American Amber Ale Caramel Amber Ale

[Broothru]

This is what I'm thinking thus far...

Title: Caramel Amber Ale

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Amber Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 18 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 18.75 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.043
Efficiency: 80% (ending kettle)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 0.97

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 5.42%
IBU (tinseth): 33.89
SRM (morey): 16.12
Mash pH: 5.52

FERMENTABLES:
23 lb - Pale 2-Row (74.2%)
2.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 40L (8.1%)
3 lb - Invert Sugar No 3 - (late boil kettle addition) (9.7%)
2.5 lb - Crystal Dark (8.1%)

HOPS:
1.5 oz - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: First Wort, IBU: 26.88
1 oz - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 7.01
3 oz - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Aroma for 0 min
3 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 9.5 gal
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.35 qt/lb

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 81%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 54 - 77 F
Fermentation Temp: 55 F
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)

Good lookin' recipe, especially the hops selection.

Amber Ales are a sorely under appreciated beer category. I get the whole trend away from "anything caramel" as being too cloyingly sweet, yada, yada. This recipe makes me want to go brew it yesterday. There's gonna' be some 'sweet' in there but the Columbus and Chinook will tame it down. And the Willamette should add another dimension to the caramel. Did I mention I really like caramel? Yummm....

 

[Rob2010SS]

Good lookin' recipe, especially the hops selection.

Amber Ales are a sorely under appreciated beer category. I get the whole trend away from "anything caramel" as being too cloyingly sweet, yada, yada. This recipe makes me want to go brew it yesterday. There's gonna' be some 'sweet' in there but the Columbus and Chinook will tame it down. And the Willamette should add another dimension to the caramel. Did I mention I really like caramel? Yummm....

Thanks man. It's the OP's recipe, I just tweaked it a little bit for my tastes. Hopefully it comes out as I'm hoping!!

I'm with you, I love caramel! I'm super excited for this one. Just hope I don't screw up the syrup. I'm picking up 3 packs of the D-45 syrup just in case I screw it up and I need a back up.

 

[Broothru]

Thanks man. It's the OP's recipe, I just tweaked it a little bit for my tastes. Hopefully it comes out as I'm hoping!!

I'm with you, I love caramel! I'm super excited for this one. Just hope I don't screw up the syrup. I'm picking up 3 packs of the D-45 syrup just in case I screw it up and I need a back up.

I saw that syrup recipe and realized that I've got two D-45 packs stored in the beer fridge. Then I saw this thread and just knew I was gonna brew it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Just hope I don't screw up the syrup. I'm picking up 3 packs of the D-45 syrup just in case I screw it up and I need a back up.

It's difficult to screw up... with all the instructions and some common sense.

D-45 is pretty light, more like a "Medium Amber (280)" perhaps?

 

[Rob2010SS]

It's difficult to screw up... with all the instructions and some common sense.

D-45 is pretty light, more like a "Medium Amber (280)" perhaps?

My next back up option was D-90 and didn't want to go that dark. Unless you know of a different option maybe...?

 

[IslandLizard]

My next back up option was D-90 and didn't want to go that dark. Unless you know of a different option maybe...?

https://brulosophy.com/2016/03/14/belgian-candi-syrup-homemade-vs-commercial-exbeeriment-results/
Scroll to the very bottom of his article where he outlines how he made the 2 syrups, and illustrates how each compare to D-45 and D90, respectively.
He used 1 pound of D-45 and 2 pounds of D-90 in his "Belgian Amber."

 

[Rob2010SS]

https://brulosophy.com/2016/03/14/belgian-candi-syrup-homemade-vs-commercial-exbeeriment-results/
Scroll to the very bottom of his article where he outlines how he made the 2 syrups, and illustrates how each compare to D-45 and D90, respectively.
He used 1 pound of D-45 and 2 pounds of D-90 in his "Belgian Amber."

That's interesting... The 90 looks more like what people are making for this recipe, but the OP states to use 40 SRM in the recipe builders, so I assumed D-45 would be the closest option...

 

[Rob2010SS]

Question - should the syrups be refrigerated until use if they won’t be used for 3 days?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Made our syrup tonight. I think it came out good! Because we bought the D45 as backup, we were pretty careful. Overall took like an hour and a half to do. Here’s our samples. Not quite every 10 degrees but close.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Another question here - we missed a step because I handed it over to my wife while I put our son down and my instructions weren't very clear.

