Irish Red Ale Raging Red Irish Red Ale

Kaotica said:

Couple iPhone photos, not the best quality. This was in Primary for 24 days, cold crashed for 4 days, and kegged about 2 months ago. Looks great but batch is off a bit, was my first batch with a grain mill and I overshot OG by 10 points, which caused yeast to under attenuate since I didn't have a starter. And didn't have enough hops to balance it out better.

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that's still a fine looking beer ya got there!

What's the wait time people are seeing before they see activity in their primary airlock bubbling with this recipe??????

Bad_Horse_Brews said:

What's the wait time people are seeing before they see activity in their primary airlock bubbling with this recipe??????

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First of all.... activity in the airlock is not a good indication of fermentation.

Secondly and more importantly that answer depends on if you used a good healthy starter. The recipe itself does not determine lag time from pitching to visible fermentation signs. With a starter right off the stir plate I normally have a 4 hour lag. If racking onto the yeast cake of a previous batch, I have had fermentation start in as little as 1 hour. Pitching just a tube of yeast could result in a 24 hour lag.

I'm just not seeing any activity a day after putting the yeast in. I dropped the tube of it in without a starter, this is my first recipe with liquid yeast, normally my airlock is bubbling like mad 5 hours into the primary. I figure I'll wait until tomorrow afternoon and if there still isn't any activity I'll drop another tube of yeast in.... Thoughts???

Bad_Horse_Brews said:

I'm just not seeing any activity a day after putting the yeast in. I dropped the tube of it in without a starter, this is my first recipe with liquid yeast, normally my airlock is bubbling like mad 5 hours into the primary. I figure I'll wait until tomorrow afternoon and if there still isn't any activity I'll drop another tube of yeast in.... Thoughts???

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is this a carboy or a bucket for primary? if its a bucket check that you have a good seal. if its a carboy you should be able to see if its building a krausen. (one reason I only use carboy's now)

Yeeeaaahhh!!! It's goin'. Turns out impatience and excessive worrying don't pair well. I am really stoked about this recipe. I took out the honey and replaced it with honey malt and added brown sugar last five minutes of the boil, just under a pound each of both. I'm quite excited to taste this and the color just going into the primary was a gorgeous red. Thanks for the help OP and thanks for what seems to promise to be a great recipe.

Was finally able to keg this yesterday, and while it is not fully carbonated, I just could not wait any longer so I took a small sample just kill my curiosity. First impression: Very good balanced and clean beer. Good mouth feel. I could definitely see myself brewing this again, and perhaps playing around with the hops.

I do taste a bit of the dry hop--not overwhelming, but it's there in the back. I would like to add more hops to this next time, maybe switching it up too...the base recipe is good the way it is. I know it was just a small sample, I didn't taste much of the honey, that might be a good thing so it is not overwhelming.

Definitely worth brewing again.

the honey was there mostly to boost the ABV a little

In that case, having another half pint of this right now

Brewed a 1gal BIAB verison last night. Def on the darker end color wise.

I am definitely making this beer soon. It looks simply amazing.

please do and make sure you post what you think of it. It's still a favorite of mine.. Red and IPA and Oatmeal Stout are my 3 regular brews

Definitely! Ill post some pics of it as well.

Just to add my $0.02... I brewed a 5 gal batch around the beginning of the year. A week of bottle conditioning, then 3 weeks later the batch was gone. Loved it, and everyone else who tried it - including 3 Czechs and a few Mexican co-workers. I dig the feedback from the Czechs, who I personally think have some great world-class beers...

Anyway, brewed a 10 gal batch a few weeks ago and it's well on its way too. I think this will become one of my regulars.

I kinda like the brown sugar idea from one of the more recent posts. I think I'll try and work that into my next batch ... Which Should be pretty soon.

Kudos to the OP! Na zdraví!

I did a partial mash, and after 3 weeks in the bottle I'm down to 1.013. This is a little higher than I want, but I think I did only add .75 lbs of honey. Would that explain why it's a little high?

I'll give it another week anyway.

there can be a lot of causes for a higher gravity.. what temp did you mash at during your partial mash? what temp were you fermenting at? did you use a starter? since you did a partial mash you have no control over the extract. if it came from a bad batch (its possible) that was mashed to high then it won't ferment as well. what was your OG?

SteinGuy said:

Just to add my $0.02... I brewed a 5 gal batch around the beginning of the year. A week of bottle conditioning, then 3 weeks later the batch was gone. Loved it, and everyone else who tried it - including 3 Czechs and a few Mexican co-workers. I dig the feedback from the Czechs, who I personally think have some great world-class beers...

Anyway, brewed a 10 gal batch a few weeks ago and it's well on its way too. I think this will become one of my regulars.

I kinda like the brown sugar idea from one of the more recent posts. I think I'll try and work that into my next batch ... Which Should be pretty soon.

Kudos to the OP! Na zdraví!

