American Amber recipe query

[Tobys]

Hi All - I recently tried Fourpure's Amber Ale - and loved it! Having never tried any other American Amber Ales I thought I'd try giving one a go. Found a general recipe and after a bit of work came up with the recipe below. It's a BIAB one though BIABacus. I have a few questions not related to the BIAB method but the recipe in general.

1. The original bittering hop was Horizon but I can't track that down from local supplier. Will Magnum do a good job?
2. Do i need the Cascade & Centennial? Given that the quantities are pretty small I'm not sure if I could get away with the one hop but on the other hand I want it to be a right tasty brew!
3. Does the grain bill look about right?

Thanks All!


Original Gravity (OG): 1.046
IBU's (Tinseth): 26.5
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio: 0.58
Colour: 17 EBC = 8.6 SRM
ABV%: 4.45

Times and Temperatures
Mash: 90 mins at 67 C
Boil: 60 min

The Grain Bill (Also includes extracts, sugars and adjuncts)
86.3% Pilsen Malt (2.7 EBC = 1.4 SRM) 4255 grams = 9.38 pounds
6.8% Crystal Malt (120 EBC = 60.9 SRM) 336 grams = 0.74 pounds
4.6% Munich Malt (15 EBC = 7.6 SRM) 225 grams = 0.5 pounds
2.3% Dark Crystal Malt (240 EBC = 121.8 SRM) 112 grams = 0.25 pounds

The Hop Bill
21.9 IBU Horizon Flowers (13%AA) 18.9 grams at 60 mins
1.8 IBU Cascade Flowers (6%AA) 9.5 grams at 10 mins
2.7 IBU Centennial Flowers (9%AA) 9.5 grams at 10 mins
0 IBU Cascade Flowers (6%AA) 9.5 grams at 0 mins
0 IBU Centennial Flowers (9%AA) 9.5 grams at 0 mins

Mash Steps
Mash Type: Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash) for 90 mins at 67 C = 152.6 F
Mashout for for 1 mins at 78 C = 172.4 F

Fermentation& Conditioning
Fermention: WLP001 California Ale

[seymour]

Looks good to me. If Horizon is only used for the full boil, it doesn't contribute a lot of its own flavour and aroma. Magnum will get your bitterness where you want it, but otherwise contribute even less, which is fine.

You don't necessarily need Cascade and Centennial, either one would produce a right tasty brew, as you said. But, both in combination would produce a more complex, rounded hoppy prescence overall. If you had to pick just one, the Centennial will bring a little more to the party. Some people consider it "Super Cascade" which I get to an extent: loads of grapefruit, black currant, but it has piney, grassy, peppery traits as well which Cascade seldom does.

Anyway, best of luck with your brew!

[Tobys]

Many thanks. Fingers crossed is a good'un!