American Amber

[crells]

Hi everyone,

I was planning on brewing an american amber as my next brew. The plan was to keep the grain bill nice and simple. I am not sure whether the cyrstal will be too overpowering in this brew.

Any comments are appreciated.

Batch size 26L
OG 1047
FG 1011
Bitterness 36 IBU
Colour 27 EBC

4.8kg Powells Traditional Ale (4ebc) 90.6%
0.5kg Joe White Dark Crystal (270ebc) 9.4%
40gm Tettnang (4.5%) - 60 min (18.3ibu)
30gm Cascade (6%) - 20min (11.1ibu)
30gm Cascade (6%) - 10min (6.6ibu)
30gm Cascade (6%) - 0min (steep)
Safale American Ale US56

Mash single infusion 67deg

Thanks, Crells.

 

[jayse]

personally i'd at least halve the crystal and use chocolate malt in a small amount for the extra colour.
Personally i'd be using TF or weyermann crystal malts also in the colour range of 120-160 EBC or there abouts.

My two bobs worth.
Jayse

 

[agraham]

Dont want to rain on your parade mate, but my experiences with Powells malt are not that great. I dont find that they taste very nice....

I havnt used the joe white malts, so i would look at imported grains.

Just my Australian 2 cents worth.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Dont want to rain on your parade mate, but my experiences with Powells malt are not that great. I dont find that they taste very nice....

I havnt used the joe white malts, so i would look at imported grains.

Just my Australian 2 cents worth.

Thanks,
Andrew

[post="92983"][/post]​

Disagree there. I have used a sack of Powells Ale malt recently and I reckon it's pretty good value. And yes I have brewed an American Amber with it and it was great IMHO h34r:

Definately cut back on the crystal crell. 5% would do. I also used 500grams of dark munich in my Amber.

C&B
TDA
TDA

 

[warrenlw63]

Sorry about the hijack but I used some Powells (Ale) for a Mild recently and it was very nice indeed. I think the castigation of Powells needs to stop. Would be a sad thing if they turned their backs on the HB industry. :beerbang:

Agree with Jayse and TDA. Too much crystal will rot ya teeth. :lol: I'd halve it. Ditto on the Weyermann, Fawcett or Bairds crystals too.

Warren -

 

[T.D.]

Definately cut back on the crystal crell. 5% would do. I also used 500grams of dark munich in my Amber.

C&B
TDA
TDA

[post="92989"][/post]​

Yeah, I would also recommend substituting a bit of the dark crystal for some lighter crystal or munich. JW dark munich or something along those lines would be good I reckon. Say 500g of D Munich and 200g of D Crystal (with the ale malt adjusted accordingly). And like Jayse said, if you want some nice rich red colour a dab (even 50g will do it) of chocolate malt will work beautifully. :beerbang:

I love JW Dark Crystal - that's what I have used as my crystal of choice ever since I started AG brewing. But I have gravitated to using a maximum of around 200g in a 23L batch size. In more recent times I have been tossing up the idea of using Fawcetts Crystal though - most people speak very highly of it. When I get through my current lot of JW D Crystal I might give it a try.

And re the Powells malt. I just got 50kg (25kg ale, 25kg pils) of it delivered literally minutes ago. I obviously haven't tried it yet, but if it isn't any good I'm in deep poop! :lol: Seriously though, I have heard many a good thing about Powells malt and I can't wait to give it a shot. Aparrently a lot of the beers that took out the top awards at home brew comps this year were brewed with Powells...

 

[crells]

Thanks for tips guys.

I will halve the crystal and add 500gm of dark munich.

Like TD I will give the imported malts a go once I have depleted my current stocks.

I purchased powells because everyone I had spoken to about it said they had no problems with it & it was at a great price (the best brew at vicbrew & nationals this year used powells).

 

[Ross]

I used the following in my last amber:

Despite the consensus of opinion, I don't see anything wrong with 500gms of crystal in an amber...

4.70 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (3.0 SRM) Grain 72.5 %
1.00 kg Munich, Dark (Joe White) (15.0 SRM) Grain 15.4 %
0.50 kg Crystal, Dark (Joe White) (110.0 SRM) Grain 7.7 %
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.9 %
0.03 kg Carafa III (525.0 SRM)


Cheers Ross

 

[Trent]

Crikeys
Looks like I am way outta style for my pales ales, I use about 4.8kg pale and 400-500g crystal malt! If I was making an amber, I would definitely thrown in some chocolate to darken it. I guess my pales do come out a little on the dark side, but certainlty not amber (I dont think, anyway). I'd be tempted to follow along Ross' lines, and maybe add 30g of carafa III, it'd add a nice red hue to it, I would reckon.
All the best
Trent

 

[T.D.]

400-500g is less of an issue with regular, or light crystal (although for my liking it is still a bit too much, but that's just a personal preference factor). JW dark crystal is 250EBC as opposed to Fawcetts or JW regular crystal which are around 145EBC. I find the flavours coming out of the dark crystal are much more "in your face" than the regular stuff.

 

[Ross]

Ross, what was the overall EBC of your amber? Seems like it would have been pretty dark (say 35 EBC???).

[post="93133"][/post]​

TD,

Full recipe below. Colour well within the recommended range...

American Amber Ale

Type: All Grain
Date: 1/11/2005
Batch Size: 30.00 L
Brewer: Ross
Boil Size: 42.96 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.70 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (3.0 SRM) Grain 72.5 %
1.00 kg Munich, Dark (Joe White) (15.0 SRM) Grain 15.4 %
0.50 kg Crystal, Dark (Joe White) (110.0 SRM) Grain 7.7 %
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.9 %
0.03 kg Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 0.5 %
30.00 gm Fuggles [5.00%] (20 min) Hops 7.9 IBU
10.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (20 min) Hops 4.8 IBU
10.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (20 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
15.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (5 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
5.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.90%] (20 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
15.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 2.4 IBU
15.00 gm Palisade [9.10%] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
26.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
20.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale
Est Original Gravity: 1.051 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.0 %
Bitterness: 39.2 IBU Calories: 418 cal/l
Est Color: 14.6 SRM Color: Color

Cheers Ross

 

[jayse]

30.00 gm Fuggles [5.00%] (20 min) Hops 7.9 IBU
10.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (20 min) Hops 4.8 IBU
10.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (20 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
15.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (5 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
5.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.90%] (20 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
15.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 2.4 IBU
15.00 gm Palisade [9.10%] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
26.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
20.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

[post="93185"][/post]​

Looks like your software spewed up your hop inventory :lol:


Over the hills and far away
Jayse

 

[warrenlw63]

Calories: 418 cal/l

[post="93185"][/post]​

Now "that's" thorough. Does it come in low carb? :lol: :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[Ross]

30.00 gm Fuggles [5.00%] (20 min) Hops 7.9 IBU
10.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (20 min) Hops 4.8 IBU
10.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (20 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
15.00 gm Simcoe [13.60%] (5 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
5.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.90%] (20 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
15.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 2.4 IBU
15.00 gm Palisade [9.10%] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
26.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
20.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (2 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
10.00 gm Palisade [9.00%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

[post="93185"][/post]​

Looks like your software spewed up your hop inventory :lol:


Over the hills and far away
Jayse

[post="93208"][/post]​

tastes alright though

 

[crells]

Thanks for the recipe Ross..

Man that's what I call a hop schedule !

 

[altstart]

:beer:
If thats the Amber I have had at your place Ross it does indeed taste alright.

Cheers Altstart