

[EllisTX]

I'd like to make this soon but I've only got Caramel 40, 60, and 120. To get the 16 SRM, 1 1/2 lb of 60 and 4 oz of 120 will get me to the correct color. What say you? Also, would I be able to find DAP in any of the megagroceryatoriums or will it be an online only thing? Thanks and I can't wait to get this brewed.

 

[KingBrianI]

I'd like to make this soon but I've only got Caramel 40, 60, and 120. To get the 16 SRM, 1 1/2 lb of 60 and 4 oz of 120 will get me to the correct color. What say you? Also, would I be able to find DAP in any of the megagroceryatoriums or will it be an online only thing? Thanks and I can't wait to get this brewed.

1.5 of c60 and .25 of c120 should work fine. I've never seen DAP in a grocery store. Most homebrew stores carry it though.

 

[EllisTX]

1.5 of c60 and .25 of c120 should work fine. I've never seen DAP in a grocery store. Most homebrew stores carry it though.

Thanks your majesty. I'll order some today and hope it gets here by this weekend. My closest LHBS is 150 miles away.

 

[AfternoonReview]

Just wanted to say that I made a 1 gallon batch of this a while ago and tried the first bottle recently.

Quite good. I'm not sure what it was supposed to turn out like, but I like it!

There's definitely a smooth caramel flavor to the brew, especially in the initial taste. It'll be interesting to see how this one ages.

I should mention that I did not use the yeast nutrient when I made the caramel. Just used sugar and water.

Thanks for the recipe KingBrian!


Just realized another departure - I used different hops. I'll need to check out the details of my changes when I get home. I'll post them later (if I remember...).

 

[AfternoonReview]

Just realized another departure - I used different hops. I'll need to check out the details of my changes when I get home. I'll post them later (if I remember...).

Man I went to edit my last post and ended up making a new one. I'm making this thread nice and sloppy.

sorry

 

[Brewfat]

Just tasted sample two weeks after brew day. Awesome. Going to give it another week or two and keg. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[bovinejony]

Just finished bottling after month primary. Let me just say that this amber is exactly as you described it before. Not just an smooth amber, but an amber with enough complexity and character to make it a memorable sip. I can't wait to get these bad boys conditioned and act like the quality is a result of my own brewing skills =). ty brian

 

[KingBrianI]

Just tasted sample two weeks after brew day. Awesome. Going to give it another week or two and keg. Thanks for the recipe.

Just finished bottling after month primary. Let me just say that this amber is exactly as you described it before. Not just an smooth amber, but an amber with enough complexity and character to make it a memorable sip. I can't wait to get these bad boys conditioned and act like the quality is a result of my own brewing skills =). ty brian

 

[frazier]

So yesterday I pitched yeasties on my third go-round with this recipe. I gotta say, I've gotten so many great recipes from HBT, it's tough to keep a rotation going - but this one will always have a spot.

A question about the caramel syrup - it takes nearly an hour to make, and given my poor organizational skills it is always a close call getting it into the pot before the end of the boil. Has anyone tried making this in the microwave? I know that when SWMBO makes a flan, she caramelizes the sugar in the microwave and pours it into the bottom of the flan pan.

Maybe I need to start a new thread, "Twenty pounds of sugar, a jar of yeast nutrient, and six microwave ovens".

Cheers!

 

[EllisTX]

Brewed this yesterday. Used a combo of C60 and 120 to get 16 srm and used Columbus instead of Chinook for steeping. Can't wait till I can get this into a keg.

 

[drkaeppel]

This one will be a staple at my place from now on. It is easily my favorite out of the 10 or 11 batches I have brewed so far. My first batch went away really fast (partially because I share too much) so I just finished bottling batch #2.

However, I need some advice on late-addition hops. On the first batch I brewed, when the beer was still young (2-3 weeks in bottle), it had an awesome aroma from the hops. I was slightly disappointed when this nice aroma diminished after the 3 week mark. So this time, I added the late-addition hops continuously starting at 10 mins left in the boil hoping this will prolong the hop flavor and aroma.

Maybe this is just the way it is, but has anyone else experienced this?

Great recipe, KingBrian! Your pumpkin ale is next on my to-brew list

 

[KingBrianI]

This one will be a staple at my place from now on. It is easily my favorite out of the 10 or 11 batches I have brewed so far. My first batch went away really fast (partially because I share too much) so I just finished bottling batch #2.

