Awesome Extract Amber IPA!!!

[HomebrewNate]

I figured I would share this recipe, as it was rather easy and came out incredible! I made this in an attempt to clone the GREEN FLASH HOP HEAD RED amber IPA, and I must say, it is pretty on point!

Here is the recipe, and my tasting notes will follow:

5 Gallon Batch

Grain:
10 lbs of Light LME

Specialty Grains:
1 lb 40L Crystal Malt
.5 lb 120L Crystal Malt
.5 lb Vienna Malt

Hop Schedule:
.5 oz Simcoe 90 min
.25 oz Columbus 60 min
.25 oz Simcoe 60 min
.25 oz Columbus 30 min
.25 oz Simcoe 30 min
.75 oz Columbus 15 min
.75 oz Simcoe 15 min
1 oz Cascade 10 min
.5 oz Columbus 1 min
.5 oz Simcoe 1 min

Dry Hop:
.5 oz Amarillo
.5 oz Centennial
.5 oz Colombus
.5 oz Simcoe

Directions:
I steeped specialty grains, by starting with grains in room temp water and removing 5 minutes after water was heated to 170 degrees. Remove from heat and thoroughly mix in LME. Start 90 minute boil and proceed with hop schedule.

I let the wort ferment in primary for 1 week and then moved to secondary, with dry hops, and let remain for 2 weeks. Add in 5 oz priming sugar, Bottled and let age 2 weeks before first sampling.

Full Disclosure: This recipe was pieced together from some other recipes I found online. I cannot claim full creative ownership.

 

[HomebrewNate]

Okay, so I popped the first bottle at two weeks from bottling and was very impressed! This brew has amazing hop aromas and just the right amount of bitterness that I like in an IPA. I will say, the hop level is up there so it may be a bit much for those who aren't into the IPA's or are only looking for an amber ale. In addition, the mouth feel is wonderful... it has nice body to it and good head retention.

My only criticism at this point is that it has a slightly green sharpness to it...which I am hoping will fade with a bit further aging. By the end of the bottle you can certainly feel that sharp alcohol bite.... I failed to mention that I scewed up the gravity measurement on this one and don't know exactly what the ABV is By the taste it this point, it ain't weak!!!

 

[HomebrewNate]

I had another bottle of this at the 3 week mark after bottling and I am happy with the progress. The sharp greeness to it has faded (though I can still tell that this is a strong beer), which I am very happy about. The beer taste a bit smoother as a result.

One note that I was really happy about was the head retention. I noticed that the head took on an almost creamy nature that stuck around until the beer was almost gone. This creaminess added to the mouth feel and was something that I had not expected. Once again, very happy with this recipe!

(For those of you more observant people....yes, I did write all of these posts together. I am catching up and writing these retroactively)