Morebeer Irish Red

This is batch 6 for me, all kits, and all IPAs before this. Had too much fun brewing and drinking, but cheers!

Wasn't sure about adding whirfloc to the red but added half a tablet anyways. Anyone else brewed this before? What'd you think?

You can never go wrong with Whirlfloc/Irish moss.

I got more beer's Irish red & ESB E/SG kits I need to brew up yet. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out,compared to pm kits/recipes.

I love their Irish Red.

Their Irish Red was the first beer I ever brewed, and it's a solid recipe. You will enjoy!

Now, that said... if you like Irish Reds, and want to try something a little more advanced, you must-must-must brew Saccharomyces's award winning recipe here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/irish-red-1st-place-hbt-comp-141086/

Looks dark for a red. There's one recipe someone posted in the recipe forum that had a nice red color to it that was AG. I've been switching it to pm in BS2. I forget his name though.

Unionrdr, if you're referring to the link I posted, you're absolutely correct. I cut the roasted barley from 5oz (5g batch) to 2, and it's still pretty dark. Delicious though!

So sitting at two weeks and checked SG 1.020 - took it out of swamp cooler and hopefully gets a couple points lower. Awfully sweet right now. Going to leave in primary another week then probably cold crash for 2 days. Want to get this dryer any suggestions?

My Irish red's been in the fermenter 1 week today. Looks like it should be done by next Sunday...

UWDawg13 said:

So sitting at two weeks and checked SG 1.020 - took it out of swamp cooler and hopefully gets a couple points lower. Awfully sweet right now. Going to leave in primary another week then probably cold crash for 2 days. Want to get this dryer any suggestions?

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What was your OG? Which yeast did you use? What temperature are you fermenting at?

The recipes I've made usually yielded an FG at the 1.055 range. To get the beer to reliably attenuate down to 1.014 - 1.012 it needs WLP-004 Irish Ale yeast with a starter. Alternatively, you can pitch two packets of a dry yeast of your choice.

I have an Irish Red that's on it's 8th day right now. Probably done now but I'm going to let it set for another week or so.

Started at 1.053 and used S-04 if I remember off the top of my head. Had in swamp cooler during a mini hot streak in WA where temps were in the 80s this last week. House is now at 68. I know I need better temp control for my beers, but working with what I have for now. Hoping the extra couple degrees this week drops it down a couple points. Not sure if I should cold crash or not.

S04 is a medium attenuation yeast so having it finish +1.015 from 1.053 isn't really too far out of line. It won't hurt to let it set a few more days to see if the SG changes. If it doesn't change then it's done. If it is done it is done. You can proceed to cold crash and package.

See how it tastes and if you enjoy it. Depending on your expectations it may be very good (or not). If you are looking for something like Killian's you may find this more malty and a bit heavier. If you are looking for a traditional pub-style Irish Red ale, you may find it very agreeable.

I was hoping it was a bit more flavorful than Killian's myself. At least as good as the original recipe from Killian's. It's past initial fermentation atm,so we'll see by Memorial day hopefully. I used re-hydrated S-04 yeast option as well.

unionrdr said:

I used re-hydrated S-04 yeast option as well.

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Have you tried using the White Labs Irish Ale yeast? It adds a hint of smokiness to the beer.

BTW, what is the malt bill for the one you are making? Hops?

Puddlethumper said:

Have you tried using the White Labs Irish Ale yeast? It adds a hint of smokiness to the beer.

BTW, what is the malt bill for the one you are making? Hops?

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No,I haven't tried that yeast yet. Smokiness sounds good though. I bought the morebeer kit with a 7lb bag of ultralight LME,8ozs crystal 40L,8ozs honey malt,4ozs special roast. 1oz northern brewer for bittering & 2ozs east Kent Golding,1oz flavor & 1oz aroma. I used 2.33lbs LME in the boil of 3.5 gallons of steeped grain wort @ 156F for 30 minutes. That's 2 gallons for the steep,1.5 gallons for the dunk sparge. Added remaining LME @ flame out.

unionrdr said:

No,I haven't tried that yeast yet. Smokiness sounds good though. I bought the morebeer kit with a 7lb bag of ultralight LME,8ozs crystal 40L,8ozs honey malt,4ozs special roast. 1oz northern brewer for bittering & 2ozs east Kent Golding,1oz flavor & 1oz aroma. I used 2.33lbs LME in the boil of 3.5 gallons of steeped grain wort @ 156F for 30 minutes. That's 2 gallons for the steep,1.5 gallons for the dunk sparge. Added remaining LME @ flame out.

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Sounds good. I am surprised that there isn't any Fuggles in the hop schedule but perhaps the EKG gives it the earthiness. I'll be interested to learn your take on the finished product when it's ready.

Are you set up to do AG?

No. I usually do pb/pm biab with 5-6lbs of grain & a 3lb bag of plain DME. This way,I can still use my 5 gallon kettle & just use a nylon bag for the grains. I'm working on a PM red from an AG recipe posted on here in BS2. Gonna do that one eventually. BRB...gotta pick up my son from extra curricular activity...

Bringing an old thread back from the dead here but, hey, it is getting close to Irish Red season.

I brewed up the AG version of the MoreBeer kit a couple weeks ago. When I entered everything into Beersmith I noticed that the IBUs seemed really high. I mean, they were exactly what MoreBeer had the recipe targeted for, but they were a bit high for the style, which maxes out at around 20 IBUs. 44 almost seems to be getting into red IPA territory. Did anyone who brewed this exactly as the recipe states find it to be overly hoppy for a red?

Regardless, I went ahead and knocked the bittering hops back some (instead of the 1.5 oz of Northern Brewer provided, I added just 1 oz), which put the IBUs in the low 20s. Still in primary now, but I plan on taking a hydro sample this evening to see how things are going.

I'll let you know in 2weeks !! I'm anxious!

I thought, over-all, that the kit's bittering was a touch much for the style. I agree that the bittering charge needed to be cut down. It needs to be a bit maltier. That way, it'll go great with bbq'd ribs & the like. That's what I brew them for...

Agreed all around.

I was roughly shooting for the flavor of the original Killians red, which was perfect with sauced rib flavors at the old rib burn-offs that were popular at the time. that's the way I remember it. I went to the recipe I'd been working on for a pb/pm biab version, & tweaked it once more. So here's my latest version;
****************Buckeye Red*****************************
3lb, 4oz- 2-row,US
1lb, 4oz- special roast
3lb, 8oz- carared
12ozs- carahell
1lb, 8 oz- Golden light LME, Briess
.50 oz- Magnum @ 60 minutes, bittering
1 oz- Fuggles @ 15 minutes, flavor
1 packet- fermentis S-904 English Ale yeast, rehydrated
Est OG- 1.055
Est FG- 1.015
IBU- 20.7
SRM- 14.7
Single infusion, medium body, batch sparge
Ale, single stage
Should give a nice reddish-amber color & better maltiness. The fuggles should also help smooth it out a bit vs the EKG.