Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Bell’s Amber Ale features both toasted and sweet caramel notes from carefully selected malts, balanced with herbal and citrus hop aromas.

Mill the grains (if not pre-crushed). Heat 4.25 - 4.5 gallons of strike water to about 166°F (so the infusion mash rests near 152°F after dough-in).

Mill and Heat Strike Water

Add milled Pale 2-Row, Munich, Caramel/Crystal 60L, Caramel/Crystal 40L, Victory (and Special B if used) into the mash tun. Add rice hulls if needed to prevent stuck mash. Dough in with the strike water, stirring to fully hydrate and avoid clumps. Aim for a mash temperature of 150–154°F for 60 minutes to develop a balance of fermentable sugars and dextrins that give body and malt sweetness.

Mash In

Hold the mash at 150–154°F for 60 minutes. After the mash, raise temperature to about 168–170°F for 10 minutes (mash out) to stop enzymatic activity and improve runoff, then begin vorlauf (recirculation) until runoff is clear.

Mash Rest and Mash Out

Sparge with enough water at 168–170°F to collect approximately 6.5–7.0 gallons of wort in the boil kettle (total pre-boil volume depends on system losses; target around 6.5 gal pre-boil to yield ~5.25 gal into the fermenter).

Sparge

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boil-overs as the wort first comes to a boil.

Bring to a Rolling Boil

Total boil time: 60 minutes.
- At 60 minutes (start of boil): add Northern Brewer/Magnum 0.5 oz (bittering).
- At 15 minutes remaining: add Cascade 0.5 oz and gypsum (if using) to help hop brightness and mouthfeel.
- At 5 minutes remaining: add Cascade 0.25 oz and Fuggle/Willamette 0.25 oz (optional) for herbal/citrus aroma and slight flavor.
- At flameout: you may add a small whirlpool addition of Cascade 0.25 oz (optional) for added aroma; steep for 10–15 minutes before chilling.

Hop Additions

After flameout and any whirlpool additions, chill the wort quickly to yeast pitch temperature (around 66–68°F for American ale yeast) using an immersion chiller, counterflow chiller, or ice bath. Rapid chilling improves clarity and reduces risk of DMS.

Cooling

Transfer cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter, leaving as much trub behind in the kettle as reasonable. Top up with boiled/cooled water to reach 5.25 gallons if needed. Aerate the wort thoroughly by shaking, splashing, or using pure oxygen (recommended: 60–90 seconds at 5–7 psi).

Transfer and Aerate

Rehydrate or prepare yeast according to manufacturer instructions. Pitch the yeast when wort is 66–68°F. Add yeast nutrient if desired.

Pitch Yeast

Ferment at 66–68°F for 5–7 days until activity slows. Expect the majority of fermentation to finish in the first 3–5 days with airlock activity decreasing.

Primary Fermentation

After primary fermentation slows (around day 5–7), raise temperature to 68–70°F for 48 hours to help clean up esters and diacetyl. Then allow beer to finish and begin cold crash or proceed to packaging.

Conditioning / Diacetyl Rest

When final gravity is reached and beer is stable for 2–3 days, prepare priming sugar. Boil 3.5 oz (100 g) corn sugar in 1.5 cups of water for 5 minutes, cool, and sanitize. Add the cooled priming solution to a sanitized bottling bucket.

Prepare for Bottling

Rack beer gently onto the priming solution to ensure even mixing, then bottle into sanitized bottles and cap. Aim for ~2.3–2.6 volumes of CO2 (standard amber ale carbonation).

Rack and Bottle

Condition bottles at room temperature (68–72°F) for 2 weeks, then cold condition for a few days to a week. Chill and serve. Expect amber color, toasted and caramel malt character with balanced citrus/herbal hop aroma.

Bottle Conditioning

Sanitize all fermenters, spoons, siphons, and bottles before they contact cooled wort or beer. Use proper cleaners (PBW) and sanitizers (Star San or campden/sanitizer per instructions). Clean equipment promptly after use to prevent buildup and contamination.

Pale 2-Row Malt

Munich Malt

Caramel/Crystal 60L

Caramel/Crystal 40L

Victory or Biscuit Malt

Special B (for deeper caramel note, optional)

Rice hulls (if using a small mash tun to prevent stuck mash)

Calcium chloride (CaCl2)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) (optional, for hop brightness)

Cascade (pellets)

Northern Brewer (or Magnum) (pellets) - bittering

Fuggle or Willamette (optional aroma)

American Ale yeast (Wyeast 1056 / White Labs WLP001 or Safale US-05)

Yeast nutrient (optional)

Corn sugar (dextrose) for bottling

Campden (metabisulfite) - for sanitizer (optional)

Water (brewing / treated to appropriate profile)

Bell's Amber Ale

Make Bell's Amber Ale Recipe in just 7h . Bell’s Amber Ale features both toasted and sweet caramel notes from carefully selected malts, balanced with herbal and citrus hop aromas.

Bell's Amber Ale

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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