Help w/ Imperial Amber Ale

[riored4v]

Was thinking of ordering up the Imperial Amber Ale AHS has on sale right now for my second PM brew.

I emailed them to get an idea of the hops used and this is what they have listed: Premiant hops for bittering and Sladek hops for
flavor and aroma. The total IBUs for the recipe is 57.3.

And this is what is listed on their site: This beer is hoppy with a good amount of malt to back it up. Amber red in color and aggressively hopped for balance. It features 120L malt and Amber malt extract. O.G.=1.070. Approximately 7% ABV

Mini Mash: 8 lbs. Liquid Malt Extract, 1.25 lbs. Base Grains, .75 lb. Specialty Grains.


I have zero experience with the hops listed above, and honestly don't even know if I've had a beer that has had those hops before.

I want to make this kit nice and hoppy though.. i'd really like to make it something like Nugget Nectar since I've heard so many good things about that Imperial Amber.

What could I do for this brew hop wise to make it better?

I was also thinking of opting for the 1% abv increase which would bring it to around 8%. Is that to much alcohol for White Labs European Ale yeast? I looked it up and it says it has a moderate alcohol tolerance. Maybe add some "yeast fuel" to the purchase??

Any help would be appreciated as this would be my first Imperial brew along with my first Amber.

 

[Arneba28]

never had nugget nectar but if that description of there beer is correct and it has a decent-large malt back to it then the increased alcohol will do fine...I just brewed an Imperial IPA and it was 75IBU with a FG of 1.019 so pretty malty and it was fine finished out at 7.5%abv

 

[riored4v]

taste wise i think it would be fine as well, but i'm more worried about the yeast holding up to the 8% abv. although i'm sure a nice starter along with some yeast fuel would probably make that ok. now that i think more into it, i doubt AHS would recommend that yeast if it wasn't willing to hold to the alcohol content.

i guess i more less just need help with possibly bumping up the hop bill to make it a nice hoppy amber. i really like Rogue's Amber and I know that one is dry-hopped.. maybe i should look into just dry-hopping this one?

Again, not really sure which way i should go with this, but i do want to improve upon the kit if possible.

 

[riored4v]

I did some searching since both of these hops were new to me. Both seem to be some type of Saaz replacement/hybrid. This is what I came up with incase anyone else is interested (and to hopefully help someone in figuring out what other hops i could use):

Sladek

Hybrid aroma variety of Saaz type with excellent impact on hoppy taste and aroma of beer.
Late variety. High yield. Average alpha acids content 5,0 %.

Application
In form of hop pellets type 90 or 45 is used for second, sometimes also for third hopping of beer. Its application for the middle hopping during the brewing process is given by higher alpha acid content of this aroma hops. With alpha acid content of 5 - 6 % it is appropriate to use the bittering potential and for this reason it is recommendable to use this hops at least 20 minutes before the end of the brewing process. The final taste and aroma is typically hoppy. The variety Sladek contains genetically 30% of Saaz hops. The brewing tests have shown that Sladek is not fully able to replace Saaz hops. However both of these varieties complement each other in the production of high quality lager beers.

Premiant

Variety with pleasant aroma and higher and balanced bitterness.
Late variety. High yield. Average alpha acids content 7,5 %.

Application
Premiant is a hop variety that was created by crossing of bitter varieties and Czech aroma varieties. For this reason it is known to broad brewery public as a dual purpose variety. Its aroma profile is not as strong as with other Czech varieties. This variety became popular and acquired its place in the beer production without a decisive hoppy aroma. The unusually low content of cohumulone in combination with other typical characteristics of this variety contributes to the neutral character of bitterness. There is no recognizable negative bitterness after drinking. It is well known that this negative effect of strong unpleasant bitterness discourages consumers from drinking of further beer

 

[riored4v]

any ideas for what hops to use for dry-hopping this thing?