We missed the 240F step after adding the water back in. How important is that "soft ball" step?

And I shouldn't even say we MISSED it, we added the water back in at the end of the 290F step but instead of getting it to 240, once that was mixed in, it went right into an ice bath. How important is that step?

 

[IslandLizard]

Another question here - we missed a step because I handed it over to my wife while I put our son down and my instructions weren't very clear.

We missed the 240F step after adding the water back in. How important is that "soft ball" step?

And I shouldn't even say we MISSED it, we added the water back in at the end of the 290F step but instead of getting it to 240, once that was mixed in, it went right into an ice bath. How important is that step?

I think returning it to the soft ball stage is mostly for ease of storage. It may have been close to 240F already after adding the water and mixing it. I wouldn't worry about it even one bit.

Overall took like an hour and a half to do. Here’s our samples. Not quite every 10 degrees but close.

Congrats, well done, and you didn't burn it! The longer it simmers the more flavor it creates.

You made 3 pounds?

 

[Rob2010SS]

I think returning it to the soft ball stage is mostly for ease of storage. It may have been close to 240F already after adding the water and mixing it. I wouldn't worry about it even one bit.


Congrats, well done, and you didn't burn it! The longer it simmers the more flavor it creates.

You made 3 pounds?

That’s good to know! Glad we don’t have to redo it.
Yeah we made 3lbs pre boil weight. Don’t know what finished weight is.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yeah we made 3lbs pre boil weight. Don’t know what finished weight is.

The 3 pounds of sugar is what counts. Water only adds weight (and thinness) but no substance.

Glad we don’t have to redo it.

Yup, but did you enjoy the process? Fairly easy, isn't it?
If you get a chance, compare taste and color with your commercial D-45, for reference.

Now you've laid a good base, if anything, next time maybe make it a little darker?

 

[Rob2010SS]

The 3 pounds of sugar is what counts. Water only adds weight (and thinness) but no substance.


Yup, but did you enjoy the process? Fairly easy, isn't it?
If you get a chance, compare taste and color with your commercial D-45, for reference.

Now you've laid a good base, if anything, next time maybe make it a little darker?

Yeah, not going to lie, was fairly nervous about screwing it up. It seemed a little intimidating, especially after reading how a lot of people made it too dark on the first try and burnt it. But as you said, it's fairly easy!! I would have no issue doing that going forward and yes, it was kind of fun! Being able to see the change as it went through the process was pretty interesting.

Haha, yeah, next time I might make it darker. Our final is a bit lighter than what the guy who posted the recipes had at 290. Not sure if we should have let it go longer at 290 or what but either way, happy with the end product. The flavor was pretty complex!!

 

[Rob2010SS]

No response needed by anyone, just figured since it appears I was the last one to try this, I'd offer up my final product and my thoughts on the recipe here.

My initial response immediately after kegging - Too many hops!! For what I thought was going to be a very caramel, malt forward amber, it was pretty hoppy. For an 18 gallon batch, post boil, my hop additions scaled up from the original recipe (with a little modification based on previous posters' comments) were as follows...

Total IBUs was 34. I think if I were to do this recipe again, I'd drop it to 25-30 IBUs and cut the flameout hops in half.

However, we kegged this on November 6th, 2021. Fast forward to today, I think it's actually very pleasant. The hops have faded a bit and some of that caramel flavor is still coming through on the aroma and the flavor. It's actually turned into a very pleasant beer for us! It's very uncommon for a beer to last this long in our kegerator so I think I would still make the noted changes above to get the beer to taste like it does now, immediately after kegging.

Overall a solid recipe! The addition of the homemade caramel got us to try something new that we were intimidated by at first. This was a fun beer to make for sure and will definitely be incorporating that homemade caramel syrup in future brews.

Final product pictured below...

.

 

[KingBrianI]

Looks good! Glad you like it!

 

[Garmoni]

Looking at the original recipe it notes a 30 day primary fermentation and then a secondary. I brewed this two weeks ago and it finished fermenting in a couple of days. Been sitting in the primary ever since. Does it need to continue to sit for awhile before kegging?

