Autumnal Amber

[Brauntonbeer]

Next Brew, thought I'd try a bit of an Alt-y type amber-y type thingingy.

5.00 kg. Pale Malt(2-row)
0.25 kg. Crystal 150L
0.25 kg. Special B Malt
0.23 kg. Wheat Malt

24.00 g. Cascade 60min
20.00 g. Spalter Select 1min

Yeast
WYeast 1007 German Ale

Any thoughts?

[yogester]

Next Brew, thought I'd try a bit of an Alt-y type amber-y type thingingy.

5.00 kg. Pale Malt(2-row)
0.25 kg. Crystal 150L
0.25 kg. Special B Malt
0.23 kg. Wheat Malt

24.00 g. Cascade 60min
20.00 g. Spalter Select 1min

Yeast
WYeast 1007 German Ale

Any thoughts?

i have never brewed an alt-bier but have a lot of experience with Special B (love it!) and it will make the beer roasty-as-all-hell if you use it in the 5%-ish range. In a beer like this 0.5-1% max imho for complexity only.

Where is the Munich/Vienna malt - I would have thought a recipe for an amber would scream for it!

[Barley Water]

Well, I would need to know what you mean by "Alty" to answer your question. Let's say for the sake of discussion that you mean you want a Dusseldorf type alt. If that is the case, I agree with the previous poster, you will want to use some Munich, maybe some Vienna malt and some Pils malt (in whatever proportion floats your boat). Then, I suggest debittered Carafa to darken the beer a bit. I would not put any crystal malt of any type in an Alt like that because you will end up with a beer that is heavy and sweet and may also get some caramel type flavors you don't want. I agree with the previous poster in that Special B will leave the beer roasty at those %'s, however in an Alt, you really don't want that either nor do you want the plumb/raisin taste that grain can add. Think of a dark copper to light brown beer with an O.G. of around 1.048 to 1.050. The beer should be dry, dry, dry however, it should also be malty (remember, sweet does not equal malty, you can make a malty, dry beer). That would suggest maybe adding a bit of Melonodin malt and perhaps a decoction to accentuate the maltiness (or do both like I do). To get dry, you need really good attenuation. Of course, that can be done by mashing at a relatively low temperature to produce a very fermentable wort and by pitching alot of yeast in really good condition. This beer is like making a lager with an ale yeast, ferment at a low temperature and oxigenate like hell.

Ok, lets talk hops. I would use Pearl or Magnum for bittering and some type of German noble hop for flavor. My understanding is that they rarely dry hop in der Fatherland however it's your beer, go for it if you dare. Shoot for something in the neighborhood of 40 IBU's, this stuff should be bracingly bitter (but you don't want a rough or course bitterness, think smooth). I will be doing an Alt again, hopefully before the end of the year for a contest next March. Last time I did it, I thought the beer was great but it was just not bitter enough. I am going to tweek my recipe this time to drive the IBU's up to take care of that problem. Anyhow, brew something up and let us know how it goes. Alt is a very nice beer, very tasty and sessionable.