Malty Amber Ale Recipe?

[HollywoodTK]

Hi All,

Was hoping I could get a critique of a recipe I've been working on. I'd like it to be a malty ale approaching and amber or light brown color.

Batch size: 2.5 Gal
Fermentables:

- 3.00 lb Light DME
- 0.75 lb Maris Otter
- 0.5 lb Crystal 60
- 0.125 lb Munich

Hops/Additions:

- 0.125 oz Chinook @ 60 min
- 0.125 oz Chinook @ 30 min
- 0.5 oz Chinook @ 15 min
- a bit of Irish Moss @ 15 min
- 0.25 oz Chinook @ 5 min

Yeast:

- Wyeast 1056

Expected OG: 1.062
(I use Brewer's Friend for most of my calculations, and for the past three recipes I've used with steeping grains following the methods below, I've gotten what amounts to 60% efficiency, so that's what I used here)

Expected FG: 1.016
Expected ABV: 6.15%

I'll steep the 1.375 lb of grains in 1.5 gallons of water using some mash techniques to extract the most I could out of them. I had good results on my last beer using a protein rest of ~125 for ~15 minutes, so I plan to do that here. I then bring the water up to 155 and let it sit there for 45 minutes. Bring to a boil, add the DME and the first of my hop additions, and follow the normal schedule.

Then I'll pitch my yeast. I've used it a couple times before, I'm trying to distinguish it's impact on beer over several different recipes.

Any comments on the recipe? On the brewing method?

One note is that I fear that the hop additions might be too light on the front end, but the girlfriend isn't a fan of bitter beers, so I wanted this one to be very malt-forward. Of course, I still want a good balance.

Any and all advice and/or help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[HollywoodTK]

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[stpug]

I think that what you propose could yield a good beer somewhere between an american pale ale and amber ale. I would probably decide what it is after sampling my first bottle .

You mention going from 155F to boiling, but fail to say that you'll remove the grain at that point. You don't typically want to boil your grain so as long as you're pulling it out before going from 155F to boil then you should be fine.

You could save half or two-thirds of your DME for that last 5 minutes of your boil just so you don't over-caramelize the sugars.

I don't think the protein rest is necessary in this case but shouldn't hurt anything too much since you'll get most of your dextrins from the extract.

All chinook beer? There is something very.... unique.... about chinook. It's not always appealing at first but given some aging time can become something nice. Early on can be a bit.... gamey.... dank peachy.... foresty.... I guess, and certainly not "bright". If you're familiar with chinook and that's the character you're after then go for it.

Overall, I think your proposed recipe would be very drinkable. I also think you might find an Irish Red Ale to your girlfriends liking and actually fits your original description really well ("a malty ale approaching and amber or light brown color" for someone who "isn't a fan of bitter beers, so I wanted this one to be very malt-forward"). You can certainly get away with making an IRA using US05 as well, if that's any consolation.

 

[Yooper]

Well, I like it!

However, if your girlfriend isn't a fan of hops forward beers, I'd change this one up. I love chinook hops, but they are often perceived as very harsh by non-chinook lovers.

I'd also try to "layer" the crystal malts for depth and interest, and in a nice amber you can go as high at 15% with the crystal to help balance the hops bitterness.

I'd increase the crystal, leave out the maris otter, and increase the Munich malt. Munich malt will give you a nice rich malty flavor and aroma, and the crystal will provide some sweetness and mouthfeel.

NO protein rest! That will not be beneficial for steeping grains, and can destroy body and head retention, the exact opposite of what you probably want.

I didn't run this through any software, so double check this, but I'd suggest something more like:

- 3.00 lb Light DME (at flame out) or whatever it takes to get to OG 1.050ish
1.00 lb crystal 40L
.5 lb crystal 120L
1-2 lb Munich malt (depending on how much you can fit in your mashing pot)

Hops:
Magnum or other "clean" bittering, .5 oz or up to 25 IBUs with this addition
.5 oz hops at 15 minutes (pick one that your girlfriend likes, willamette is a good one)
.5 oz hops at 5 minutes (ditto)

Neutral American ale yast

Mash the 2 pounds of grains in 1 gallon of water , holding at 152 degrees for 45 minutes, and then sparge by lifting up the grain bag in a strainer and pour 170 degree water over it, up to your boil volume.

It's much different than your recipe, but I think it'd be more inline with an amber ale that is very drinkable and not harsh, with a decent malt flavor.

 

[HollywoodTK]

I think that what you propose could yield a good beer somewhere between an american pale ale and amber ale. I would probably decide what it is after sampling my first bottle .