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I'd recommend the honey malt to go with the brown sugar as well. Then you'll still get a sweeter flavor depending on how much you decide to use, and then the brown sugar will rack up that ABV as well....

pulled a pint of this yesterday and it was delicious. not to mention beautiful.
i had a bunch of guys over while i was brewing and everyone who tried it was impressed.
i tend to like hoppu beers and am in an IPA rut. nice to have a malty beer that i actually enjoy.
ill take a pic later

Working on it right now.

mpride1911 said:

Working on it right now.

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Holy serious set-up Batman!!! Jealous!

Thanks. I'm partly embarrassed by it. It works great, but I feel bad when I see all the hardcore steel, powder and chrome plated set ups out there.

I

Bad_Horse_Brews said:

Holy serious set-up Batman!!! Jealous!

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I was thinking the same thing! Nice gear!

Chavi said:

I was thinking the same thing! Nice gear!

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Thank you.

5 gallons of Raging Red complete. Nailed the efficiency today. :rockin:

Just took 15 gallons of this out of my "brite tank" aka sitting on gelatin in a Sanke. Purged the receiving keg and jumped the beer, discarding the murky ends of a gelatin'd beer.

Took a sample during the switch, and damn, I've gotta say this is pretty damn good. Crystal clear, deep amber, and very crisp. Can't wait to finally try it all carbed up on my St. Patricks day party. (Although, I'll certainly sneak a pint or two beforehand).

Just kegged, looking forward to Irish day.

mjap52 said:

Just took 15 gallons of this out of my "brite tank" aka sitting on gelatin in a Sanke. Purged the receiving keg and jumped the beer, discarding the murky ends of a gelatin'd beer.

Took a sample during the switch, and damn, I've gotta say this is pretty damn good. Crystal clear, deep amber, and very crisp. Can't wait to finally try it all carbed up on my St. Patricks day party. (Although, I'll certainly sneak a pint or two beforehand).

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Could you possibly PM me or point me to a thread that shows me the Brite Tank method you're using the Sanke for? I have 2 Sankes in the garage, with just the spear removed for fermenting and bulk aging and I'd like to see how yours are set up.

mpride1911 said:

Could you possibly PM me or point me to a thread that shows me the Brite Tank method you're using the Sanke for? I have 2 Sankes in the garage, with just the spear removed for fermenting and bulk aging and I'd like to see how yours are set up.

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Haha, it's really simple, and not really much of a 'brite tank'.

1. I put my sanitized sanke into my 'lagerator' (just a huge chest freezer that I keep kegs for lagering, conditioning, and waiting to be tapped).
2. Purge Sanke with CO2.
3. Dump Gelatin mix into Sanke (let bloom for 20 minutes at room temp, then heat to 170 to pasteurize is the process for gelatin).
4. Rack beer on top of gelatin.
5. Replace sanitized spear.
6. "Lager" it for a week or so.
7. Jump from keg to another keg:

Put your tap on it at a low pressure, don't tap it yet.

I have a twisty sanke tap, it's super easy to "turn on" or "turn off" Not sure about the normal taps. Either way, I put a 6 ft sanitized hose without an end on it on my tap.

Tap the keg and the murky gelatin beer will come out. Just do this enough until the line clears, "turn off" the tap when it clears and put it into the receiving keg. Ramp up the pressure a bit or else it'll take forever.

When you notice it's getting close to empty/full, watch for the hose to turn murky. This is where a nice long hose helps so you don't get any of the junk in the new keg. "Turn off" the keg tap when it goes murky.

8. Replace spear on new keg, and clean the old one!

Sorry if that was wordy, or wasn't really what you wanted, but it works for me. I've got a keg of commercial clarity beer that I don't have to worry about agitation

So now I've got a couple of extract batches and a couple of AG batches under my beginner's belt, and I'm looking for a worthy red for my next project. This one looks like a great prospect. I've been skimming through some of the posts. Did I see that you (Mysticmead) did this BIAB? That is how I am brewing. I've been adding 10% to the grain bill to compensate for less efficiency (instead of the other option of double crushing). Would i stil do that for this recipe?
Due to limitations on my pot, I'm doing 3 to 3 1/2 gallon batches (6 gallon kettle). I'm assuming I could cut down the recipe for that?
I like a nice hop flavor to balance the malt. Would it be advised to add more hops? I haven't dry hopped before, but is that what I should do?

So far all my beer has turned out very nicely. I just brought my first AG beer, a pale ale similar to Sierra Nevada PA, to my homebrew club meeting last night, for tasting, and was stoked at how well it was received. Can't wait to get started on the next brew!

Just brewed this last night. I used the WLP001 and it exploded when I opened the vial. Not sure how much yeast actually made it into the wort. I checked on it this morning and the airlock showed no signs of fermentation. I know I should RDWHAHB. This was my first endeavor into WLP yeasts. Has anyone ever had the same issue with the yeast exploding like a shook up soda pop?

