Redwood Rail American Amber Ale | Extract Recipe Kit | 5 Gallons
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The short version before the full profile, ingredients, and process notes below.
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Redwood Rail American Amber Ale Extract Recipe Kit for Toasty Malt and Balanced American Hops
Redwood Rail American Amber Ale is a 5 gallon extract beer recipe kit built for brewers who want copper color, rounded caramel malt, light toast, and clean American hop balance without pushing into IPA territory.
This recipe lands between a pale ale and a brown ale: richer than a basic pale, brighter than a malt-heavy English brown, and approachable enough to become a regular tap handle. It is a strong choice for brewers who want a flavorful amber ale that still finishes clean and easy to drink.
This is the extract version. If you prefer the other brew-day format, see the Redwood Rail American Amber Ale all-grain recipe kit.
Why Brewers Choose Redwood Rail American Amber Ale
Redwood Rail is a great next-step kit for brewers who want to understand how specialty malts shape color, body, and flavor. Caramel malt adds amber depth and light sweetness, Victory malt brings a subtle toasted-biscuit note, and American hops keep the beer fresh instead of heavy.
It is also a practical crowd-pleaser: enough malt character for amber ale fans, enough hop presence for pale ale drinkers, and moderate enough bitterness for an easy pint.
Beer Profile
- Style: American Amber Ale
- Batch Size: 5 gallons
- Original Gravity: 1.052
- Final Gravity: 1.012
- ABV: 5.2%
- IBU: 32
- SRM: 13
Grain Milling
We automatically mill the grains included with SoCal Brewing Supply beer recipe kits so they are ready for brew day. If you want the grains left unmilled, please add that request in the shopping cart notes before checkout. We’ll do our best to support unmilled requests when packing your order.
Fermentation Requirements
Recommended fermentation temperature: 64–70°F. Steady ale fermentation temperature helps prevent hot, solvent-like, or overly fruity off-flavors.
Detailed Kit Contents
- Briess Golden Light DME: 1 × 3 lb bag plus 2 × 1 lb bags (5 lb total)
- Crystal/Caramel 60L malt: 1 lb
- Chocolate malt: 2 oz
- Cascade hops: 2 oz total
- Mandarina Bavaria hops: 1 oz pack; use 0.5 oz in this recipe
- Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops: 1 oz
- Mangrove Jack M36 Liberty Bell ale yeast: 1 sachet
- Muslin Steeping Bag 5 x 15 for steeping grains
Flavor and Brewing Character
Expect an amber-to-copper ale with caramel, toast, light biscuit, moderate bitterness, and classic American hop notes of citrus, pine, and floral spice. The finish should be balanced: malt-forward, but not syrupy or heavy.
What Is Included
- Briess Golden Light Dry Malt Extract
- Briess Caramel 60L Malt
- Briess Victory Malt
- Magnum hop pellets
- Cascade hop pellets
- Centennial hop pellets
- Fermentis SafAle US-05 dry yeast
- Muslin Steeping Bag 5 x 15 for steeping grains
Why Brewers Choose the Extract Version
The extract version is ideal if you want a more approachable brew day with a cost-conscious DME base, real steeping grain character, and the same balanced amber ale profile.
Steeping grain note: This extract kit includes a 5 x 15 muslin steeping bag for the specialty grain addition.
Brewing Notes
- Balance matters: American amber should have clear malt character without becoming overly sweet.
- Follow the exact hop timing in the PDF: the instructions list each hop addition by amount and minutes remaining in the boil.
- Keep fermentation clean: US-05 helps caramel, toast, and hops stay defined.
- Plan carbonation separately if bottling: priming sugar is sold separately.
If you are bottle conditioning, you will need to purchase Powdered Dextrose Priming Sugar, sold separately. Use our Priming Sugar Calculator to determine the right amount for your finished volume and desired carbonation level.
If you are kegging your beer, use our Keg Carbonation Calculator to dial in serving pressure and carbonation level.
Helpful Bottling & Kegging Add-Ons
- Bottling this batch? Add powdered dextrose priming sugar so you are ready on packaging day.
- Use our Priming Sugar Calculator to dial in the right amount of sugar for your beer volume, temperature, and carbonation target.
- Kegging instead? Use our Beer Carbonation Chart & Keg Serving Pressure Calculator to choose the right CO₂ pressure for your serving temperature and carbonation level.
Download the Redwood Rail American Amber Ale extract brewing instructions PDF.