Sweet Caroline Amber Ale

Can't believe its been a whole month since I've posted anything. Though, really, brewing once a month is about the max I could hope to do. With my two long-aged beers (my experimental sour cranberry ale and this year's "big beer") just hanging out waiting for bottling day, I decided I should get something going that will be ready relatively quickly. I figure I'll only have two more brews before it gets too hot (I haven't yet acquired a taste for those beers typically fermented hot), so I decided to go with an American Amber, a style I haven't tried to brew, at least not to style. I'll probably brew an American Wheat next month, to have something nice and refreshing for the summer.

One of the things I've discovered through creating my own recipes is that I tend not to like a ton of crystal malt. Generally, I keep any crystal malt addition to 5% or less, but since an American Amber is supposed to have a noticeable crystal malt presence, I decided I could/should break that rule this time. But I've still kept it below other recipes I've seen, where it can comprise up to 20% of the grist (!). I didn't want anything overly hoppy either - trying to strike a nice balance between the American hops and the crystal malt.

Nothing unusual to report for the brew day. Unless you count a rare win by the Red Sox (improved to 4-10; still the worse record in the league though).

Sweet Caroline Amber Ale
Brewed on 4/17/11

Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 3.50 gal
Boil Size: 5.00 gal
Estimated Color: 12.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 39.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.21%

Grist
5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter - 79.25 %
8.0 oz Crystal Malt (~60L) - 7.20 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt - 7.20 %
4.0 oz Carared Malt - 3.60 %
2.1 oz Acidulated Malt - 1.87 %
1.0 oz Chocolate Malt (~450L) - 0.86 %

Hops
0.20 oz Galena [14.10 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [6.10 %] (10 min)
0.50 oz Citra [12.30 %] (10 min)
0.50 oz Citra [12.30 %] (1 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [6.10 %] (1 min)

Yeast
California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) →


Mash Schedule
Single Infusion, 153°F, Batch Sparge