 

[IslandLizard]

Looking at the original recipe it notes a 30 day primary fermentation and then a secondary. I brewed this two weeks ago and it finished fermenting in a couple of days. Been sitting in the primary ever since. Does it need to continue to sit for awhile before kegging?

If it's done it's done. How would you know? Gravity readings 3-5 days apart are the same and it's at or near expected the recipe's FG, and attenuation % of your yeast.
Leaving it a week conditioning at room temps is good. After that, it won't improve. Secondaries are unnecessary, can be even detrimental, skip em.

Keg it!

 

[Shenanigans]

According to Beersmith I brewed this 9 years ago (wow how time flies by).
I remember it was nice but wasn't anything special.
I would like to revisit it now that I have more experience.

I still have some candi syrup left over from the first attempt but maybe I should make a new batch after so long

Anyway my question is that the original post says use "Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 15.79 %"
However there is quite a difference between 80 L and 80 SRM when converted to EBC.

80 Lovibond = 212 EBC
80 SRM = 157 EBC

Might have already been discussed in the previous 26 pages but what should I be using?
I guess 212 EBC as 157 EBC would be similar to crystal 60L.

Thanks!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

the original post says use "Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 15.79 %"

In recipes with crystal / caramel malts, I tend to ignore the word "SRM" and generally the result makes sense.

In this case "Caramel/Crystal Malt 80L" in an 'American' ale recipe probably refers to Briess Crystal 80L.

FWIW, crystal malts ending in 5 (e.g. Crystal 75L) are often references to Great Western or a variety of British maltsers.

 

[Shenanigans]

In recipes with crystal / caramel malts, I tend to ignore the word "SRM" and generally the result makes sense.

In this case "Caramel/Crystal Malt 80L" in an 'American' ale recipe probably refers to Briess Crystal 80L.

FWIW, crystal malts ending in 5 (e.g. Crystal 75L) are often references to Great Western or a variety of British maltsers.

Thanks, I'll aim for 80L, so from what I have on hand Dark Warminster (200 EBC) or Gold Swaen Brown (220 EBC)

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Thanks, I'll aim for 80L, so from what I have on hand Dark Warminster (200 EBC) or Gold Swaen Brown (220 EBC)

I haven't used either of those malts. Warminster reads like a dark crystal (similar to Briess Crystal 80L). Swaen reads like a brown malt (not a crystal malt) so it may not provide same flavor profile.

 

[Shenanigans]

I haven't used either of those malts. Warminster reads like a dark crystal (similar to Briess Crystal 80L). Swaen reads like a brown malt (not a crystal malt) so it may not provide same flavor profile.

All Swaen malts starting with "Gold" in the name are crystal/cara malts

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

All Swaen malts starting with "Gold" in the name are crystal/cara malts

My mistake - I revisited my web searches and got the correct answer the second time.

backing up to an earlier reply ...

I remember it was nice but wasn't anything special.

Obviously, this isn't a "hop forward" recipe. OP did a good job of describing what the goal was ("Malt and bitterness, hops and caramel, all joining together to dance merrily on the tongue.").

I suspect that mashing at 150F for 60 minutes (vs 152F at 30), using a high DP malt (vs a Maris Otter or Golden Promise), and a higher attenuation (80% ish) yeast are part of achieving that goal. Otherwise 16% Crystal 80L is going to "trigger" "cloyingly sweet" from many personas.

 

[Shenanigans]

My mistake - I revisited my web searches and got the correct answer the second time.

backing up to an earlier reply ...

Obviously, this isn't a "hop forward" recipe. OP did a good job of describing what the goal was ("Malt and bitterness, hops and caramel, all joining together to dance merrily on the tongue.").

I suspect that mashing at 150F for 60 minutes (vs 152F at 30), using a high DP malt (vs a Maris Otter or Golden Promise), and a higher attenuation (80% ish) yeast are part of achieving that goal. Otherwise 16% Crystal 80L is going to "trigger" "cloyingly sweet" from many personas.

Could be anything really as I'm only going off memory from 9 years ago.
This was one of my first few all grain batches so I just want to rebrew and see how it turns out now after I have gained the experience of brewing a hundred plus batches.