Irish Red Ale

Hey guys,

this is what I came up with for a Brewing Competition with myself and some buddies here in NY.

3.3 lbs Briess Golden Light LME
3.3 lbs Briess Sparkling Amber LME
1.0 lb Briess Sparkling Amber DME
1.0 lb Weyerman CaraAmber
.25 lb Roasted Barley
1.0 oz UK Challenger 60 mins
.5 oz Fuggles 30 Mins
.5 oz Cascade 15 Mins

Windsor Yeast

Its been in a Primary at 67 degrees for 10 days and was going to transfer to Secondary. Was wondering what everyone's opinions on Dry Hopping, especiall for an Irish Red? I haven't brewed an Irish Red before so was looking for some insight and feedback.

Thanks

Dry hopping isn't a standard part of the style, but if you want an Irish Red with a hoppy aroma (like Three Floyds Brian Boru) it could certainly be an interesting beer.

Yeah, dryhopping isn't really part of the style. Neither is Cascade really.

I made an Irish Red out of style too (42 IBUs when the style tops out at 28), but I used Challenger, Northern Brewer, Fuggles, and East Kent Goldings.

You might as well try it.

Got ya. I decided to not dry hop but was a little perplexed with the Gravity reading. It was at 1.021 and the OG was 1.048. The est FG is supposed to be 1.015 so I'm not sure what exactly is going on... took the 2nd day in a row reading and it was the same as yesterday so maybe tomorrow will bring some different results.

Anyone any suggestions?

Could be a couple things. Are you sure that OG is right? Seems low for that much malt. In the future you might want to use pale malt extract since it is the most fermentable and gives you more control over what goes into your beer.

Windsor is a low attenuating strain, you might want to pitch some S-04 or Nottingham if it doesn't drop.

Despite the name CaraAmber is actually not a caramel malt, it really needs to be mashed to get fermentables out of it.