This is the first recipe in our Easy, Surefire Recipe series.
Amber Socks Red Ale
by Chris Colby
Malt extract; English units
DESCRIPTION
An amber ale with caramel malt flavor and lots of hop flavor and aroma.
INGREDIENTS (for 5 gallons)
Water
carbon-filtered tap water is fine
Malt and Malt Extract (for an OG of 1.050 and an SRM of 26)
1 lb. 5 oz. US 2-row pale malt
1.0 lb. crystal malt 40 °L (*1)
8.0 oz. crystal malt 60 °L
2.0 oz. chocolate malt
1.0 oz. black malt
4.0 lbs. light dried malt extract (preferably US, such as Briess)
(*1) if your homebrew shop sells 2 or more kinds of crystal malt around 40 °L, change this to 8 oz. of one kind and 8 oz. of another
Hops (for 39 IBU total)
US Magnum hops (22 IBU)
0.50 oz. (at 12% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes
Willamette hops (11 IBU)
1.0 oz. (at 5% alpha acids), boiled for 15 minutes
Cascade hops (6 IBU)
0.5 oz. (at 6% alpha acids), boiled for 15 minutes
Willamette hops (0 IBU)
1.0 oz., added at 0 mins
Liberty hops (0 IBU)
0.5 oz., added at 0 mins
Yeast (for an FG of 1.012 and 4.8% ABV)
11 g sachet Fermentis Safale US-05, Danstar BRY-97 (American West Coast) or Mangrove Jack M44 (US West Coast) dried yeast
(no starter required)
Other
1 tsp. Irish moss
5.0 oz. corn sugar (for priming to 2.6 volumes of CO2)
PROCEDURES
In your brewpot, begin heating 2.0 gallons of water to a boil. Aim to reach boiling when the small mash is done. In a separate, large (8 qts. or larger) pot, heat 1.0 gallon of water to 163 °F. Place crushed grains in a steeping bag and submerge in second pot. Hold temperature around 152 °F for 45 minutes. This is a small mash. In a third pot, heat 0.50 gallons of water to 170 °F to use as sparge water. After the grains have mashed, place a colander over your brewpot, set the grain bag in it and pour the wort through it (to filter out solid pieces of grain); then, rinse it with the sparge water. Stir in half of the malt extract and bring to a boil. You should have about 3.0 gallons of wort. Do not let wort volume drop below 2.5 gallons during boil. (Top up with boiling water, if needed.) Once boil starts and the first bits of hot break show, add your hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add remaining hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Stir in remaining malt extract in last 10 minutes. (Dissolve it in a small amount of wort first to make it easier to stir in.) Chill wort to 68 °F and transfer to fermenter. Add water to make 5.0 gallons and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and let ferment at 68 °F. Keg or bottle and carbonate to 2.6 volumes of CO2.
All-Grain Option
Replace malt extract with enough 2-row pale malt to hit OG of 1.050. Mash at 153 °F (67 °C) for 45 minutes. Boil wort for 90 minutes. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).
Amber Socks Red Ale
by Chris Colby
Malt extract; metric units
INGREDIENTS (for 19 L)
Water
carbon-filtered tap water is fine
Malt and Malt Extract (for an OG of 1.050 and an SRM of 26)
590 g US 2-row pale malt
450 g crystal malt 40 °L (*1)
230 g crystal malt 60 °L
57 g chocolate malt
28 g black malt
1.8 kg light dried malt extract (preferably US, such as Briess)
(*1) if your homebrew shop sells 2 or more kinds of crystal malt around 40 °L, change this to 230 g of one kind and 230 g of another
Hops (for 39 IBU total)
US Magnum hops (22 IBU)
14 g (at 12% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes
Willamette hops (11 IBU)
28 g (at 5% alpha acids), boiled for 15 minutes
Cascade hops (6 IBU)
14 g (at 6% alpha acids), boiled for 15 minutes
Willamette hops (0 IBU)
28 g, added at 0 mins
Liberty hops (0 IBU)
14 g, added at 0 mins
Yeast (for an FG of 1.012 and 4.8% ABV)
11 g sachet Fermentis Safale US-05, Danstar BRY-97 (American West Coast) or Mangrove Jack M44 (US West Coast) dried yeast
(no starter required)
Other
1 tsp. Irish moss
140 g corn sugar (for priming to 2.6 volumes of CO2)
PROCEDURES
In your brewpot, begin heating 7.6 L of water to a boil. Aim to reach boiling when the mash is done. In a separate, large (8 L or larger) pot, heat 3.8 L of water to 73 °C. Place crushed grains in a steeping bag and submerge in second pot. Hold temperature around 66 °C for 45 minutes. This is a small mash. In a third pot, heat 1.9 L of water to 77 °C to use as sparge water. After the grains have mashed, place a colander over your brewpot, place the grain bag in it and pour the wort through it (to filter out solid pieces of grain); then, rinse the grain bag with the sparge water. Stir in half of the malt extract and bring to a boil. You should have about 11 L of wort. Do not let wort volume drop below 9.5 L during boil. (Top up with boiling water, if needed.) Once boil starts and the first bits of hot break show, add your hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add remaining hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Stir in remaining malt extract in last 10 minutes. (Dissolve it in a small amount of wort first to make it easier to stir in.) Chill wort to 20 °C and transfer to fermenter. Add water to make 19 L and aerate thoroughly. Pitch yeast and let ferment at 20 °C. Keg or bottle and carbonate to 2.6 volumes of CO2.
Hi Chris! How do you come up with the ” 1 lb. 5 oz. US 2-row pale malt”? That seems like an oddly specific quantity. Are there diastatic reasons for that, or is that just the amount that works?
Nevermind, I’m a dummy. That’s the quantity required to bring your total grain bill to exactly 3 lbs. Maybe I should cut back on the homebrew before posting next time!
You got it. All the recipes in this series use 3 lbs. of grains per 5 gallons. This is enough to instill a good amount of malt aroma in the beer, but not so much that they are hard to handle in a stovetop brewing setup.
Do you remember around how long you let this one brew?