Carrollyn said:

So now I've got a couple of extract batches and a couple of AG batches under my beginner's belt, and I'm looking for a worthy red for my next project. This one looks like a great prospect. I've been skimming through some of the posts. Did I see that you (Mysticmead) did this BIAB? That is how I am brewing. I've been adding 10% to the grain bill to compensate for less efficiency (instead of the other option of double crushing). Would i stil do that for this recipe?
Due to limitations on my pot, I'm doing 3 to 3 1/2 gallon batches (6 gallon kettle). I'm assuming I could cut down the recipe for that?
I like a nice hop flavor to balance the malt. Would it be advised to add more hops? I haven't dry hopped before, but is that what I should do?

So far all my beer has turned out very nicely. I just brought my first AG beer, a pale ale similar to Sierra Nevada PA, to my homebrew club meeting last night, for tasting, and was stoked at how well it was received. Can't wait to get started on the next brew!

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congrats on switching to AG!. Yes treat this just as you would any other AG beer. For BIAB either add 10% or double crush. Let me know how it turns out!

pdiddlemcgriddle said:

Just brewed this last night. I used the WLP001 and it exploded when I opened the vial. Not sure how much yeast actually made it into the wort. I checked on it this morning and the airlock showed no signs of fermentation. I know I should RDWHAHB. This was my first endeavor into WLP yeasts. Has anyone ever had the same issue with the yeast exploding like a shook up soda pop?

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On two occasions. I think it was this vial and the farmhouse vial. My first and last. Though after that first one, I learned to open very slowly. I make a starter every time though, so it hasn't been an issue. My last three beers have all used WLP001, so I'm just reusing at the moment. Pitched onto yeast for 2nd beer and washed and pitched on the same day for the Raging Red (3rd).

pdiddlemcgriddle said:

Just brewed this last night. I used the WLP001 and it exploded when I opened the vial. Not sure how much yeast actually made it into the wort. I checked on it this morning and the airlock showed no signs of fermentation. I know I should RDWHAHB. This was my first endeavor into WLP yeasts. Has anyone ever had the same issue with the yeast exploding like a shook up soda pop?

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yep, have had that happen many times. then I started making starters at least 24 hours before pitching (stir plates are a great tool. if you don't have one, MAKE one!). making a starter is recommended even though WhiteLabs is listed as a pitchable tube. You'll have more healthy active yeast cells ready to go and it'll reduce the lag time

Mysticmead said:

yep, have had that happen many times. then I started making starters at least 24 hours before pitching (stir plates are a great tool. if you don't have one, MAKE one!). making a starter is recommended even though WhiteLabs is listed as a pitchable tube. You'll have more healthy active yeast cells ready to go and it'll reduce the lag time

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I do have the homemade stir plate. Normally I do use it. I just switched from my go to yeast SO4 to my first ever liquid yeast. My ignorance told me that it would be okay to not make a starter. Thanks for the advice. I know different now.

Will it be worth it to repitch or should I wait to see if I get any action? Also the temp in my basement dropped the beer to around 62 deg. What is the temp range on this yeast?

pdiddlemcgriddle said:

I do have the homemade stir plate. Normally I do use it. I just switched from my go to yeast SO4 to my first ever liquid yeast. My ignorance told me that it would be okay to not make a starter. Thanks for the advice. I know different now.

Will it be worth it to repitch or should I wait to see if I get any action? Also the temp in my basement dropped the beer to around 62 deg. What is the temp range on this yeast?

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I'd let it ride (yeast isn't cheap).. or if ya have some US05 laying around pitch it. The temps according to Whitelabs is 68-73. I normally ferment at 65-66

This beer (for me) is much better after 4 weeks in the bottle than at 2 or 3. I wasn't a big fan initially, but it's getting better.

Just did this brew with a bit less honey (I'd like to have a few in a single sitting), and pitched 1028, I just had it sitting around, so it is an excellent use for it, methinks. We shall see how it turns out. Fingers crossed for no infections!

I altered this a bit as I didn't have access to Caraaroma. I substituted Crystal 120. I also added .5# honey malt and no honey at the end. I used 1pk rehydrated US05 and I used hops on hand. .5 oz Magnum 60mins and 1oz Willamette at 20mins.

This is a fantasic beer. Very smooth. Got great red color. The honey malt pulls through as the usual red has a pretty earthy flavor profile. Diggin this beer.

MattyPBrew said:

I altered this a bit as I didn't have access to Caraaroma. I substituted Crystal 120. I also added .5# honey malt and no honey at the end. I used 1pk rehydrated US05 and I used hops on hand. .5 oz Magnum 60mins and 1oz Willamette at 20mins.

This is a fantasic beer. Very smooth. Got great red color. The honey malt pulls through as the usual red has a pretty earthy flavor profile. Diggin this beer.

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glad ya like it!

Just pulled a "quality control" pint as I'm trying to save it for my party on Saturday to serve along side a Nitro'd Oatmeal Stout, and I gotta say this is a stellar recipe. Good on you.

I did sub the Cascade for Centennial, but the rest is the same.

Deep toasted caramel/toffee malty goodness. Beautiful deep deep red and some nice lacing on the glass.