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**Austinhomebrew** · 06-17-2008, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeathBrewer

wouldn't the citrusy hops make it more of an american red ale? not that it matters. my last irish red used chocolate malt and 120L (no roasted barley) with fuggle and EKG. it was fantastic.

My American Red has Cascade throughout the whole recipe and a lot more hops. This is a Goldings/Cascade blend. If you are trying to make it taste like Killians, my recipe for that beer is virtually the same but dumbed down on the hops.

Comments on my Irish Red from customers:

I brewed this as my first beer and after appropriate aging (mine was over 2 months) in the bottle, it tastes wonderful! I would say it is even better than any commercial red ales I have tried before.

Excellent beer! One of the best that I've ever brewed, highly recommended.

This is my favorite. I've brewed this 8 times. Richer than Killians and sharper, not heavier. Very little to no bitter aftertaste.

Fantastic Irish Red Ale. Way better than Killian's. Has a malty sweetness with good hop flavor.

Forrest

Sigafoos · 06-17-2008, 01:03 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll be going back to the pound of 120 and following Forrest's hop schedule. That brings the IBUs to 23.1, for what it's worth.

I'll hopefully be brewing this next Saturday (though probably not live). I'll let everyone know how it turns out!

sleepystevenson · 06-17-2008, 04:10 PM

Sounds like you are on the right track following Forrest's recipe / advise.

For what it's worth, I tried the BeyerDyke Irish Red and liked it - more like a Smithwicks (with a more pronounced fruitiness) than a Killians.

Here's my review from the recipe thread:

"I changed this beer only slightly, due to my lower efficiency, and used a few more hops, about 22 IBU's. Falls within all parameter for Irish Red Ale Classification. Brewed 12/30/08. Came out very close to gravities stated in original recipe, the measured gravities were: OG 1.048 FG 1.014

This beer has developed nicely - I seem to like it more with every bottle I try. It has a dark red almost brown color. Very smooth flavor, malty, creamy with just enough hop backbone. Easy drinking. No heavy or sharp flavors to be found. Actually lighter in flavor than I expected. Somewhat comparable to Smithwicks in color and body.

Don't ruin your palette with a heavily hopped beer before this one! I made the mistake of grabing one of these Irish Ales after drinking the last IPA in a case I was drinking. The subtle flavors here are best enjoyed with a clean palette."

Good luck with your Irish Red. Experiment!

**niquejim** · 06-18-2008, 12:16 AM

Not to disagree with Forrest, but with 1lb of 120L and those hops you're not going to make an Irish Red

Maybe that is why there is so little info on on it. No one actually makes one

adamjab19 · 06-18-2008, 07:04 PM

I bought indredients the other day for a red type ale.

6lbs amber malt extract
1lb crystal 80
.25 chocolate
california ale yeast

the hops I am a little sceptical on though, I had to get what the store had...ended up with simcoe for bittering and sterling for aroma.

i plan on doing .5oz simcoe (10%AA) at 60 minutes then 1oz of sterling (6%AA) at 5 minutes. It comes out to high 20's lower 30's for IBU's.

my question is what does crystal actually do? I thought it just added color. and are my hops going to be too "strong" and make it taste more like an IPA?

**Austinhomebrew** · 06-18-2008, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niquejim

Not to disagree with Forrest, but with 1lb of 120L and those hops you're not going to make an Irish Red

Maybe that is why there is so little info on on it. No one actually makes one

My Irish Red ale is what customers perceive an Irish Red ale should taste like.
IMHO adding chocolate or roasted barley to change the color works but it does change the flavor and not in a good way. IMHO

Forrest

Sigafoos · 06-18-2008, 07:32 PM

Is that for an Irish red? Knowing practically nothing about the style (but anal-retentively obsessing over it for the past few days), it seems like an upper 20s IBU would be too bitter. The BJCP guidelines for an Irish Red says 17-28. Also, a lot of the people I talk to (I've enlisted the help of my LHBC, seeing as they have a vested interest in me brewing well since they have to drink the result

) say that you only need a small amount of bittering hops. My recipe has changed 3-4 times since this morning -- I'm serious, I'm going crazy with this -- but right now it looks like I'll have 20 IBUs or so added at the start of the boil.

Again, my knowledge is only from an obsessive reading on the subject in the past few days, but it seems like the crystal gives both color and a caramel flavor (which is why it's also called caramel 120L). I'm considering bumping up the amount back to a pound (it's gone from 1lb to 1/4 lb and back a few times) and lowering the color so that the roasted barley (still at 1/4 lb) doesn't make it too dark.

This is a good exercise for me in recipe formulation and RDWHAHBing... my brain likes to know the 'right' way to do things, and it seems like there's enough dissent that I can go about this a few different ways. Or, as is actually the case, I can try to reconcile five valid recipes from five knowledgeable sources until something starts to leak out of my ears. I fully expect to change the recipe at least once or twice a day until Thursday or Friday when I go into my LHBS and buy the ingredients