Irish red recipe advice

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muels

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My buddy has been helping me brew and wants to do a brew of his own with my gear. He will be doing an Irish red and asked me to get a recipe together for him. It was short notice (at the LHBS) so I jumped on Northern Brewer and bought what they listed as their "all grain" Irish red and tweaked it for my gear.

Can some give a quick critique with suggestions and/or adjustments?

Thanks in advance


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If the red color matters to you, roasted barley might bring that out more than the chocolate malt. And this is slightly to the hoppy side of balanced, if that matters - Irish reds tend toward slightly malty, which would be more like 18-22 IBU for an OG of 1047. Nottingham should be a good yeast choice.* If you're looking for more inspiration, there are some fine Irish red recipes here, like Mysticmead's Raging Red, Dangerbrew's Dunken Lullaby, and Saccharomyces Irish Red.

*As would any relatively neutral yeast, from Irish ale yeast (e.g. Wyeast 1084 Guinness, on the fruity side of the style) through to a Koelsch yeast, or even a lager yeast, if that appeals. Just try to keep fermentation on the cool side (for an ale) to keep the esters down.
 
Do you recommend replacing the chocolate with roasted barley? What would you say for the hop schedule? I checked the recipes you linked. I don't have all the necessary ingredients. The LHBS is a good ways away. I have all assorted crystals, some Munich, chocolate, roasted barley etc,


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I made a very good Irish Red, modified from Brewing Classic Styles. Mine was extract+steeping grains, as I had the extract on hand. I used 6.6lbs light LME, 1.5lbs amber, with 6oz cara40, 6oz cara60, 4oz chocolate malt 350. People love it, so I think you are okay using the chocolate malt.
 
RE Roasted barley - I am giving you information, not so much making recommendations.

RE Linked recipes - They're for inspiration, to see how other people approach the same problem. I didn't mean to imply that you should actually follow one of those.

RE Hopping schedule - As I said, it looks fine, although slanted slightly to the hoppy side for a typical Irish red. That might or might not matter to you. If it does, then you can reduce the amount of hops or the boil time.

Relax. Drink a beer. Brew what you like.
 
I would drop the chocolate for RB. about 2 oz or so. Color and roastiness.

Like someone said, adjust the hops down some to 20 IBUs. Maybe only .5 for the second charge.
 
Thanks Eric. I did some tweaking on it. Replaced the chocolate with roasted barley and adjusted the IBUs a bit.

I looked at the other recipes, they didn't match the advice so I was a bit confused. They had higher IBU.

I do brew what I like! This is for a buddy, I want to make sure his first try doesn't suck! Lol


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Thanks Eric. I did some tweaking on it. Replaced the chocolate with roasted barley and adjusted the IBUs a bit.

I looked at the other recipes, they didn't match the advice so I was a bit confused. They had higher IBU.

I do brew what I like! This is for a buddy, I want to make sure his first try doesn't suck! Lol


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Sounds like you ended up with a good recipe, and it is an easy drinking beer. I'm kegging a batch of Irish Red tomorrow. The last batch disappeared way too fast.
 

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