Help with an Amber Ale

My wife and Brother in law are running a race on May 2 and I told my bro in law I was make him a beer to celebrate. Of course he said his favorite beers are light beers and fat tire (which I don't care for). So I am going to try to make an Amber ale I don't hate, but I haven't made one in years, so any helpful advice would be appreciated. I need to brew it in the next day or so to give it enough time to ferment before the 28th because I am out of town from the 28th through the 1st.

OG - 1.060 (based on 65% efficiency)
SRM - 15
IBU - 38
ABV - 5.9%
5.5 Gallons
90 minute boil

Pilsner -------- 40%
Maris Otter -- 20%
Red Wheat -- 10%
Dark Munich - 10%
Victory -------- 12.5%
Caramel 80L - 7.5%

Cascade - 0.5 oz - 90 mins
Nugget --- 0.5 oz - 25 mins
Nugget --- 0.5 oz - 15 mins
Crystal ---- 0.5 oz - 5 mins

2 oz Nugget & 1 oz Crystal steep at 170 in whirpool

Yeast - S-04 - 2L starter

The water will be kroger brand spring water. Might add some gypsum, haven't decided.

So, there it is. As I said, any constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Fair enough, I was just worried about the short turnaround time, plus I have some S-04 I had harvested from a previous batch. I didn't mention that though.

 

Thats a good idea on the ESB. I was actually thinking of saying screw the amber and making a Burton, because its been on my list of things to try for awhile. But I would need far more time to make a good burton.

So, how about this for an ESB?

70% Maris Otter
10% Torrified Wheat
10% C60
10% Victory

.25 magnum at 90
.5 Cascade at 60
1 Williamette at 10
1 EKG at 10

S-04

I'll probably still use Kroger Spring water because I always do. I don't typically deal with water chemistry much, though I might add the gypsum just to give it some crispness and adjust PH.

 

I like magnum as a clean bittering hop that offers little in the way of any flavor or aroma. I like Cascade at 60 because even with long boil times it generally still gives a little citrus tone.

I'll look at the malt bill a little. I tend to lean more toward the mid range crystal malts in beers like this because I tend to like the flavor a bit better.

I havent used torrified wheat before either, but i figured its worth a shot.

 

I ended up brewing a 3 GA batch last night pretty much the same as the Recipe above. I did 75% Maris Otter, bumped up the victory, and c80, and a dash of midnight wheat for color and I replaced the torrified wheat with some white wheat. I ended up putting the cascade in at 45 mins because I kind of spaced out for a minute and a 1/2 tsp of gypsum in the strike water. It'll probably end up being like the bastard child of Deschutes Cinder Cone Red/Fullers ESB. At least I hope so.

The color is pretty dead on SRM 16 or so and the aroma was good. I'll let you kmnow how it turns out.