Alaskan Brewing Co’s Alaskan Amber clone
Alaskan Brewing Co’s Alaskan Amber clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.054 FG = 1.015
IBU = 18 SRM = 15 ABV = 5.1%
Richly malty and long on the palate, with just enough hop backing. This amber altbier undergoes a cool, slow fermentation to help condition the flavors, contributing to its overall balance and smoothness.
Ingredients
9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) pale ale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt (40 °L)
0.66 lb. (0.3 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.33 lb. (0.14 kg) crystal malt (90 °L)
3.3 AAU Cascade hops (60 min.) (0.66 oz./18 g at 5% alpha acids)
3.33 AAU Saaz hops (15 min.) (1.1 oz./31 g at 3% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.)
Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) or White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/Kölsch) yeast (1.5 qt./~1.5 L yeast starter)
3/4 cup (150 g) dextrose (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains in 14 qts. (13 L) of water at 152 °F (67 °C). Mash out, vorlauf, and then sparge at 170 °F (77 °C) to collect 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Add 2 qts. (1.9 L) of water and boil 90 minutes, adding hops and Irish moss at times indicated. Cool, aerate, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). After fermentation is complete, bottle or keg as usual.
Extract with grains option:
Reduce the pale ale malt in the all-grain recipe to 1 lb. (0.45 kg) and add 2 lbs. 2 oz. (1 kg) light dried malt extract and 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) light liquid malt extract. Steep grains in 5.5 gallons (21 L) of water at 154 °F (68 °C) for 45 minutes. Rinse with 2 qts. (2 L) of water at 168 °F (76 °C). Remove grains and add malt extracts as you bring to a 60-minute boil. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.
Written by Scott Russell
This beer was first brewed commercially by Douglas City Brewing in the late 1800s and later by Geoff Larson, who in 1986 founded his Alaskan Brewing Company. His amber has won a slew of awards since then, including several Great American Beer Festival medals and a first-place finish at the 1996 World Beer Championships.
Alaskan Amber is an altbier, more in the Münster tradition than the Düsseldorfer (in other words, it’s sweeter, richer, less bitter and less dry).