Read my red

Not exactly a traditional red but an imperial red along the lines of lucky 13 and this one goes to 11 by Lagunitas and Bells. I was thinking of subbing the 120 for some special B. Maybe a little less depending on what the lovebond rating at my lhbs has on their special B. Any thoughts or advice on the grains? haven't gotten to the hop schedule yet.

13.5 lbs US 2-row
1.5 lbs C 40
1 lbs Munich
.5 lbs Carapills
.25 lbs C 60
2 oz C 120
1 lbs Cane sugar

75% efficiency SG 1.100, SRM 14

Way too much crystal.

Many reds use a lot of crystal malts, though. Depending on how sweet you like it, you may be ok, especially if you mash lower. Never had the brews you mentioned, so I can't compare.

Reds are deceptively hard to get right in my experience

Almost 2-1/2 lbs of crystal in 5 gallon is too much.

I think 8oz of c120 and 1 or 2oz of pale chocolate malt will work to make a red color. At least thats what I've done in the past.

a did a red IPA with 4.5% each C60/C120 plus base malts (pale/munich), came out nice.

bja said:

Almost 2-1/2 lbs of crystal in 5 gallon is too much.

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For you, maybe. I don't see a problem.

Gameface said:

For you, maybe. I don't see a problem.

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Most people don't like excessively sweet beer.

I agree it's too much crystal. my red was 0.5 kg crystal (actually weyerman cara-blank equivalents for C60/C120), that's only 1.1 lb and I found it quite nice and not sweet, I probably wouldn't do much more than that. Maybe cut out the carapils and drop the C40 to .75 lb. If it's not red enough you can add just a tiny touch of roasted barley to get some color without the flavor

Way too much crystal.

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Many reds use a lot of crystal malts, though. Depending on how sweet you like it, you may be ok, especially if you mash lower. Never had the brews you mentioned, so I can't compare.

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a did a red IPA with 4.5% each C60/C120 plus base malts (pale/munich), came out nice.

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It looked like a lot of crystal to me as well, but from what I have read many reds have 10%-15% of the malt as crystal. I pieced this together from this site and other recipes https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/American_Red_Ale. I plan to mash low and with the cane sugar I hope it will ferment out pretty dry. But I do want a lot of sweetness in this beer, I plan to hop the hell out of it.

I agree it's too much crystal. my red was 0.5 kg crystal (actually weyerman cara-blank equivalents for C60/C120), that's only 1.1 lb and I found it quite nice and not sweet, I probably wouldn't do much more than that. Maybe cut out the carapils and drop the C40 to .75 lb. If it's not red enough you can add just a tiny touch of roasted barley to get some color without the flavor

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I'll take your advice and cut back the C40 to .75 lb and cut out the carapils.
What do you all think about subbing the C120 for some special B? I love the malt and have found plenty of non traditional reds that include it.

I don't have access to special B so Ive never used it, but I think it's reasonable to go back and forth between 120 and special B