Amber Brew Day

Today was my first venture into the world of Amber Ale. I was supposed to light the burners at 4:30 AM, when Sharon left to climb Half Dome, but I hadn't filtered my water or ground my grain last night, and at that time of the morning I started to doubt my choice for an Amber Ale so I started researching recipes and taking inventory of all my grains and hops on hand. After a few cups of coffee I decided to stick with the original plan and brew the Amber.














Mashing out at 9 AM. The first runnings were dark and sweet!















I took this picture for two reasons. First, I put a new piece of brewing equipment into rotation: The Ove Glove! It's much more convenient to grab hot pieces of aluminum, etc with this then trying to use a regular, square hot pad. Second, notice that there is NO BOIL OVER on the edges of the brew pot or on the ground. Why? I started using Foam Control on this brew and even though I had a great rolling boil, I didn't have all the foam associated with it. This stuff ROCKS!















11.5 gallons of Amber Waves of Grain in glass where it will sit for the next three weeks. I used a few drops of foam control in each carboy and it started eating through the foam from the aeration right away. 1/2 hour after pitching the 2 liter starter I had visible yeast activity.















Oops! I boiled off a little too much and over shot my starting gravity. Was supposed to be 1.055. As Mark would say, "This is going to be a big ole ale!"

Amber Waves of Grain - Amber Ale

This Saturday I'll be lighting the burners at 5 AM and brewing an Amber. I'm still waiting for the keg of Pale Ale to blow before I hook up the Summer Sunset Orange Wit. Man, oh man, I can't wait to taste that beer!

Here's the recipe planned for the 11th:

















Amber Waves of Grain
10-B American Amber Ale
Author: Wade L. Williams

Size: 12.0 gal
Efficiency: 64.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 173.16 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.052 (1.045 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.015)
Color: 17.8 (10.0 - 17.0)
Alcohol: 5.12% (4.5% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 35.8 (25.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:
20.78 lb Pale Ale Malt
2.19 lb Munich Malt
2.46 lb Crystal Malt 40°L
1.59 lb Crystal Malt 120°L
1.59 lb Victory® Malt
3 oz Vanguard (5.4%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Cascade (7.8%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
1 oz Centennial (9.1%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.5 oz Cascade (7.8%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
.5 oz Centennial (9.1%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale

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