American Amber Ale Caramel Amber Ale

[KingBrianI]

This might sound like heresy, but can you replace the candi sugar by maple syrup ?

Can you "candi" maple syrup by reboiling it with DAP ?

Good question. I don't know how boiling the maple syrup with DAP would work. I know it's already been boiled down a ton to make it, but I'm not sure if the sugar in it is glucose or simpler sugars. If simpler sugars, there would be no need to invert, but you may be able to coax some mailliard products with the added nitrogen from the DAP. It's worth a try anyway.

I have the grains for this brew ready to go. Need to find time to brew it. When making the candi syrup do you just use plain table sugar (cane sugar)? Thanks

Yep, plain old table (cane) sugar.

 

[jfsp]

Good question. I don't know how boiling the maple syrup with DAP would work. I know it's already been boiled down a ton to make it, but I'm not sure if the sugar in it is glucose or simpler sugars. If simpler sugars, there would be no need to invert, but you may be able to coax some mailliard products with the added nitrogen from the DAP. It's worth a try anyway.

From Table 2 of J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84 (10), p. 1647 :

Average composition of Maple Syrup:

68% sucrose
0.43% glucose
0.30% fructose
31.7% water
2026 mg/L potassium
775 mg/L calcium
167 mg/L magnesium
and some low concentration acids.

So I guess there is potential for inversion.

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

I brewed this recipe ths past weekend using D-45 from Austin Homebrew. Cant wait for the first taste!!

 

[MMachi]

This is brew #2 for me and went well. I added an extra 1.5# of 2 row to make a but heavier and pulled 80% efficiency. It looks great and I can't wait to get this conditioned. Should be in good shape by Christmas. Candi sugar went together well and tasted great too.

UPDATE: Amazingly enough this is still actively fermenting after 8 days. This is my first time with dry yeast and I chose to sprinkle rather than rehydrate. Took 36-48 hours to start at 61 deg F and has been moving along ever since. I was planning to rack to secondary today, but I'm still sitting at 1.016 (from 1.052) and still bubbling. Tastes great with some light fruit even so young. I'll plan to wait a few more days to secondary it as I need my 6.5 G carboy for brewing Bourbon Vanilla Porter planned for Saturday. I can't wait for this to be finished...

 

[MPOWELLJR]

This was my first all grain experience, other than some dumb mistakes on my part while pouring the water into the mash tun (thank god I heated more than needed) it went great. I'm due to bottle it this Friday and can't wait to taste it! Cheers all!

 

[frazier]

UPDATE: Amazingly enough this is still actively fermenting after 8 days.

I've made this recipe four times; one time it kept chugging along for 2 - 1/2 weeks! Great stuff.

 

[MMachi]

I've made this recipe four times; one time it kept chugging along for 2 - 1/2 weeks! Great stuff.

Good to hear I'm not alone in my lengthy fermentation experience. I'm impressed at the power of the US-05 considering I just sprinkled it without rehydrating. Thanks!

 

[skelrad]

Just opened the first bottle from my second batch. This recipe is going to be a house staple. Amazing recipe. I now see how important it is to hit the candi syrup temperature dead on - in my first batch I heated it too high by accident. It had a nice flavor, but wasn't a caramel flavor. For my second batch I hit my temps dead on for the syrup, and it made a huge difference. The beer has a nice sweet caramel nose and finish, which is balanced perfectly by the hops. After the first bottle I'm already considering brewing it again, just so I don't accidentally find myself without it here in a few weeks.

 

[shadows69]

Brewed this on Sunday. Had to do a couple of changes. Ran out of 80 crystal subbed crystal 120. Added .5 Lbs of 6 row. No chin hops subbed nugget hops. Also used 1056 yeast without thinking. It was one of those brew days were nothing seems to go right. The good thing is she's bubbling away in the primary.

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Home Brew Talk

 

[Kokopuff829]

Just bought the ingredients. Using cluster instead of Willamette because that's all I had on hand and Wyeast 1332 instead of US-05. Hope it still turns out good. Can't wait.

 

[RedGuitar]

I brewed this just over two weeks ago and took a gravity reading today. After about two weeks, my gravity is only at 1.028. There was never very much air lock activity, which I know is not fully indicative of fermentation, but it still seems very slow fro the get-go. Has anybody else had this experience with this brew? My plan right now is to take another sample in a week then decide if I need to pitch more yeast.

 

[frazier]

I've always had fairly low finishes with this recipe, with several different yeasts - in the 1.008 to 1.012 range. What was your mash temp, yeast type, starter size etc? If there was a problem with your mash, I doubt that adding more yeast would help.

FWIW, my old digital thermometer, may it rest in pieces, took to reading very low, causing me to mash very high. Causing some real attenuation problems with a couple batches.

