American Amber Ale Caramel Amber Ale

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jbb3 said:
I have a 6-1/2 gal batch that's been in the fermenter for 24 days today. Obviously it ready to keg/bottle but I'm trying to complete a keezer build. May have to go ahead and keg it and stick it in the frig until I can complete my keezer....
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24 days!? Sheesh, what are you waiting for. I had 1.012 after 5 days, and finished at 1.007 after 8 days. 2nd time I brewed this, what a nice, smooth (with a hint of caramel sweetness) amber ale.
 
kevreh said:
24 days!? Sheesh, what are you waiting for. I had 1.012 after 5 days, and finished at 1.007 after 8 days. 2nd time I brewed this, what a nice, smooth (with a hint of caramel sweetness) amber ale.
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Patience grasshopper. When one can walk rice paper with caramel amber ale in hand and not leave sign, it is ready. THEN you will experience a blended mellowness seldom experienced in 8 days.

NOW GO FORTH, and be one with the beer....
 
jbb3 said:
Patience grasshopper. When one can walk rice paper with caramel amber ale in hand and not leave sign, it is ready. THEN you will experience a blended mellowness seldom experienced in 8 days.

NOW GO FORTH, and be one with the beer....
Click to expand...

:)
 
I've made this beer a few times now and it always turns out great, now the last time I made it I had a "mishap" with the carmel sauce and it didn't make it in. I was surprised at how this changed the flavor a lot and it needs that sweet in it.

I was trying to figure out how to fix it so It would taste better and it hits me, dry hop it with something! I looked to see what I had and I went with Citra, I use it to dry hop a lot. After a week I tasted it and its fantastic! The citrus flavor is the perfect balance and the perceived sweetness from the citrus rounds this beer out. Just thought I'd pass this along.
 
KingBrianI said:
Yeah, carabohemian should make a great substitute! It's slightly lighter in color but it shouldn't make a huge difference and from the description, it looks like it has exactly the flavors I used the crystal 80 for in the original recipe.
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Thanks for your quick reply.

I guess this is a good Spring or Fall beer so I'll try plan it in for sometime before Easter. If not then sometime in the late Summer.
 
Shenanigans said:
Thanks for your quick reply.

I guess this is a good Spring or Fall beer so I'll try plan it in for sometime before Easter. If not then sometime in the late Summer.
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Well I made the candi syrup tonight so I guess I'm going to have to brew it this weekend :ban:

I'm putting the recipe together in Beersmith at the moment and will follow the OP as much as I can. Base malt will be a Belgian Pale Ale and the crystal will be Carabohemian.
Sorry if this has been mentioned before but I guess when this recipe was first posted the IBUs from whirlpooling were not included in Beersmith. I'm getting about 55 IBUs as a result of this. Hope that is still OK.

Been posting on here for almost two years now and can't believe I only found this recipe last week. :eek:
 
KingBrianI said:
.....
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KingBrian, I just kegged my first keg of what should be a smooth tasting Caramel Amber Ale. Thanks for the recipe!!

I won't have my keezer completed for another week or so. Right not, it's on 13 psi sitting in my beer frig. I'm new to kegging and wanted to know where you thought the sweetspot is for carbonating this brew?
 
jbb3 said:
KingBrian, I just kegged my first keg of what should be a smooth tasting Caramel Amber Ale. Thanks for the recipe!!

I won't have my keezer completed for another week or so. Right not, it's on 13 psi sitting in my beer frig. I'm new to kegging and wanted to know where you thought the sweetspot is for carbonating this brew?
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Just leave it at 13psi for 2 weeks and you should be fine. That's where I have my regulator set, my keezer is at 38 degrees, and in 2 weeks my beers are ready to drink.
 
Doed said:
Just leave it at 13psi for 2 weeks and you should be fine. That's where I have my regulator set, my keezer is at 38 degrees, and in 2 weeks my beers are ready to drink.
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Thanks! Will do...
 
