🍺 Top-down Brew: 19A American Amber Ale

Enter the desired amounts









The remaining percentage of the malt will be American two-row malt.





Metric US

Results

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Notes

BJCP characteristic ingredients: "Pale ale malt, typically North American two-row. Medium to dark crystal malts. May also contain specialty grains which add additional character and uniqueness. American or New World hops, often with citrusy flavors, are common but others may also be used."

A more complex grain bill with darker specialty malts sets this style apart from American pale ales. The base malt can be either American standard 2-row or pale ale malt. Medium crystal malts (40 or 80L) are typically 5 to 10%, with levels over 15% being excessive. Small amounts of darker crystal or roasted malts like chocolate malt, roasted barley, or black malt may be used for color (not roasted flavor). Highly kilned malts (Munich, Vienna, or Victory malt) or lightly kilned malts (Biscuit, melanoidin, etc.) can be 5% to 15%.

The hops are standard American varieties that have pine and citrus qualities: Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, etc. Hop flavor and aroma comes from late boil or possibly restrained dry hop additions. Cascade is often paired with Centennial, Amarillo, or any of the other suggested American hops.

The example BYO recipes did not have a dry hop addition. The beer-analytics.com data suggests a 20 to 25% by weight dry hopping rate. This could be increased, perhaps doubled, if the late boil additions are skipped or high alpha hops are utilized.

Neutral American ale strains are the usual yeast choice.

Sources

2021 BJCP 19A - American amber style

Beer-analytics.com American amber ale

Strong, G. (2021, May-June). American amber ale: Rediscovering the joy of crystal malt and American Hops. Brew Your Own, 26-29.

Zainasheff, J. (2007, November). American amber: An easy-drinking patriotic ale. Brew Your Own, 19-22.


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