 

[RedGuitar]

My mash temp was 152 and I sparged at 170. Used Safale US-05 yeast, but did not use a starter (might be learning my lesson on this one). I adjusted this to be a partial mash, and mashed 4 lbs of 2 Row with 1.5 pounds of Crystal 80L, then mixed in 2 3/4 lbs light DME in my boil. I did use the entire 2 pounds of sugar, because I figured what the hell, so my OG was ~1.055 or so (doing this from memory). I shook up the fermenter this morning and the air pressure has built back up, so it might be fermenting again. My temps have been right in the prescribed range for US-05.

Thoughts?

 

[RedGuitar]

Alright, after shaking it yesterday there were some bubbles in my airlock once more, so today I added some yeast nutrient and shook it again. I'm really hoping this dries out; based on the gravity sample I tried, this was WAY too sweet. Hope I can get it close to 1.010.

 

[Kokopuff829]

Brewed it last Saturday with Cluster subbed for Willamette. Just smelled it from the air lock and it smells delicious. I can't wait to try this one. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[PapaFoxtrot]

Subscribing so I can find this one later! Definitely on the list!

 

[RedGuitar]

Re-checked my gravity today and I've gotten it down to 1.024 from 1.028 five days ago, but it looks like the yeast has fallen from suspension again. Tasted the sample and it is way too sweet for me. So, should I try shaking it up again? Should I try re-pitching yeast? Or should I try dry hopping to help counter the sweetness? I'm leaving town in four days and will be gone for 10 days, which is when I was planning on having it in secondary. Thoughts?

 

[Kokopuff829]

Re-checked my gravity today and I've gotten it down to 1.024 from 1.028 five days ago, but it looks like the yeast has fallen from suspension again. Tasted the sample and it is way too sweet for me. So, should I try shaking it up again? Should I try re-pitching yeast? Or should I try dry hopping to help counter the sweetness? I'm leaving town in four days and will be gone for 10 days, which is when I was planning on having it in secondary. Thoughts?

You could give It a swirl and then if it hasn't started up again before you leave pitch some more yeast.

 

[KingBrianI]

Re-checked my gravity today and I've gotten it down to 1.024 from 1.028 five days ago, but it looks like the yeast has fallen from suspension again. Tasted the sample and it is way too sweet for me. So, should I try shaking it up again? Should I try re-pitching yeast? Or should I try dry hopping to help counter the sweetness? I'm leaving town in four days and will be gone for 10 days, which is when I was planning on having it in secondary. Thoughts?

Sorry to hear about your troubles, man. I've never tried it but I've heard the only way to unstick a really stubborn fermentation is to rack it onto a yeast cake from another beer. I'd try that if you can do it. If not, the only other thing I could think of is to brew another beer and mix the two. Either a really dry beer to bring down the gravity, or a beer that can handle the high FG, like a barleywine. Good luck!

 

[Mb2658]

I just ordered the ingredients to give this a shot. I am really excited to give it a go.

 

[Mb2658]

I brewed this today. My mash temps were good but my specific gravity was low at 1.038. I ended up bumping it up with a pound of light malt extract. I think that I ground my grains too coarse and that is what caused my numbers to be so low. I will have to tweak it for my next brew session.

 

[rodisian]

Brewed this up last night, subbing Simcoe for the Chinook. The caramel syrup tasted delicious (cooked it to 275F), and the wort smelled and looked great. Gravity was spot on at 1.052. And while I usually rehydrate my US05, this time I pitched it directly into the wort per the instructions on the packet: there's airlock activity this AM, so hopefully that continues to go well.

Thanks for the recipe and definitely looking forward to trying this in a few weeks!

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Brother and I brewed this.yesterday morning. However I've been sitting on a few oz. of EKG that Ive been wanting to use and think they'll go well in here.

 

[hmmmbeer]

Just wanted to say I brewed this a few weeks ago, its aged, kegged and coming out the tap... AMAZING!!! I think this might be my fav brew yet! I did bump the .78 oz to a full 1 oz and fermented with the hops in and racked a few times to clear it... I'll be doing this one again! Tomorrow, I brew a Rogue H.B.N clone (10 gal) with my new brew stand and keggle! Can't wait!!!

 

[marshallbertram]

Brewed this 12/30. Color looked great, hit OG right on at 1.050. Checked the SG the other day (~1/4-1/5) and it was already down to 1.010. I did use Wyeast 1056 American Ale. The active fermentation makes me wonder if I should rack to the secondary before the full 30 days. Any input?

 

[KingBrianI]

Brewed this 12/30. Color looked great, hit OG right on at 1.050. Checked the SG the other day (~1/4-1/5) and it was already down to 1.010. I did use Wyeast 1056 American Ale. The active fermentation makes me wonder if I should rack to the secondary before the full 30 days. Any input?

