I used it once, in my second ever batch. I was building my own recipe after brewing a kit for my first batch. The beer (a belgian pale) came out surprisingly well, but really by dumb luck. The problem with amber and darker extracts is that you don't know what's in them. So how can you build a recipe with them and know what to expect? IMO it would take some trial and error to get to the point where you know what the particular extract does (flavor, body, fermentability, etc) treated as a "single" ingredient.
I added 1# to a Motts AJ cider in place of simple sugars in hopes of adding a bit of body and caramel flavor. The end product is tasty, although I couldn't tell you what exactly the amber DME contributed.
When I was extract brewing I used it quite a bit. I have no hate for it. I made a lot of tasty beers using it. I once made a pale ale using 50% extra light and 50# amber DME. Was an excellent drinker!
I'm lazy, so I'm exclusively an extract user, but I can recall using amber only once over thirty-some batches. There must not be many recipes that I want to brew that use that ingredient. I have no hate for it; if it's listed in a recipe, I'll use it again.
About the only time I use it is when it's pre-packaged in a kit. Otherwise, I use light/golden (depending on what's in stock) and get my color from steeping specialty grains. I've read many times where people are discussing impurities and off flavors resulting from amber/darker extracts. My 2₵
If you just use steeping grains you're still going to get the flavor, aren't you? First time for this kit. Probably has another 3 weeks or so.
I just used it in a batch of Scottish Ale, it's still in secondary so I haven't tried it yet. I've had Scottish Ale before, if it was from the same kit, it was a pretty good beer.
You'd still get some flavors, depending on the specialty grain you are using. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I have made plenty of amber to brown ales using light extract and specialty grains. I can't compare how they'd taste if I used solely amber extract. Here is an article from BYO that addresses color versus flavor. https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/487-control-beer-color-tips-from-the-pros Nice, I'd like to hear how it turns out.
I have no problem with it, used it multiple times and always liked the results. Just don't treat it like extra light and you'll be fine.
I used to use Amber DME often for my IPA's to give them a little more complexity and darker color, but after I brewed a DIPA with only amber, and it came out way too funky (in a bad way) compared to usual. I quit using Amber DME and went to Light/Golden DME as my main fermentable and use more specialty grains to get the desired taste and color I'm looking for. After switching, I have noticed a marked difference in taste and friends like my beers better now, even though they didnt know about my switch. Now I only use Light DME for most recipes I make and sometimes a small amount of Dark DME in my stouts and porters for some complexity.
I've used Amber DME in a couple of experimental single-hop one-gallon batches. I added some table sugar to dry it out a little to make an IPA and was pretty happy with the results. I'll be doing it again as I continue playing with hops. I normally do larger all-grain batches, but wanted something quick and dirty for these one-gallon batches. I was able to knock out a couple of these in an easy evening. Very drinkable and surprisingly good. I really think a little table sugar made all the difference in the world.
Have used it a couple of times when I started brewing. All of these turned out below average, however, I'm cogniscant that thsi is correlation rather than causation (and 95% sure that it's more to do with the fact that there were my first few brews!).