Haha yea, that's kind of the idea.

You mention going from 155F to boiling, but fail to say that you'll remove the grain at that point. You don't typically want to boil your grain so as long as you're pulling it out before going from 155F to boil then you should be fine.

Yep, should have mentioned that. Actually, I forgot a whole step. I will pour 2 quarts of ~170 degree water over the grains to bring the preboil volume up to around 2 gallons minus grain losses.

You could save half or two-thirds of your DME for that last 5 minutes of your boil just so you don't over-caramelize the sugars.

I'd like to give this a try some time. I think I'll find a recipe I like enough to make two batches (or do two very small batches) and try to compare the two; one with DME added at 60 minutes and one with half or more added at, as you say, the last 5-10 minutes. That would be very interesting.

I don't think the protein rest is necessary in this case but shouldn't hurt anything too much since you'll get most of your dextrins from the extract.

Thanks, I didn't think so either, but I try not to fix what aint broken, and it only takes an extra ~30 minutes of my time.

All chinook beer? There is something very.... unique.... about chinook. It's not always appealing at first but given some aging time can become something nice. Early on can be a bit.... gamey.... dank peachy.... foresty.... I guess, and certainly not "bright". If you're familiar with chinook and that's the character you're after then go for it.

Yea, so this was the point I was hoping someone would chime in on. It's relatively low IBU's, so I figured it wouldn't hurt, and I've used it before in smaller quantities with some success. What might be a better selection?

Overall, I think your proposed recipe would be very drinkable. I also think you might find an Irish Red Ale to your girlfriends liking and actually fits your original description really well ("a malty ale approaching and amber or light brown color" for someone who "isn't a fan of bitter beers, so I wanted this one to be very malt-forward"). You can certainly get away with making an IRA using US05 as well, if that's any consolation.

I've been thinking of an Irish Red recently. I just haven't drunk enough of IRAs to know what I'm looking for taste-wise. Maybe I'll go to the BevMo and buy a six pack sampler of some individuals.
Thanks!

 

[HollywoodTK]

I must have hit the post button multiple times.

 

[HollywoodTK]

I'd increase the crystal, leave out the maris otter, and increase the Munich malt. Munich malt will give you a nice rich malty flavor and aroma, and the crystal will provide some sweetness and mouthfeel.

Yea, I wanted to increase the Munich anyway, as I'd read that it gives a rich flavor, but I was afraid of going overboard with it.

NO protein rest! That will not be beneficial for steeping grains, and can destroy body and head retention, the exact opposite of what you probably want.

Interesting, is it just because there are less proteins in the solution, or? What would cause it to harm the body and head retention?

- 3.00 lb Light DME (at flame out) or whatever it takes to get to OG 1.050ish
1.00 lb crystal 40L
.5 lb crystal 120L
1-2 lb Munich malt (depending on how much you can fit in your mashing pot)
Hops:
Magnum or other "clean" bittering, .5 oz or up to 25 IBUs with this addition
.5 oz hops at 15 minutes (pick one that your girlfriend likes, willamette is a good one)
.5 oz hops at 5 minutes (ditto)

Neutral American ale yeast

I like this one, it looks pretty nice. I think I may try it with the Willamette, only because I've never used it before and I've heard so much about it.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Yooper]

Yea, I wanted to increase the Munich anyway, as I'd read that it gives a rich flavor, but I was afraid of going overboard with it.



Interesting, is it just because there are less proteins in the solution, or? What would cause it to harm the body and head retention?



I like this one, it looks pretty nice. I think I may try it with the Willamette, only because I've never used it before and I've heard so much about it.

You almost can't go overboard with Munich malt- it is a base malt, after all, and some of the world's best lagers are 100% Munich malt. It's malty, without being sweet, and I think 2 pounds (if you can mash that much) would really bring a malt forward note to it that would balance nicely with hops.

What a protein rest does is break up the proteins. That's the whole idea. The problem is, if this is done with well modified malts (and 90% or more of the malts available today are well modified) or held longer than a few minutes, the proteins break up so much that the head and body in a beer is destroyed. The formation of head in beer is due to proteins in the wort.

When using something like a ton of unmalted grains, or undermodified grains, or lots of adjuncts, a protein rest can be useful. Otherwise, it breaks up the proteins in the beer that would normally create body and head.

 

[HollywoodTK]

Interesting. That might explain why my recent pale ale (I used some biscuit in there to see what flavors I could detect) lacks head retention. It appears carbonated, but the head just doesn't stick around. It was very clear though, which I had read protein rests help with. I think I'll take your advice and skip it this time around.