Red Ale Check

So for my first shot at extract brewing I've decided to go with what I believe is a rather simple Red Ale. Half of the ingredients come from a kit while incorporating elements of JZ's Red Rocket clone.

Looking for any reactions to the recipe below, especially if you think there may be a mismatch of ingredients. Should I be concerned regarding the combination of Horizon and Williamette?


6.50 lb LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 67.71 %
1.00 lb LME Munich (4.0 SRM) Extract 10.42 %
1.00 lb Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 10.42 %
0.50 lb Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 5.21 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (biscuit) (Briess) (28.0 SRM) Grain 5.21 %
0.10 lb Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.04 %
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
1.00 oz Horizon [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 32.9 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.80 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.79 %
Bitterness: 48.0 IBU Calories: 302 cal/pint
Est Color: 17.4 SRM

Hmm. Did you have a bit more boil-off than you expected, based on the calculated and observed gravities?

I've not used the hops you are asking questions about, but other than that, the recipe looks super yummy.

Suddenly I'm thirsty, hmm...

Also, I would question your technique. It looks like you have a fair amount of grain that is going to need to be mashed, as opposed to steeped. Are you doing an extract or part mash?

I wouldn't worry about mixing hops. It's always fun to experiment. Also, you are really only mixing the bittering hops. The flavor/aroma hops are likely going to be more what you actually taste. You are putting a fair amount of Willamette at the end of the boil.

You can steep the Caramel and Chocolate malts, but I'm pretty sure you need to mash the Victory. Honestly, you can probably leave it out, especially since you're using a fair amount of Munich DME, which will add malty notes. Your hops are fine - like JJL said above - mixing the 60 minute addition will have little, if any impact.

JLem's right about the grains. I totally missed the fact that the Munich was extract and not grain. I would second leaving the Victory out. It's not worth trying to steep it. You aren't going to get much sugar from it. If you decide to get rid of the Victory, you could add in about another 0.25 lbs +/- of LME to offset the gravity points if you are concerned about that.

Here is a simple extract Red Ale that I recently brewed. I must say...it is pretty tasty and malty.

6# Extra Light DME
1/2# Crystal 120
1/4# Caramunich
1/4# Roasted Barley

1oz Magnum @ 60 min
1oz Willamette @ Last 10 min

Nottingham

Being this would be my first batch, i wanted to keep it simple but interesting. I wanted to kick up the malt & the gravity a little more than the kit originally had. Tomorrow's grocery day and this should really help in itemizing my shopping list.

Speaking of which any essentials to keep on hand?

Thanks for all the input!

MacGuffin said:

Speaking of which any essentials to keep on hand?

Thanks for all the input!

Click to expand...

I think one would always want to have extra yeast and corn sugar available. Plenty of sanitizer (spills can leave you high and dry) is also a plus. Honey is handy, and I bet yeast food/energizer would also be a plus in case of stuck fermentation.

That's just off the top of my head.

Finally brewed up the Red Ale last Sunday

Ended up brewing this below:


1.00 lb DME Sparkling Amber (Briess) (10.5 SRM) Dry Extract 12.20 %
6.60 lb LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 80.49 %
0.50 lb Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 6.10 %
0.10 lb Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.22 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 33.9 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-)

For a Red Ale does anyone think dry hopping some Cascade in the 2nd primary might be a nice addition?

I think dry-hopping with some Cascade would definitely be nice

I added 1 0z of cascade whole leaf to the secondary without a bag and I've seen a bit of a discussion regarding hops being submersed or floating. Mine are floating (day two of the dry hop) and they haven't sunk.
I guess my question is then, if they don't sink how long should I keep the hops in before I bottle?
I was just planning 6-7 days, but should they stay in longer for more contact?

I don't want to chance on them making the ale grassy.

So far everything has been working out perfectly! Tastes like an ale, gravity is on the money & ooooh the color ... soo red.

Seriously I've had a harder time scrambling eggs.

MacGuffin said:

Seriously I've had a harder time scrambling eggs.

Click to expand...

Eggs can be tricky!!

I think it takes more than a week or two to get a "grassy" flavor, but then again, I'm not a hophead and have never dry-hopped.

So, I don't know. (Helpful, huh?) But I want to know how it turns out. So you have to post here after it's all done, just so you know.

Week 3 in the bottle and it keeps tasting better & better. Not as clear as I wanted it to be. But overall very happy about my first brew.

Deciding on what to brew next. My first grandchild is arriving in December. I have White Labs London Ale yeast in the fridge I want to use before it goes bad. Maybe a Porter or ESB. Thanks for all the support!

Congratulations!

It's nice to have a happy ending to a brew story.

MacGuffin said:

I added 1 0z of cascade whole leaf to the secondary without a bag and I've seen a bit of a discussion regarding hops being submersed or floating. Mine are floating (day two of the dry hop) and they haven't sunk.
I guess my question is then, if they don't sink how long should I keep the hops in before I bottle?
I was just planning 6-7 days, but should they stay in longer for more contact?

I don't want to chance on them making the ale grassy.

So far everything has been working out perfectly! Tastes like an ale, gravity is on the money & ooooh the color ... soo red.

Seriously I've had a harder time scrambling eggs.

Click to expand...

So did you bottle at week three or when did you take it off the hops? Did they eventually sink?

I had it in the primary for 2 weeks. In the secondary for another week and dry hopped it for the last 7 days it was in the carboy. And then I bottled. The whole leaf never fully sunk but as it matures in the bottle it seems on becoming little more aromatic.