However, I need some advice on late-addition hops. On the first batch I brewed, when the beer was still young (2-3 weeks in bottle), it had an awesome aroma from the hops. I was slightly disappointed when this nice aroma diminished after the 3 week mark. So this time, I added the late-addition hops continuously starting at 10 mins left in the boil hoping this will prolong the hop flavor and aroma.

Maybe this is just the way it is, but has anyone else experienced this?

Great recipe, KingBrian! Your pumpkin ale is next on my to-brew list

Glad you like the recipe! By adding the hops continuously from 10 minutes you'll get more flavor out of them which may help to prolong the percieved aroma. Hop aroma just doesn't stick around for very long, unfortunately. I made an IPA a couple months ago and dry-hopped it in the keg with 3 oz of simcoe. At about a week in the keg it had wonderful room-filling aroma but only two weeks later (with the hops still in the keg) that aroma had become much much weaker.

 

[Chia]

if this has been asked before i apologize, but what is the rational for the 30 day primary and only a week in the secondary? will it ferment for the full 30 days?

 

[KingBrianI]

if this has been asked before i apologize, but what is the rational for the 30 day primary and only a week in the secondary? will it ferment for the full 30 days?

No need to keep it in primary for 30 days. Let it ferment out completely then give it a couple days to drop most of the yeast then give it a taste. If it tastes good and doesn't need to clean up anymore, either keg, bottle or rack to secondary. The secondary is listed as 7 days because what I typically do is cold crash (with or without gelatin) for a week before kegging. That gets it really clear. But really, do whatever you're comfortable with or used to doing.

 

[Chia]

Cool! thanks for the quick reply! going to try and brew this weekend if i can get a primary open!

 

[chelero]

check it!
this turned out great. I wish I would have added more syrup,
or perhaps some crystal malt to make it just a tad sweeter. But...awesome! I'll be makin it again fo sho! thanks kingbrian!

 

[KingBrianI]

Looks great chelero!

 

[frazier]

OK so this past weekend I brewed up my fourth batch of this recipe. Having so much experience with the process, I figured it would go pretty smoothly. WRONG.

Had my first-ever stuck sparge, which was just a minor headache and source of confusion. I’m pretty sure I know what I did wrong.

But the main problem was that when I went to the grocery store earlier in the day, it never even occurred to me that we might be low on sugar in the house. But once I started brewing, I discovered that the baking jar had only ¾ pound, and no time to go to the store. Sending SWMBO was out of the question, as she was up to her elbows in a quilting project.

Being the resourceful fool that I am (see, a regular fool is pretty harmless, but a resourceful one is a genuine danger), I hit upon the idea of using some leftover priming sugar that I had. So I added that to the scale, but was still a few ounces short. I rummaged around until I found some powdered sugar, and dumped that in.

Did you know that powdered sugar contains cornstarch? I didn’t, but I do now.

By the time the temperature in the saucepan got to 275, i.e. still ten degrees below target, it was a blackened syrupy foul-smelling concoction that was not fit to be used. Probably a blessing in disguise, because when SWMBO asked about my evident distress, and I explained the problem, she said “Oh, you can’t caramelize powdered sugar, that’s got other stuff in it!” Sheesh! Punked I was, by a quilter, in my own area of expertise. Oh, the shame.

Anyway, I made the only wise decision available at the time, which was to ashcan the syrup and proceed with the brewing operation, chill the wort, pitch the yeast, and make the sugar syrup (properly!) the next day. This plan actually succeeded – adding the syrup to the already-fermenting wort caused a bit of a foam-up, but no real problem. By the next morning (this morning), the jug was happily churning itself around, bubbling the blowoff tube, and otherwise behaving as though nothing wrong had happened. Whew!

I know this is probably tl;dr. So I will summarize:

When you caramelize sugar, there are no shortcuts, and no substitutions. Read and follow the instructions. That is all.

One more thing: with this batch I used WYeast 1450 Denny's, I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[terrencepickles]

Second time I've brewed this. Simply fantastic.

 

[Lumpy_Gravy]

Here is mine from earlier this summer. Gonna brew another batch in the morning