Still don't have my keezer build done but I couldn't stand it any longer. Went to my LHBS and bought the parts for a pigtail with a party tap so I can dispense right off the keg!

:ban:

I am happy with the beer! Great color, I can taste a hint of the caramel and it is VERY session-able (i.e.; could drink it all night...).

But I was a bit surprised at the initial bitter bite it had. Don't get me wrong. I'm an IPA guy. I love bitterness! But it was unexpected from many of the descriptions.

I described it to my wife as; The first sip is a little surprising from the bitterness knowing it's an amber ale. But sips 2 thru 40 are GOOD! ;)

Are others experiencing this initial bitterness or did I do something wrong? I hit my numbers pretty spot on so I'm guessing it is just the character of the beer??

Again, I like the beer!!!
 
Did you use chinook?

In my experience chinook and columbus take some aging to take the edge off. I notice a substantial difference from 2 weeks and a month. The bitterness seems to smooth out if that makes sense.
 
So I bottled this yesterday using the Candy Syrup for primimg.
Aimed for 2.6 volumes.
Will leave it for a week and see how it's going, hopefully it will be ready within 2 weeks.
 
Shenanigans said:
So I bottled this yesterday using the Candy Syrup for primimg.
Aimed for 2.6 volumes.
Will leave it for a week and see how it's going, hopefully it will be ready within 2 weeks.
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So I didn't wait a full week, I just had to try a bottle today :eek:
Seems about normal for 5 days at about 65F.
Still needs a least another week but I will try one again on Friday.
 
After two weeks in the bottle the beer is delicious but there is a definite lack of head retention. Could that be due to the use of sugar and thinning out the beer?
 
Not necessarily.. it could be due to the body as a result from mash temps, yeast strain, or clean glass wear. The large amount of crystal malt should balance the sugar addition well.
 
Anyone ever try this with Fantasia hops? I bought four ounces of these in our Wuhan Yakima Valley group buy because I'm intrigued by the "silky touch of cream and caramel" descriptor. I don't know whether they're talking about flavor or mouthfeel or both, though, so I'm not sure if I should use them for FWH, aroma, or dry hops. There's very little that I can find online; a few Untappd reviews of a pilot brew from Stone, a couple sites that repeat the same description from Yakima Valley's website, and a ton of stuff about Disney's dancing mushrooms.

Thoughts?
 
I decided to try undercarbing my last caramel amber - I added enough sugar for roughly 1.6 volumes to get it just past cask levels. Even after finishing at 1 degree plato it tastes sweeter than a more highly-carbed version, but not in a cloying way. If you're into the sweetness of this beer or want to make one for someone who isn't really into most beer but could enjoy something sweeter (in my case, my wife), it's a good way to go.
 
brewed this today but had to use 3/4 oz of Nugget @ 45m and 1 oz of Fuggle @ 10 m... It is my mom's birthday and I wanted to make some beer in her memory. I was a bit surprised when my SG came out 1.065... I guess my efficiency was up. The only grain difference was that I added 12 oz. of oats...which I nearly always do.
thanks.
 
BowAholic said:
brewed this today but had to use 3/4 oz of Nugget @ 45m and 1 oz of Fuggle @ 10 m... It is my mom's birthday and I wanted to make some beer in her memory. I was a bit surprised when my SG came out 1.065... I guess my efficiency was up. The only grain difference was that I added 12 oz. of oats...which I nearly always do.
thanks.
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Looks like mom put a little extra zing into that brew. Looking forward to a report back of the results in 30 days or so...

:mug:
 
jbb3 said:
Looks like mom put a little extra zing into that brew. Looking forward to a report back of the results in 30 days or so...

:mug:
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Update-
Took a gravity sample today after it was a month old in the primary...been at 67* since day 1... FG was only 1.019... oh well... more body I guess. I started a cold crash and added some gelatin at 45*...will leave it chilling for a couple of days before bottling...can't wait.
 
