{"id":201,"date":"2014-02-19T23:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/?p=201"},"modified":"2014-02-19T23:00:09","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T04:00:09","slug":"american-amber-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/19\/american-amber-tasting\/","title":{"rendered":"American Amber Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year we brewed a Bock<\/a> as our first attempt at a lager.\u00a0 If you don’t remember, we split the batch and pitched half with US-05 to create an American Amber ale.\u00a0 Today we’re going to taste that.<\/p>\n

\"No<\/a>
No lager here…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Appearance<\/strong>: this brew was actually kegged and carbonated in late January, so it’s long-since crystal clear.\u00a0 Color is a spot-on reddish-amber.\u00a0 Pours with a nice foamy head, not too dense, which gradually falls back.\u00a0 Some lacing is present, but not as much as our Rye IPA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Smell<\/strong>: all spice, no fruit, but not overpowering.\u00a0 This is expected due to the use of “noble” Saaz and Hallertau hops which tend to have a spicy character.\u00a0 Since this batch was not drop-hopped, no aroma explodes out of the glass like you’d get with an American IPA.<\/p>\n

Taste<\/strong>: good taste, great bitterness for the style, and very easy drinking.\u00a0 Spicy notes from the hops, no overpowering caramel flavors or cloying sweetness from the extra crystal we tossed in.\u00a0 We think it’s well-balanced towards the bitter side.<\/p>\n

Mouthfeel<\/strong>: there’s room for improvement here.\u00a0 The brew finished at 1.024 SG, likely due to the higher mash temperature.\u00a0 Next time, we’d keep the mash temps around 150 – 151F for less body.<\/p>\n

Temperature Zones
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

A HERMS system (like we have) has multiple temperature zones.\u00a0 First you’ve got the mash tun itself, and second you have the Heat EXchanger (HEX) in your Hot Liquor Tank.\u00a0 They are not always the same temperature, and that means that both zones can affect the fermentability and mouthfeel of your beer.<\/p>\n

If you’ll recall, mashing at a lower temperature (like 148F) increases fermentability because it favors the beta-amylase enzyme, which breaks starches into simpler sugars that yeast convert to alcohol.\u00a0 Higher mash temperatures (like 154F) favor alpha-amylase, which breaks starches into larger chunks that yeast cannot process as easily.\u00a0 Thus, higher mash temperature yields a less fermentable wort, and more unfermentable sugars, which create a fuller-tasting beer.<\/p>\n

So, if your mash tun is at 149F and your HEX coil is at 154F, you’ll be getting starch conversion in both places<\/em>, but quite possibly favoring different enzymes.\u00a0 You need to keep the temperature between the mash and the HEX as close as possible to ensure the mash profile is consistent.\u00a0 This is how we got more mouthfeel and less ABV on this brew without intending to.<\/p>\n

For the future brews, we’ll try to hit mash temps more precisely, and reduce flow rates through the HEX to ensure that the wort in the coils isn’t a higher temperature than the mash itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year we brewed a Bock as our first attempt at a lager.\u00a0 If you don’t remember, we split the batch and pitched half with US-05 to create an American Amber ale.\u00a0 Today we’re going to taste that. Appearance: this brew was actually kegged and carbonated in late January, so it’s long-since crystal clear.\u00a0 … Continue reading American Amber Tasting<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/brewitright.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}