Irish Red Ale, can't find a good recipe

Hey,
Does anybody out there know of a good Irish Red Ale recipe. This will be my first all-grain and I plan on using Maris Otter as the base grain. I found several recipes out there but none of them had the "this is the best beer ever" posts after them that I was hoping for. I'm looking for something moderately hoppy with about 4.5-5%ABV. Usually, I don't care about color, but this one has to be red (its in the name after all).

Are there any proven recipes out there?

I just made one of these 2 weeks ago and I'm about to bottle-- I could NOT be more pleased with how it turned out! I used 2-row and added a pound of rye for fun. You may have to scale it down. If nothing else you will want a 1/4 pound of 120L crystal and/or 1.5 oz (a handful) of back patent or roasted barley. Good luck!

Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
US 2-Row Malt 11lb 0oz 72.7 % 3.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Rye Malt 1lb 0oz 6.6 % 0.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 60L Malt 1lb 0oz 6.6 % 11.4 In Mash/Steeped
Canadian Honey Malt (Gambrinus) 1lb 0oz 6.6 % 4.3 In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Aromatic Malt 9.60 oz 4.0 % 2.2 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 80L Malt 4.00 oz 1.7 % 3.8 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 120L Malt 4.00 oz 1.7 % 5.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Black Malt 0.40 oz 0.2 % 2.4 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
Sorachi Ace 15.0 % 0.50 oz 16.8 Bagged Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 1.1 Bagged Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 0.9 Bagged Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 0.6 Bagged Pellet Hops 10 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.20 oz 0.7 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.50 oz 0.4 Bagged Pellet Hops 1 Min From End

Try this one


Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 11.00 Wort Size (Gal): 11.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 21.13
Anticipated OG: 1.056 Plato: 13.76
Anticipated SRM: 14.0
Anticipated IBU: 24.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes




Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
71.0 15.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
18.9 4.00 lbs. Flaked Barley America 1.032 2
9.5 2.00 lbs. Crystal 80L 1.033 80
0.6 0.13 lbs. Roasted Barley Great Britain 1.029 575



Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
2.00 oz. Fuggle Whole 4.75 17.0 90 min
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 6.00 7.7 30 min


Yeast
White Labs WLP002 English Ale

niquejim said:

Try this one

Click to expand...

Is it good? I assume it is but I gotta ask. Also, is it a true red? It looks pretty simple which is what I'm going for on this one, so I may try it. I've got lots of new equipment that I'm using for the first time so simple is better.

jrhammonds said:

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
Sorachi Ace 15.0 % 0.50 oz 16.8 Bagged Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 1.1 Bagged Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 0.9 Bagged Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.10 oz 0.6 Bagged Pellet Hops 10 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.20 oz 0.7 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Glacier 6.0 % 0.50 oz 0.4 Bagged Pellet Hops 1 Min From End

Click to expand...

That hop schedule looks like what I'm planning on for my next IPA! I'm trying to keep this one simple so I may skip that one with that grain bill you got.

i do a continual hop... look at the quantity.. the IBUs were less than 30.

Do you want to make a true Irish Red (like Smithwicks) or do you want an American Amber Ale, which are often what Americans think of as an Irish Red... these are actually often a littler redder, and they're bolder and hoppier.

Jamil Z. has given good recipes for both styles.

American Amber: JZ Amber - Extract - Red Rocket Clone
(This could easily be converted to an AG recipe, but he only gives the Partial Mash version)

6 Gallon Batch
8 lbs 12.0 oz LME Pale (Alexander's)
11.2 oz LME Munich
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 40L
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 120L
8.0 oz Victory Malt (biscuit)
3.0 oz Chocolate Malt (light) (200.0 SRM)
1.10 oz Horizon [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 41.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (10 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale
(or) 1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale
(or) 1 Pkgs SafAle US-05 (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale



Irish Red Ale: (not available online, but this is taken directly from his podcast)

6 Gallon Batch
Mash at 153

11.25 lbs English/British Pale Ale Malt (Crisp - Maris Otter)
6 oz crystal 40 (170 grams)
6 oz. Crystal 120 (170 grams)
6 oz. roasted barley 300 lovibond (170 grams)

Kent Golding 5% 60 minutes 1.25 oz 25 ibus
(or Fuggle or Williamette)

White Labs 004 (Irish Ale)
Ferment at 66 degrees Fahrenheit
Carbonate at 2 – 2.5 volumes




Enjoy!

ajwillys said:

Is it good? I assume it is but I gotta ask. Also, is it a true red? It looks pretty simple which is what I'm going for on this one, so I may try it. I've got lots of new equipment that I'm using for the first time so simple is better.

