Thoughts on my Amber Ale recipe

[Kyle36]

I recently got into all-grain brewing and wanted to make my own recipe, this is the first beer recipe I’ve made so I want to know what more experienced brewers think about it.
Thanks!

 

[Coastalbrew]

If your looking for a good amber recipe you should try this one. It is awesome! American Amber Ale - Hoppy American Amber or Malty American Pale Ale?

 

[Holden Caulfield]

OG and alcohol are a little above style. If you like that than go for it.

Regarding the grain bill, 15% crystal is a lot so your beer may turn out a little on sweet side so you may want to bring that down to no more than 10%. Also, your recipe has 6 different malts including 3 different crystal malts, you may want to cut that number down to 1 or 2 crystal malts max. Furthermore, 60L Munich malt is quite dark, in fact brown malt dark, and will impart a very strong malt flavor especially at 7.5%. All that being said, if you are targeting a very malty and caramely sweet beer then your grain bill will deliver.

1272 yeast is awesome. Leave it in primary for a couple weeks as it takes awhile for the krausen to fall.

One consideration, it is very common for first time all grain brewers to want to throw the kitchen sink into their recipes. Try focusing on a base malt and just 1 or two specialty malts so that you can learn how they impact the flavor. This goes for flavor and aroma hops as well. Some of the best beers in the world are made with very simple grain bills.

 

[Sammy86]

One consideration, it is very common for first time all grain brewers to want to throw the kitchen sink into their recipes. Try focusing on a base malt and just 1 or two specialty malts so that you can learn how they impact the flavor. This goes for flavor and aroma hops as well. Some of the best beers in the world are made with very simple grain bills.

What he said...way too much Crystal malt that bad boy is going to be SWEET not malty.

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

Use it in life and brewing!

 

[Kyle36]

OG and alcohol are a little above style. If you like that than go for it.

Regarding the grain bill, 15% crystal is a lot so your beer may turn out a little on sweet side so you may want to bring that down to no more than 10%. Also, your recipe has 6 different malts including 3 different crystal malts, you may want to cut that number down to 1 or 2 crystal malts max. Furthermore, 60L Munich malt is quite dark, in fact brown malt dark, and will impart a very strong malt flavor especially at 7.5%. All that being said, if you are targeting a very malty and caramely sweet beer then your grain bill will deliver.

1272 yeast is awesome. Leave it in primary for a couple weeks as it takes awhile for the krausen to fall.

One consideration, it is very common for first time all grain brewers to want to throw the kitchen sink into their recipes. Try focusing on a base malt and just 1 or two specialty malts so that you can learn how they impact the flavor. This goes for flavor and aroma hops as well. Some of the best beers in the world are made with very simple grain bills.

Thank you for the input! Great suggestions, I was playing around with some abv calculators and things like that so I think I’ll simplify it and give it a go!

 

[Kyle36]

I recently got into all-grain brewing and wanted to make my own recipe, this is the first beer recipe I’ve made so I want to know what more experienced brewers think about it.
Thanks!

Here is an updated grain bill and hop schedule that is a bit more simplified. I am going for a more malty flavor in this brew.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Your 60l Munich malt perplexed me as it is so dark, and after a quick search, I think it is actually Cara-Munich, probably from Breiss. Cara-Munichs are basically crystal malts, not Munich malts. There are slight differences, cara-malts are a bit richer/maltier but for the most part they will impart sweetness and similar flavors. This means your recipe still contains 17.5% crystal/caramel malts which will make your recipe very sweet.

My thoughts are to go with either the 10% crystal malts and no Caramunich, or go with just the Caramunich. This will give you the caramel sweetness you want without being cloying. The victory malt will provide some maltiness as well.

As far as your hops, just use some Columbus at 60 mins, no Cascade needed, as you won't get flavor and you will use substantially less. I am more of a noble hop guy, so I can provide no direction on your late additions other than, stick with 1 or 2, not 3 types as this will give you the opportunity to learn what these hops taste and smell like.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

One mistake I made when starting AG from extract was jumping into complex grain bills and mixing up multiple types of hops. I think I missed the beauty of keeping it simple (as Sammy said above).

Obviously, do and brew what makes you happy...you can also alternate brews and do SMaSH brews to learn the intricacies of specific grains and specific hops (as Holden said above). It will help you out in recipe design/altering in future brews.

 

[Kyle36]

Your 60l Munich malt perplexed me as it is so dark, and after a quick search, I think it is actually Cara-Munich, probably from Breiss. Cara-Munichs are basically crystal malts, not Munich malts. There are slight differences, cara-malts are a bit richer/maltier but for the most part they will impart sweetness and similar flavors. This means your recipe still contains 17.5% crystal/caramel malts which will make your recipe very sweet.

My thoughts are to go with either the 10% crystal malts and no Caramunich, or go with just the Caramunich. This will give you the caramel sweetness you want without being cloying. The victory malt will provide some maltiness as well.

As far as your hops, just use some Columbus at 60 mins, no Cascade needed, as you won't get flavor and you will use substantially less. I am more of a noble hop guy, so I can provide no direction on your late additions other than, stick with 1 or 2, not 3 types as this will give you the opportunity to learn what these hops taste and smell like.

Thank you for your response! I appreciate the knowledge regarding the Caramunich. I’m still looking for more of a malt flavor in this so maybe just the caramunich and victory

 

[Kyle36]

One mistake I made when starting AG from extract was jumping into complex grain bills and mixing up multiple types of hops. I think I missed the beauty of keeping it simple (as Sammy said above).

Obviously, do and brew what makes you happy...you can also alternate brews and do SMaSH brews to learn the intricacies of specific grains and specific hops (as Holden said above). It will help you out in recipe design/altering in future brews.

Thank you that advice! Being new to the world of home brewing I am quickly learning that less is more sometimes.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I've been doing it a few years now and will still do a SMaSH with newly created hops, etc. It helps out your brewing all-around.

 

[Kyle36]

Thank you for your response! I appreciate the knowledge regarding the Caramunich. I’m still looking for more of a malt flavor in this so maybe just the caramunich and victory

After further research I’m now thinking of using a light Munich(10%) and the victory(5%) and keep the 10%crystals

 

[Kyle36]

Here’s my latest recipe from what I read about all the grains this sounds like a tasty ale!
thanks for all helpful suggestions! and I’m still open to tweak the recipe I won’t be brewing until Monday

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Keep us updated!

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Here’s my latest recipe from what I read about all the grains this sounds like a tasty ale!
thanks for all helpful suggestions! and I’m still open to tweak the recipe I won’t be brewing until Monday

Looking good. I think Victory malt is strong stuff, so 9% may be a lot, but I do not have enough experience with it so unless someone else has any thoughts go for it. It should turn out quite tasty.

 

[Kyle36]

Looking good. I think Victory malt is strong stuff, so 9% may be a lot, but I do not have enough experience with it so unless someone else has any thoughts go for it. It should turn out quite tasty.

Great point! I did some research and it is indeed a strong malt so I might tweak it down around 5%

 

[Kyle36]

Sorry for the late response, the amber turned out beautiful! I ended up hopping it a bit more and it turned out great. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Sorry for the late response, the amber turned out beautiful! I ended up hopping it a bit more and it turned out great. Thanks for the advice everyone!

Pics or it was never brewed

 

[Kyle36]

Pics or it was never brewed

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Some of the best porn I've seen in a while glad it turned out for you. Cheers!