Need to brew this one again. This was my most well-received batch and I think I have almost all the ingredients.
 
I really want to try making this beer but I am not quite to the AG level yet. I did see early in the thread a conversion for extract.
However I don't have the equipment to do a full 5.5 gallon boil. At best I could probably get away with 3-4 gallons.

My question is what adjustments do I need to make to the recipe to do a partial (say 3.5 gallon) boil?

Thanks

Patrick
DFW, TX
 
Found this recipe in the Top 100 HBT Recipes article and was intrigued. Over the past few days I've read through all 79 pages of posts and I will be brewing this up tomorrow.

I see a lot of people substituting the Chinook, but only a couple Willamette subs, usually for Fuggles. I have all the ingredients on hand except Willamette and am looking for a substitution. I have a bunch of Tettnang, which I've seen on several sites listed as a viable Willamette sub. Any reason this may be a bad idea?

Alternatives to the Tettnang for me would be to use Northern Brewer (which I have seen listed as a sub for Chinook, though I'm not sure about the mintiness), or forego the Willamette addition completely and just use Chinook.

I will also be lowering the IBUs slightly, as I prefer a maltier beer, if that should sway my decision in any way.
 
vzom said:
Found this recipe in the Top 100 HBT Recipes article and was intrigued. Over the past few days I've read through all 79 pages of posts and I will be brewing this up tomorrow.

I see a lot of people substituting the Chinook, but only a couple Willamette subs, usually for Fuggles. I have all the ingredients on hand except Willamette and am looking for a substitution. I have a bunch of Tettnang, which I've seen on several sites listed as a viable Willamette sub. Any reason this may be a bad idea?

Alternatives to the Tettnang for me would be to use Northern Brewer (which I have seen listed as a sub for Chinook, though I'm not sure about the mintiness), or forego the Willamette addition completely and just use Chinook.

I will also be lowering the IBUs slightly, as I prefer a maltier beer, if that should sway my decision in any way.
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Tettnang will be just fine, this is an amber recipe where the malts are showcased. Differences in hops are very difficult to detect at these levels of IBUs. The hops are more a balancing mechanism than flavor component... Im sure youll make a delicious beer with what you have. :)
 
I'm brewing a variation of this right now. It's been one of my favorites on this forum and haven't made it in awhile. I can't wait until it's kegged. As always the candi syrup tastes amazing.
 
I've been wanting to brew this for a while. Ordered the DAP months ago, just never brewed it. Making the candy syrup was far easier than I expected. One surprise was the strong ammonia smell coming from the pan. I believe it was right around the 240 or 250F range. It did dissipate prior to flame out, but I was starting to wonder if I'd done something wrong. But the syrup tasted great (good thermometers are worth it), wort was cooled as far as I could go and I'll pitch as soon as it and the yeast slurry are at the correct temps. I hope this is as good as almost all say it is. Cheers.
 
So I pulled a sample around 3 weeks. Pretty bitter... hop aroma and caramel aroma is limited... can anyone provide insight to when the beer matures and is at its best? I was gonna bottle and attend a beer exchange in two weeks but am alittle suspect at the moment.

I wish it had a little more nose.
 
madscientistbrewNq said:
So I pulled a sample around 3 weeks. Pretty bitter... hop aroma and caramel aroma is limited... can anyone provide insight to when the beer matures and is at its best? I was gonna bottle and attend a beer exchange in two weeks but am alittle suspect at the moment.

I wish it had a little more nose.
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It gets much better with age. The caramel really came out for me after more than a month. I bottled the first batch and let half the bottles sit for over two months and they were very good.

I kegged a batch last wednesday and it is a bit bitter right now.
 
Thanks Chuck I was expecting a touch more balance. It could be user error for sure but was looking for some reassurance that it would improve. Thanks again...
 
Well I have to say 1 week in the bottle and it's really coming around. It's a touch bitter and I kind of get candied orange peel. Much thanks for the recipe kingbrian. I suspect this will only get better.
 

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