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Germey · 11-26-2007, 03:33 PM

Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: WL Irish Ale
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.06 (guess based on late honey add.)
Final Gravity: 1.008
IBU: ?
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: garnet red
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @~70°
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @~70°

Ingredients:
Malt 8lbs. Pale Liquid malt Extract, 2lbs Raw Clover Honey
Grain(s) 1.5lbs 120L Crystal, 1.5lb Belgian Special B, 1# Flaked Rye
Hops 1oz. Cluster, 7.0%aa, Boil 60 min. 1oz. Cluster & 1oz, Cascade, 6%, Boil 30 min., 1 oz Cascade last 10 min.
Yeast White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Steep the grains while heating the water, or ideally do a Mini Mash to bring out the Rye character. Add 1/2 to 3/4 of the malt extract for the full boil. Boil per the hop schedule above. Add the rest of the malt extact for the last 5-10 minutes.
Cool the wort and pitch yeast. If you stop a this point, you will make a classic Irish Red Ale. Ferment it for a week or two until it settles out. Rack it to a secondary for another week if you want it to be a bit clearer.
The honey is my invention and is probably my most requested brew.The timing is very important on this. Add the honey when the primary fermentation is really kicking in. The wort will be churning and there will be a significant Kreutzen on top. This will be in 1 or two days (maybe 3 or 4 days if you did not do a yeast starter or it's cold or whatever) pasteurize the honey by mixing with 3/4 gallons of clean water and heating to 180deg.F. Hold it at about 180 for 3 hours (lowest setting in oven works well for this) then cool it to under a 100deg. Pour it into the fermenter to bring the total volume up to about 6 gal. For this amount of honey, you will want to add 0.014 to the gravity reading you took from the malt to get a more accurate alcohol measurement. Racking to secondary will help clear it. Patience will be rewarded. This really tastes best after about two or three months of aging, but it is hard to wait. The Irish Red, Rye, and strong mead flavors come together beautifully.

ShameBrews · 06-14-2009, 03:51 PM

I am planning on trying this one today... although its been up a long time and no one has commented I am glad to be the first, so i will let you all know how this works out.

Germey · 06-16-2009, 07:07 AM

Glad to hear it. I have since converted to all grain brewing. This recipe took several rounds to convert, but I've got it now.
I'll post that some time after I get back from Europe.
Let me know how it goes. Trust me on the aging, though.

ShameBrews · 06-27-2009, 11:13 PM

I am almost at two weeks now and i am planning on racking to the secondary for a week tomorrow if I have time. It looks nice and red

ShameBrews · 07-14-2009, 03:24 AM

Awesome. I bottled this Saturday, with the final totals amounting to 20 days in the primary and a week in the secondary. I am going to wait as long as possible before drinking, but if I know myself, and I do, I will sample it at least a few times before the 2 month suggested period has passed. Good thing I have several other options to chose from. Anyway, thanks for the recipe, I am still quite excited about giving this bad boy the first taste. I will update you shortly after.

ShameBrews · 07-17-2009, 03:55 AM

I only bottled this five days ago, but I am a weak man and incidentally this beer tastes quite good. I will try to save the rest as long as I can, but I like to sample beers progressively throughout the aging process to better understand it...

jamie3 · 08-23-2009, 06:13 PM

I started this recipe today while Hurricane Bill was travelling through the eastern shores of Canada.

Once I started the recipe I forgot that the power could possibly go out, but god must have been in the room watching me brew the beer as the power stayed on!

I made some variations in the ingredients

> Malted Rye instead of Flaked Rye
> Nova Scotian Honey instead of Raw Clover Honey
> Galena hops instead of Cluster hops

Really excited for this beer!

See some photos of the process here: The TMB Blog: Irish Honey Red Ale

Germey · 09-16-2009, 04:19 AM

So shamebrews,
It's been more than 3 months. At risk of making a major ass of myself...
How is it?

jamie3 · 09-16-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Germey

So shamebrews,
It's been more than 3 months. At risk of making a major ass of myself...
How is it?

i cracked open one the other day. its only been a month since i started the kit.

the beer is really different from any ale ive tasted before.

so far there is virtually no honey taste, and the after taste leaves is a grassy taste in your mouth.

im not really sure if i like this beer yet. i am going to let it sit longer and hope for the best. i hope i didnt screw up the recipe.

here is what i did. The TMB Blog: Irish Honey Red Ale

Germey · 09-17-2009, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamie3

no honey taste, and the after taste leaves is a grassy taste in your mouth.

here is what i did The TMB Blog: Irish Honey Red Ale

Well, I read the entry, and have a few ideas as to what may be going on. These are all just guesses as I have not tasted it, so take them with a grain of salt.
First, you did not do a partial mash as described in the blog. A partial mash controls the temperature at about 150 deg F for about an hour, then rinses the resulting sugars in a thorough manner. A steep severely limits which grains you can use effectively, and several grains on the bill are normally used for mashing. Just steeping these grains may add some husky (maybe grassy to some) flavors, and likely some starch.

Not sure why you added some rye to the steep, and then boiled some. With the exception of a decoction mash (a somewhat advanced all-grain method) you don't boil the grains. More importantly, you would have wanted them in the mash (or steep, but malted barley is one of the ones that really should be mashed).

Galena is a very high alpha hop (the bittering component). I would have used something lower alpha acid and something with a spicy/earthy nature. Some hops can be associated with a grassy flavor, but I believe it has more to do with the time of addition, the type of hops (whole or pellet), and the amount of removal during fermentation, that affect this flavor.

The lack of a honey character is the biggest mystery to me. You added it at about the high point of fermentation, which should guarantee a big honey character. The fact that you diluted it in less water is a non-issue.

I do hope it gets better for you. The grain issues are unlikely to age well, but if the issue primarily related to the hops, well, those tend to mellow with age.
Other than that, I don't know...
Any chance you'll drive several thousand miles to share one with me