American Amber Idea

[Bassman]

I've got a can of MB American Ale, some extract, grains, hops and yeast. This is what I'm thinking for a recipe.

From Q Brew:

American Amber Ale
Batch 2.13 gal
Recipe Gravity 1.056 OG Estimated FG 1.014 FG
Recipe Bitterness 45 IBU Alcohol by Volume 5.4%
Recipe Color 14° SRM Alcohol by Weight 4.3%
Ingredients
Quantity Grain Type Use
0.25 lb Crystal 120L - [Body, Caramel, Head, Sweet] Grain Steeped
0.25 lb Crystal 60L - [Body, Caramel, Head, Sweet] Grain Steeped
1.00 lb Extra Light DME Extract Extract
1.87 lb Mr. Beer/Coopers American Ale Extract Extract
Quantity Hop Type Time
0.50 oz Cascade - Unmistakable grapefruit aroma and flavor, signature hop of many American ales Pellet 15 minutes
0.25 oz Cascade - Unmistakable grapefruit aroma and flavor, signature hop of many American ales Pellet 0 minutes
0.25 oz Cascade - Unmistakable grapefruit aroma and flavor, signature hop of many American ales Pellet 5 minutes
1.00 oz Mr. Beer/Coopers American Ale Pellet 5 minutes


Any thoughts? The yeast will be Safale US-05.

Thanks!

[swenocha]

Looks like a fine beer to me... Keep us posted on how it turns out.

[jimjohson]

looks good

[Bassman]

Thanks! That will be brewed this weekend.

[Kealia]

Yep, I'd drink it.

You have a million ways you could go with this (like taking the 0-minute addition and making it a dry-hop) but it all comes down to personal taste & preference.

Good luck!

[Bassman]

I had slight concern about too much crystal.

[berryman]

Looks good to me also Bassman, the 05 yeast will work good, it's my favorite dry yeast. Good to see you making beer and posting.

[Foothiller]

That looks like an interesting beer. I'm planning something similar, although I'll be aiming lower in the Amber's range for IBU and color, so I'm thinking of using Crystal 40 and CaraMunich as the specialty grains, and less Cascade hops. But I see nothing wrong with your selections. I'm hoping to find the American Ale HME to be a time-saver by having enough IBU in the HME that I can skip the usual bittering hop step. I have used this approach already in a Porter with what I think will be a nice beer, although it is still conditioning.

[M42]

Wouldn't Bewitched Amber Ale be a better base to work off of since it's already an amber ale?

[Foothiller]

Building from Bewitched Amber would be a valid but different approach. But for me, I just want the HME to be a time-saver, with the rest of the recipe being mine rather than someone else's where I just follow instructions. Then, from a more basic HME with enough IBU to actually be a time-saver, I hope to be able to customize in a variety of directions.

[Bassman]

I just made a straight up Bewitched, 2 weeks in the LBK. But I have a few cans of HME that need some boosting up to make them have enough alcohol and taste to enjoy drinking.

[Bassman]

I brewed tonight and all went well. To be honest the ingredients have been sitting around for about a year, I think. The hop pellets were vacuum sealed the whole time and in the freezer. They smelled great! The DME was pretty solid but I banged the bag on the counter and dissolved it well. My plan is get fresh DME for the next batch. I also added 1/4 tsp. of Wyeast nutrient and used the whole packet of S-05, overkill maybe, but it was old although in the fridge the whole time. I drew a cup off to measure OG and also to taste. It came in at 1.056 at 75'. So I guess it's about 1.057 I guess. It tasted great! Steeping the grains and boiling the wort with hops really smelled great. It reminded me of when I was brewing regularly. I'll bottle in 3 weeks.