Click to expand...

The guy who came up with that recipe used to own his own brewery, so yeah it's good

Lots of good stuff here!

Jamil's Recipes

Hi!

It's my second AG batch and i'm trying this recipe out. Can't say how great it's gonna be but in another thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/leftovers-77791/) people have said it would be quite good. I added 4 oz of chocolate for astringency and color.

Style: Irish Red Ale
Batch Size: 5,00 gal
Boil Volume: 6,00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (6+gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (5 Gal)

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
8,00 lb Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2,0 SRM) Grain 91,4 %
0,50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80,0 SRM) Grain 5,7 %
0,25 lb Chocolate Malt (350,0 SRM) Grain 2,9 %
0,50 oz Nugget [13,00%] (60 min) Hops 24,9 IBU
0,50 oz Williamette [5,50%] (10 min) Hops 3,8 IBU
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Estimated Original Gravity: 1,046 SG (1,044-1,060 SG)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1,012 SG (1,010-1,014 SG)
Estimated Color: 14,9 SRM (9,0-18,0 SRM)
Bitterness: 28,8 IBU (17,0-28,0 IBU)
Alpha Acid Units: 1,3 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4,4 % (4,0-6,0 %)


Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Tun Weight: 4,00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 8,75 lb

The grain/hops bill is quite low and pretty simple. I guess the Marris Otter can be substituted pound for pound with the 6-row. You can change hops varieties but be sure to pick a bitter one to replace the Nugget. Irish redheads bite.

Also, I use Beersmith to hack recipes out and I've found it quite very useful. You can see the actual color the beer is gonna turn out as a bonus and there's plenty sample recipes (haven't tried any though).

Happy brewing and remember to RDWHAHB.

Good luck! And be sure to post some pics :rockin:

oberon567 said:

Do you want to make a true Irish Red (like Smithwicks) or do you want an American Amber Ale, which are often what Americans think of as an Irish Red... these are actually often a littler redder, and they're bolder and hoppier.

Click to expand...

I want an easy drinker. I'm not terribly concerned with style guidelines other than I want a genuine red color... not overly hoppy. There are some good looking recipes here already. I'll have to plug a few of them into Beersmith. I must say that so far, I'm leaning towards either niquejim's or Jamil's from the podcast.

I just brewed Jamil's from the podcast, it gets bottled in the next few days.

However, the only Roasted Barley I could get was 450L, and I should have reduced the amount of RB, but I didnt...

One thing Jamil did say is that his is on the more robust edge of the style guideline, which is how he likes it, and if you wanted something a little less intense switch all of the specialty grains from 6 oz each to 5 oz each, and that is actually a little bit closer to Smithwick's brand.

If it is important to you that it is red be sure to not do what I did, which is to say that if you only have 450L Roasted Barley reduce the quantity, because otherwise it will make it even roastier and even darker... the hydro sample I took from mine is certainly darker than I would have hoped, but it is what I expected...

Thanks for the tips, I might adjust it down or I might just go for the robust version. Depends on my whim for the day.

Did you do the 6 oz. or the 5 oz. version? How does it taste so far?

This was on tap on my rolling kegerator at a family party 4 weeks ago.

We had three kegs of different beer and the keg of this Irish Red Ale was very nearly gone.

You could back off the roasted barley or chocolate a bit to get more of the amber color you're looking for.

Very smooth and drinkable, and was very popular amongst the BMC'rs.

Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 12.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt, Golden Promise (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (250.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)

1.50 oz Fuggles [4.00%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.50%] (60 min)

I'm still dialing mine in. Here's what I brewed last time for 5 1/2 gallons.

7# Maris Otter
3# Munich
1/2# CaraPils
3/4# Crystal 120L
1 oz Roasted Barley

1 oz Sterling 60 min
1 oz Goldings 20 min

SRM 18, IBU 25. Hydro sample tasted a lot like Smithwicks. Color was great. It's going into the kegerator and will get carbed this weekend. It has been conditioning for two months.