Hoppy Amber - not sure on recipe

echomarine225 · February 9, 2014, 10:57pm

Hey Brewers,

I have only brewed four batches so far and all were extract kits and want to make my own receipe for my 5th and eventually work my way to all grain. I like amber beers and hoppy beers so why not make a Hop Amber beer. Similiar to Troegs Hopback Amber or something like an Evolution Lot #3 IPA.

I have Beer Alchemy and below is the recipe I came up with. Being a newb, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated on recipe make up and/or experience brewing a similar beer or any other thoughts that could help.

Many Thanks and Brew on.

Malts:
(7) lbs Briess DME Pilsen Light - 60min boil
(.75) lbs. Caramel 20L Malt - steep for color & flavor
(2) lbs Munich 10L Malt - steep for coloar & flavor

Hops:
(1.2) oz. Nugget - 60min
(1.0) oz Cascade - 15min
(.5) oz Nugget - at flame out for 10min
(.5) oz Williamette - at flame out for 10min

Yeast:
1056 American Ale - will do my first starter for this beer

OG 1.060
FG 1.014

ABV 6%
IBU 41

beerme11 · February 10, 2014, 12:14am

Look into doing partial mashes so you can get some gravity points from the munich. Steeping 2 pounds of base malt (munich) for flavor is not common but other than that I like the recipe.

glug_master · February 10, 2014, 2:24am

You’re at the low end of an amber color wise. I would ditch the Munich 10 malt. It needs to be mashed to properly utilize it and doesn’t add much for color, maybe sub in a half pound or so of Caramunich instead.

hans_caravan · February 10, 2014, 3:19am

Check out the Waldo Lake Amber from our host. It gets very good reviews.

echomarine225 · February 12, 2014, 6:19pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I will make some changes and see what happens.

edelstoff · February 12, 2014, 6:54pm

10,000 for Waldo Lake Amber

Not the biggest fan of Ambers/Reds, but this recipe is awesome! Kinda like Denny knows what he’s doing Gotta brew a batch again soon…

old_dawg · February 12, 2014, 7:00pm

I’m a Munich malt fan, so I’d leave it in there. You can get Munich extract, or you could do the partial mash. You’re probably already addicted, so you might as well go on and get into partial mash - it’s little different than soaking specialty grains.

If you want the beer darker, consider using Munich 20 - probably not available in extract. I’m not a big fan of caramel/crystal malt so I wouldn’t recommend doing the obvious and adding more or darker caramel/crystal.

Denny Conn’s Waldo Lake Amber is guaranteed to be a success, as is anything else by Denny.