Ramblin' Rose Red Ale

This is an excellent "Imperial" Amber Ale. (If I do say so myself! :rockin I had set out with Rogue's Santa's Private Stock and Port Brewing's Shark Attack Double Red Ale as inspirations and this did not disappoint when I finally drew my first pint.

I'm sure that this beer would be good without the 1.5 months in the keg conditioning, but it had to wait it's turn in line!

Mashed at 156F for 80 minutes with 10.5 qts water. I must've gotten distracted during the mash. A 60 minute mash should be fine. Batch sparged with 10.5 qts water at 180F.

The Chinook I tossed in there because I had it on hand and wanted to use it. I'll be brewing again soon, and if the LHBS is out of Chinook, I'll sub some more Columbus for the FWH.

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 14.13
Anticipated OG: 1.083 Plato: 20.11
Anticipated SRM: 16.5
Anticipated IBU: 76.9
Brewhouse Efficiency: 64 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
42.5 6.00 lbs. Generic DME - XLightLight Generic 1.046 3
35.4 5.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
7.1 1.00 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row) America 1.035 6
7.1 1.00 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
3.5 0.50 lbs. Victory Malt America 1.034 25
3.5 0.50 lbs. Crystal 150L Great Britain 1.033 120
0.9 0.13 lbs. Roasted Barley America 1.028 300

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 oz. Chinook Plug 13.10 10.1 First WH
0.50 oz. Simcoe Pellet 11.90 19.8 First WH
0.75 oz. Columbus Pellet 12.00 30.0 First WH
0.50 oz. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 4.4 15 min.
1.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.50 7.0 10 min.
1.00 oz. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 5.5 5 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Pellet 11.10 0.0 0 min.
0.25 oz. Columbus Pellet 11.10 0.0 0 min.


Yeast
-----
2 Packets US-05

Click to expand...

Entered this in a competition and got some nice feedback. Next time I brew this one I am going to lower the mash temperature to 152F for 60 min to get a bit more attenuation. Looking back, 156F was a little out there with the 1.5# of crystal malt. I owe the low carbonation to user error of the BMBF. I still had a carb, but lost more than I anticipated coming out of the keg.

Judge 1:

Aroma: Big American hop aroma up front (pine, citrus, resin). Sweet caramel malt notes run underneath. (8/12)

Appearance: Full amber color with orange highlights, fleeting off-white head. Steady stream of bubble with good but not great clarity. (2/3)

Flavor: Full, rich malt flavor. Caramel and toffee. Firm earthy hop bitterness followed by resin hop flavor. Very nice but seems a bit underattenuated. Slight ethanol flavor at finish. (12/20)

Mouthfeel: Full creamy body. Medium carbonation helps, but I wish it was lighter. Finish not quite as dry as I'd like to see. (3/5)

Overall Impression: Very nice effort wth great flavor that would benefit from a bit more attenuation. If all grain, try lowering mash temps or else select more attenuative yeast strain. Still, quite nice! (7/10)

Total 32/50

Judge 2:

Aroma: Pleasant caramel malty sweetness up front with a firm hop presence in the aroma from American hops. (7/12)

Appearance: Brilliant clarity, almost no head, very thing. Very eye pleasing amber color with hints of red. (2/3)

Flavor: Very assertive bitterness, especially in the finish. Malt is definately in the background here, but still provides a counterpoint to the hops. Finish could be dryer. (12/20)

Mouthfeel: Medium body, but low carbonation. Could be underattenuated a little. No astringency. (3/5)

Overall Impression: Good job - it gets tricky doing "Imperial" styles. You have a nice malt and hop flavor and aroma. Up the carbonation and let the beer dry out a little. More yeast up front. But still a good beer (6/10)

Total 30/50