Cascarillo Amber Ale

[Scottie]

Brewing Dudes and Dudettes

I'm sure that some of you have purchased this months featured recipe, I have.

I was planning on following the recipe to the letter but Kelsey has me worried with his many Amber Ales that have came out to sweet.

 

This recipe is said to fit within the American Amber Ale guidelines. However when I punch it into IanH's spreadsheet and switch on the hop concentration factor it comes up a bit short on IBUs. The low end for this style is 25 IBU and I am getting 15.9 IBU. When I switch the hop concentration factor off I get 26.4 IBU.

 

I am guessing that the easiest way to increase the bitterness and stay true to the recipe is to increase the boil volume. However this means a full volume boil.

 

That leaves the other two options:

a) Longer Boil

b) More hops

 

And there you have it, the kit hasn't even arrived yet and I have broken my promise to follow the recipe to the letter [bandit]

 

[Hairy]

From previous posts by PB2 it appears that the recipes are brewed and tasted by others at Coopers before release. I assume they would be tweaked if necessary based on the feedback received.

 

If there were any problems, like sickly sweetness or low bitterness, then it would probably have been raised.

 

I would make it as per recipe just to see how it turns out.

 

If you are going to tinker with it then you could do a little of both; longer boil and more later hops.

 

Let us know how this one turns out.

 

Also, sweetness is in the tatse of the beerholder. I haven't had a problem with a can of amber malt, but I have never used two cans.

[King Ruddager]

I'd just like to add that I'm very impressed they've added a full extract brew to the recipe list

[Reuben]

Based on my calculations the recipe comes in at 25 IBU. Keep in mind that their is a 15 min hop steep at the end of the boil which would still be hot enough to extract some additional bitterness, perhaps another 5 - 10 IBU. Based on the expected FG of 1.006 - 1.010, this would be a nice balance of maltiness and bitterness.

 

You could add 500 grams of dextrose if you wanted to bump up the ABV from around 4% to 5%.

 

All said, this recipe looks really tasty! A nice whack of US hops! [love]

[Scottie]

OK

 

As you say Hairy sweetness/bitterness/hoppiness is subjective.

So I have got a couple of my Bushy Park Amber Ales in the fridge.

Taste test tonight to get a sighter for the Cascarillo.

The comparison recipe has

Coopers OS Lager

Coopers Amber Malt 1.5kg

Medium Crystal 250g

20g Topaz @ 5 mins

20g Galaxy @ 5 mins

Bottled 27.7 weeks ago

FG 1.01

IBU 22.9

 

PS it isn't a good sign though, I have a fair stock of this brew in my cupboard [alien]

[Hairy]

Are you only tasting this for the first time after 27.7 weeks? [surprised

[Scottie]

I'd just like to add that I'm very impressed they've added a full extract brew to the recipe list

But it isn't the first full ecxtract brew to make the How to Brew list [biggrin] , hopefully it isn't the last.

[Scottie]

Are you only tasting this for the first time after 27.7 weeks? [surprised

Good question Hairy

 

I am sure that I tried it at 3 months, clearly it was unremarkable [whistling

[Scottie]

From previous posts by PB2 it appears that the recipes are brewed and tasted by others at Coopers before release. I assume they would be tweaked if necessary based on the feedback received.

 

If there were any problems, like sickly sweetness or low bitterness, then it would probably have been raised.

 

I would make it as per recipe just to see how it turns out.

I hear what your saying Hairy

My sampling of the Bushy Park Amber Ale didn't really shed any light, it isn't sweet nor bitter. But it is 22.9 IBU according to IanH's spreadsheet. At the end of the day this is my reference point.

 

I want to stick with the flavor and aroma of the recipe so I will stick with the recipe's hop schedule and boil volume. I am thinking of bringing some Centennial in at the start of the boil. 15g at 40 minutes in 5 litres should give me 24.3 IBU.

 

So I hear what your saying but obviously I'm not listening [bandit] [devil]

 

Anyway at least another 9 days before I need to make a decison [unsure]

[King Ruddager]

But it isn't the first full ecxtract brew to make the How to Brew list [biggrin] ' date=' hopefully it isn't the last.[/quote']

Aha! Yes, I didn't realise there was another. Also, I didn't realise it was towards the top of the list and for some reason I started searching from the bottom up [lol]

[Otto Von Blotto]

As has been stated previously, everyone has different tastes. Personally when I make amber ales, I try to get the IBU's up around 35-40, otherwise the sweetness from the crystal just overpowers it and it doesn't taste very nice. But that's my taste, and there's no reason why someone else might prefer around 25 IBU for example.

[PhilboBaggins]

25 IBU sounds a bit low for my liking as well Kelsey.

 

Maybe a well attenuated all grain version would be okay, but certainly not for me using the amber LME. I only did one brew with it and the sweetness never mellowed. [crying]

[Otto Von Blotto]

Same here Phil. My latest amber ale is an all grain version and it's the best of the lot - however there's still a lot of room for improvement. I dry hopped that one with 35ish g of Fuggles and I think that helped to mask some of the sweetness. I think next time I might try hops other than Willamette, maybe bitter with Magnum and chuck in some Cascade or Goldings or something as later additions.

 

Funny thing is though, my English ale which is darker in colour, isn't all that bitter either but it doesn't exhibit the same yucky sweetness I have been getting in those ambers. Maybe the choc malt and roast barley countered it a bit.

[Khellendros13]

Same here Phil. My latest amber ale is an all grain version and it's the best of the lot - however there's still a lot of room for improvement. I dry hopped that one with 35ish g of Fuggles and I think that helped to mask some of the sweetness. I think next time I might try hops other than Willamette, maybe bitter with Magnum and chuck in some Cascade or Goldings or something as later additions.

 

Funny thing is though, my English ale which is darker in colour, isn't all that bitter either but it doesn't exhibit the same yucky sweetness I have been getting in those ambers. Maybe the choc malt and roast barley countered it a bit.

 

If adding 50gm roasted barley and 50gm pale choc along with 300gm light crystal and dry hopping with cascade, do you think 25IBU would be enough?

50gm of roasted in my Anzac ale is noticeable and definitely adds bitterness not calculated on the IBU scale.

[Otto Von Blotto]

It couldn't hurt to add those things. It really depends on your tastes. I would say brew it to 25IBU first, and if you find it's too sweet, up it to 30 next time, 35 if that's too sweet. I can't remember what my hop additions and IBUs were on that English ale I mentioned but I think the IBUs were somewhere between 30 and 35. The IBUs on my porter are about 45-50 and it doesn't seem all that bitter either, in fact for an experimental recipe that I had no idea how it would turn out when I created it, it's a bloody nice drop - it's all relative to the grains used in it. If you had a pale beer at 50 IBU it will seem more bitter than a dark beer at 50IBU.