All-Grain - Red House Red Ale

Dougan · 05-25-2009, 07:58 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Pacman
Yeast Starter: yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: no
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: ?
Boiling Time (Minutes): 6
Color: Red/Brown
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 @ 60
Additional Fermentation: no
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 @ 40
Tasting Notes: Tasty

This is my red house red ale. It's not really an Irish Red due to yeast/hops but I call it one since did this trying to appeal to my Killians-drinking friends. This was difficult due to the fact that I've never drank Killians.

6 lb 2 row
4 lb munich dark (weyermann munich II 8-10L)
1/4 lb caramunich 45
1/4 lb crystal 120

Mash @ 150 for 70 minutes. I got 86% efficiency on this, best I've ever gotten!

hops: (all about 5% aa, don't recall the specifics)
1/2 oz kent golding @ 60
1/2 oz kent golding @ 30
1/2 oz kent golding @ 15
1/2 oz kent golding @ 5

I used pacman yeast that I built up out of a couple rogue shakespeare stout 22oz bombers but if you don't have access to this your standard 1056, safale us-05 etc. are what to go for. I wanted a really clean, lager-like taste.

Fermented as low as I could get it (hot in my apartment, but was able to keep it around 60 or so). Once primary fermentation was over, I waited a day or two to make sure, then kegged it and put it in the fridge at 40 on gas. Tried it yesterday after about 2 or 3 weeks of conditioning and it is very tasty. Very, very clean taste to it. The kent goldings hops shine through in a very balanced way and complement the munich sweetness very well. The only disappointment to me is that the color isn't as boldly red as I expected-- it's more of a "dirty water" red.

For a beer that I brewed with intent to satisfy my miller lite loving friends, I think I really outdid myself. This will definitely be my house ale for some time.

Future modifications I might try are replacing the dark munich with "regular" munich, using pilsener malt instead of 2-row, and trying this with a bavarian lager yeast. But this beer definitely does not need improvement to taste great.

**Gremlyn** · 05-25-2009, 08:19 PM

Try subbing out the Crystal 120 for roasted barley, that will put you more in the Irish Red style. What 2-row did you use? If you used Maris Otter (or do in the future), you're pretty much in style. The hops are fine as Kent Goldings are a UK hop. Sounds like it'd be a good beer even if not completely 'true to style'

Dougan · 05-27-2009, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gremlyn1

Try subbing out the Crystal 120 for roasted barley, that will put you more in the Irish Red style. What 2-row did you use? If you used Maris Otter (or do in the future), you're pretty much in style. The hops are fine as Kent Goldings are a UK hop. Sounds like it'd be a good beer even if not completely 'true to style'

I believe I used Rahr, but I probably never knew for sure (just picked it out of whatever bin was closest to the crusher @ LHBS). They don't carry maris otter by the pound for some reason, but I will probably make an order to AHS at some point because I hear great things.

You're definitely right about the roasted barley. I decided to omit that kind of stuff as not to deter my BMC-fan friends from liking the beer. I do find that Crystal 120 has a slight burnt taste to it, but definitely not the roastiness you look for in an Irish Red. The yeast isn't really appropriate for an Irish Red either.

BrownsBrewing · 05-31-2009, 05:15 AM

Another thing you could try is substitute your munich dark with crystal 60L and the crystal 120L with british brown.