Imperial Amber Ale Ideas

[Surye]

I'm brewing an Imperial Amber for a friend, and off the top of my head, this is what I've come up with in BeerSmith. I'm pretty new to from scratch recipes, so any suggestions or ideas are much appreciated.

Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.076 SG
Estimated Color: 16.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 %
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (30 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 14.00 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 17.50 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

 

[Pete08]

I would throw in a pound of munich, and maybe a couple of ounces of chocolate.

 

[Brew-Happy]

This is coming from a single batch of mine, but I think you might have a bit too much Crystal #.

I did 1lb of Crystal 60 in a 2gal batch and it took some time to mellow out the caramel flavor. It was really strong.

Maybe someone can chime in with more experience with this. If you need color try an ounce or two of chocolate or black barley.

Otherwise, I like the recipe.

 

[Surye]

Okay, after reading these ideas, and sleeping on it, this is my new recipe. Higher OG, higher IBUs, but still hits a good bitterness ratio.

Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated Color: 16.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 45.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.67 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.67 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.67 %
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 21.5 IBU
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (30 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 15.00 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 18.75 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

 

[Surye]

Sorry if I'm spamming this thread, but I want a strong, solid beer, with a good malty back and forward hop aroma. After a little more tweaking, I'm a little concerned that I've gone a little too complicated on this..

Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated Color: 18.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 79.31 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.61 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.61 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.96 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.65 %
0.13 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 0.86 %
0.75 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 14.2 IBU
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 21.4 IBU
0.75 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 15.13 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 18.91 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

 

[kev7555]

Hello!

I'm a brand new member here. I've been on a lot of other homebrew forums but just found this one.

No, you are not going too complicated. Making an amber ale (especially an imperial style) can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. After all, we are HOMEbrewers, so experimentation is the name of the game!

A lot of amber recipes use varying lovibonds of crystal malt. It is not uncommon to see recipes using equal amounts of crystal 10, 20, 40 and 80. I am also a fan of the small amounts of chocolate and special B (one of my favorite malts!).

Just by coincidence, I am brewing an amber today that consists of (for ten gallons):

25 pale ale malt
5 lbs crystal 40 and 1 handful each of :
Black barley
dark roast
chocolate
black patent

I typically use chinook and centennial for ambers, heavier on the chinook for bittering and heavier on the centennial for flavor and aroma hops. If you want to make a nice twist on the amber style (a bit out in left field) try pitching Wyeast Belgian Ardennes yeast instead of the usual American, British or German Ale yeasts commonly used in NW style ambers. Wyeast Whitbread makes a nice amber as well.

Cheers to all, and I hope to participate here a bit more...

(note...sorry for resurrecting an old thread from several days ago)

-Kev

 

[Surye]

Okay, it's been in the fermentor since Saturday, going strong. Here's the final recipe used, if it turns out good, I'll submit it to the recipe section:



Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated Color: 18.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 56.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.60 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.20 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.20 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.65 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.55 %
0.13 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 0.81 %
1.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 35.7 IBU
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.75 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 18.1 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 16.13 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 20.16 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F