At 1.010 it is probably fully attenuated. If you taste it and it's good I'd say go ahead and move it to secondary.

 

[jtupper]

Im, thinking of doing this with a different hop schedule. Whats everyone think about a columbus/cascade hop profile with the same grain/sugars.? Its what I have in stock. and im strapped for cash right now. Plus I already have the c hops in stock.

suggestions?

 

[hmmmbeer]

Im, thinking of doing this with a different hop schedule. Whats everyone think about a columbus/cascade hop profile with the same grain/sugars.? Its what I have in stock. and im strapped for cash right now. Plus I already have the c hops in stock.

suggestions?

I'm a huge fan in Cascade hops so I'd say give it a shot. I might try this with cascade hops next time just to see how it turns out. But I think it should be said that this recipe is simply amazing with the hops it has already. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.

 

[mrsunshades]

Can this beer be made using a homebrewers candi syrup, available at brewers supply stores? I'm with you, brother, on the balance thing; nothing like a full malty ale with that hoppy counterpoint !

 

[mrsunshades]

Can I use a candi syrup available at my homebrew store for this?

 

[KingBrianI]

Can this beer be made using a homebrewers candi syrup, available at brewers supply stores? I'm with you, brother, on the balance thing; nothing like a full malty ale with that hoppy counterpoint !

Can I use a candi syrup available at my homebrew store for this?

Is it too early to relax and have a homebrew? Yes, you can use the commercial stuff.

 

[hodge]

Need some advice... my two stable temp options are:

1) 54-ish

or

2) 68

I think I may be able to get 05 to go at 54, it just might be pushing it too far. On the other hand, 68 might give me too much flavor from the yeast. It is currently in the 54 range, should I go with 68?

 

[KingBrianI]

Need some advice... my two stable temp options are:

1) 54-ish

or

2) 68

I think I may be able to get 05 to go at 54, it just might be pushing it too far. On the other hand, 68 might give me too much flavor from the yeast. It is currently in the 54 range, should I go with 68?

Keep it at 54. US-05 works well at lower temps and should be ok.

 

[JGarner]

FWIW...I fermented my last batch at 58, and I definitely felt like I picked up some `peachiness` from the yeast. With that being said, I have had a couple people tell me it was my best work so far..go figure

 

[pksmitty]

I brewed this one several months ago. One of my best beers to date. When my godson (whose father has recently started brewing) tasted it, his immediate reaction was "Oh my god!"

I think I might brew this again tomorrow. It's a definite keeper.

 

[Al_B_brewin1]

So i'm attempting this as the third batch of brew ive ever made. I using the extract version you mentioned on page 18. Im making the candi syrup tonight and will be brewing tomorrow morning. Ive read this entire thread over the last two days and im super excited about it, idk how im going to wait till its finished! I do have one question, have you tried making the sugar #5 where you bring it back to 290 a second time? and if so how did that turn out? Thanks for all the info and this site is the best!

 

[KingBrianI]

So i'm attempting this as the third batch of brew ive ever made. I using the extract version you mentioned on page 18. Im making the candi syrup tonight and will be brewing tomorrow morning. Ive read this entire thread over the last two days and im super excited about it, idk how im going to wait till its finished! I do have one question, have you tried making the sugar #5 where you bring it back to 290 a second time? and if so how did that turn out? Thanks for all the info and this site is the best!

I've made #5 several times, but have only used it in Belgian Strong Dark Ales. It has a more raisiny, dark fruit character than the single-cooked candi syrup and less of the caramelly flavor. It is also much darker in color. I think the single-cooked syrup is better for this recipe, but feel free to experiment. Having said that though, you may want to try the original before changing things to see how the changes effect the final product.

Cheers!

 

[lschiavo]

I just stumbled upon this recipe. I have always loved a nice malty amber but never been able to get quite the results I was looking for. This sounds like just the ticket. I never considered syrup.

I wish I could brew it right now! It will be one of my next two batches though. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Al_B_brewin1]

King,
Im definatley going to make it according to your recipe first, and i think even make it a few times to see if i can easily replicate it. I also cant wait to attempt it as an AG when i get to that point. The syrup i made last night came out great so ill report back later to let ya know how the brew went!

Ok so the brew went off without a hitch, the only thing is that I had an OG of 1.059. Could that be cuz I only did a 3gl partial boil with DME and took the reading before i realized i needed to add about a half gallon more top off water to reach 5 gl? Thanks

Al

 

[hodge]

Just tasted this about 4 weeks into primary and it's great. Definitely has a Chinook'd flavor and aroma to it and has a nice malt backbone as well. More hop flavor and bitterness than I anticipated but great balance overall.

Looks like a re-do to me!