Compared to its more famous and popular sibling, the American Pale Ale, an American Amber Ale has more body, more caramel richness, and a balance more towards malt than hops.
Of course, I wanted to brew something different, not commercially available, so this amber uses Munich malt as its base. This choice accentuates the malt flavor even more.
This beer includes Pacific Gem and Cascade hops. The Cascades were grown on a new organic family hop farm in Colorado and
really nice hops. Here is a link to their website and blog. I've had the opportunity to visit with Glen online and am glad to support his effort.
We 'dry hopped' this batch, which means that after fermentation, we dropped in an ounce of the Cascades into a carboy and racked the beer onto them. This doesn't increase the beer's bitterness, but rather the hops aroma. Cascades have a bit of a citrus aroma to them
Amber Ale
American Amber Ale
made with organic Munich Malt and Pacific Gem and Cascade hops
Of course, this beer was made with organically grown malts and hops and brewed with our favorite 'house' yeast - the Edinburgh strain from Scotland.
Ingredients
9 lbs. Munich Barley Malt
2 lb. Wheat Malt
1 lb. Crystal Malt (40L)
o.5 oz. Pacific Gem hops (15.0 Alpha) 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Cascade hops (5.5 Alpha) 20 minutes
1.0 oz. Cascade hops (5.5 Alpha) 10 minutes
1.0 oz Cascade hops (5.5 Alpha) dry hop for seven days
1 teaspoon Irish Moss
Edinburgh Yeast (White Labs WLP 028)
For the Beer Geeks
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol by Vol: 5.4%
Bitterness: 38 IBU
Calories: 229 calories/pint
Mashed at 152 degrees, single infusion, batch sparge
