first off, it was awesome to meet so many of you throughout the conference. it was my first, and I was blown away. I definitely plan to attend more, but I doubt I can afford every year.
I wanted to make an amber beer, and I’m typically not big on ambers. I was thinking about changing it up a bit and going with a melanoidin malt, which I’ve never used. one of my clubmates said this was a bad idea and inappropriate for an amber, but I think they were worried more about style guidelines. I just want to try it out, but I also don’t want to waste a batch of beer.
is there any reason why this absolutely would not work? if it comes out funky I’d be okay with that, as I said I don’t really like ambers. if it comes out awful, that’s another matter. thoughts?
Hops are still a major star in an Am amber, so I feel that malt complexity is not welcome in this style. Simplicity and focus seem to be the best way to let the hops and malt play in this style.
I just put .25 lbs in an amber recently, and I think it tastes quite nice. It was a 3 gallon batch. I’m pretty sure Denny uses it in his Waldo Lake Amber as well.
+1
I’ve used it in ‘American Amber’ myself and it works quite nicely. I would keep it around 0.25# or as Tom points out, no more than 0.5#, at least in this beer. But if you want more of the malt character (like there is in at least a few commercial examples I’ve had), go for it.
Besides, you can always adjust the amount higher or lower to your own taste if you make a second batch.
For me personally, the rule of thumb for questions like this one has always been “when in doubt, just try it.”
Waldo Lake Amber is still the best amber I’ve ever brewed. I now use the malt bill and adjust the hops to my tastes.
I like a more complex malt profile than an American Pale or an English Bitter, but you should err on the side of fewer, higher quality malts than more types of malts. Since malt profile is secondary to hops (although a closer second than pale), “complex” can turn to “muddy” fairly easily.
I was looking at the same thing a few months ago, because I find a lot of American Ambers to have a bit too much “crystal malt character,” which I don’t find appealing. Rather than use melanoidin malt, I just upped the munich to 35% of the grain bill. I now have a nice, dry and refreshing amber, with nice hop flavor and a toasty malt backbone.
Not to me, although Alaskan Brewing might disagree. They say their amber is an alt. The BJCP reception at NHC this year focused on alts. After tasting Alaskan amber next to Zum Uerige, I’m more convinced than ever that it’s a different animal.
I had Alaskan Amber at the airport waiting to catch my red eye back to the deep south and, while I thought it was a tasty beer, I didn’t think it tasted much like an alt.
Alts vary a lot in Düsseldorf. Ürige is the bitterest, driest, hoppiest example. I think too many judges look for Ürige-style hop character, but it isn’t the only way they’re done in their homeland.
