"Red Drum" red ale (4th in the wedding series) Your thoughts, please...

5 Gallon mini mash BIAB recipe, concocted by Shiloh & Stephen for our wedding collection.

We are slowly stepping away from extracts as our base sugar load. this was our first increase in grain bill to compensate for 1.5 lb reduction in our extract contribution.

3lb extra pale LME
1lb Amber LME
1/2lb light DME
3lb 6row malt
2oz 150L crystal
20z 40L crystal
2oz Brown malt
2-1/4oz aromatic malt
1-1/2oz coffee malt
2oz alder munich
1oz Kent Golding hops @ 60min
1/2oz willimette @ 15 min
1/2oz willimette @ 0 min
1/2 tsp Wyeast beer nutrient blend
WLP005 White Labs British Ale liquid yeast

Mash grains @ 152-155 F for 1hour
drain grain bag
Sparge 2qts water 175 F 8 min
combine sparge to wort
bring back to boil, reduce and control at 160-165
add 3lb extra pale LME at 60min
add 1oz kent golding at 60min
add 1lb amber extract at 15min
add 1/2oz willimette at 15min
add 1/2lb light DME 0 min
add 1/2oz willimette at 0 min
add 1/2tsp Wyeast beer nutrient 0 min

immerse cool to 68F, areate, pitch yeast

Take Origional gravity reading 1.076 OG

Far left.


Will post again later, after things have begun to settle.

transfer to 6.5 Glass carboy. will ferment 2 weeks minimum, then transfer to secondary 5 gallon glass carboy for additional month.
bottle at 6-7 weeks total age for natural carbonation. to be served 2 months after bottle condition.

We will be trying to use geletan finings for this one. will by my first time EVER to try to clarify a beer. since i'm a stout,porter,brown drinker, clarity has never mattered to me.

total expected age at time of first bottle to be tested 14-15 weeks

will be held for approximately one year until our wedding. forcing us to keep our hands off it for a VERY long time.

Anyone wanna check my Gravity reading and see if it sounds right?
does this conform to a true red ale?

this is our second recipe from scratch. first one that we followed correct mashing temp on, and potentially our best beer yet.

please comment on anything you see that concerns you, or pleases you.

thanks,
Stephen & Shiloh

Jnco_hippie said:

please comment on anything you see that concerns you, or pleases you.

thanks,
Stephen & Shiloh

Click to expand...

It's too late to really comment, since it's already brewed. But for next time, I would not use amber or dark extract. The amber and dark extract have crystal malt and the like in them, so it often means doubling up on sweet malts. A tiny 2 0z contribution of brown malt is meaningless, and won't bring anything to the beer. 2 ounces is really not going to be tasted, and aside from color adjustment, not worth using. I normally wouldn't use such tiny amounts of so many grains. If you're looking for, say, sweetness, more crystal would be needed. As it is, it's just sort of a muddle. I don't know if it's complex enough to age well for a year.

I wouldn't call it an American red, because there isn't enough crystal malt to meet guidelines. And it's not an Irish red, either, exactly, but it's closer to that with the British yeast and hops.

Thank you, yooper.

So can you offer a revised recipe using, increasing and excluding grains as you might have built this recipe? Feel free add a grain not listed, or remove.

Not looking for a pre scripted recipe, just an improvement on this one.

With an OG of 1.076 should I have double pitched the yeast? It was white labs liquid British.

I have a tube of trub from my last batch. It was white labs English ale yeast in a stout. I also have a trub tube from another dark beer. It was white labs Irish ale yeast. I suppose I could get Shiloh to toss one in the primary if absolutely nessessary.

I'm also not 100% confident in my hydrometer reading, as this was the first time I have ever taken a gravity reading.

Just dosent seem like the beer was big enough to need a second pitch, but what do I know? I'm new to the science side of this.

Jnco_hippie said:

With an OG of 1.076 should I have double pitched the yeast? It was white labs liquid British.

I have a tube of trub from my last batch. It was white labs English ale yeast in a stout. I also have a trub tube from another dark beer. It was white labs Irish ale yeast. I suppose I could get Shiloh to toss one in the primary if absolutely nessessary.

I'm also not 100% confident in my hydrometer reading, as this was the first time I have ever taken a gravity reading.

Just dosent seem like the beer was big enough to need a second pitch, but what do I know? I'm new to the science side of this.

Click to expand...

Generally, for any beer over about 1.040, with liquid yeast a starter is a good idea or pitching more than one package. At over 1.060, a starter or at least two packages is almost required.

I'm no expert on Irish reds, but a good simple one would be something like :
11 pounds British malt (MO) or extract equivalent (or a mix of both, for partial mash)
6 ounces crystal 40L
6 ounces crystal 120L
4 ounces roasted barley
Bittering hops, 60 minutes, British kind- about 25 IBUs


For an American red, more crystal malt, no roasted barley, and lots more hops would be typical.

Am I reading this gravity correctly?