Help change the color of this Irish-style beer!

I've made this recipe a couple of times, and we really like it!

8 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
8.0 oz Caramalt (17.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
1.00 oz Challenger [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 21.2 IBU
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 10.00 %
1 Pkgs Denny's Favorite (Wyeast Labs #1450PC) [Starter 50 ml] Yeast-Ale

It comes out to 14 SRM, and is great. But Bob asked me to make it red, instead of brown. However, he doesn't want any roastiness.

Ok, I can lose the chocolate malt. But what to put in it to make it a nice Irish red, without adding roasty notes? I have some special roast, and various crystal malts but no crystal above 80L. I also have some other specialty grains like caravienne.

Basically, Bob wants this beer to taste about the same, but be red in color. Since this man has "let" me spend more than $2000 on brewing gear this month alone, I would really like to make him happy!

Try CaraRed in place of the CaraMalt. Maybe just a hint of debittered to get the redness from that.

IIRC, in my last Red beer I used just a hint of Black barley for the red notes.


Otherwise, don't fall for it. He's trying to bend you to his will. As soon as you get it Red he'll request it be green but, not change. It's a ploy I tell ya.

I've read that Black Patent, in very (very) small amounts, can be used for color.

Add 2-3 ounces of Carafa II to the grist.

I've heard adding malt at the last few minutes of the mash can add color without added flavor from the malt. So add some black roasted at the last 10 minutes, or blend in just before the batch sparge (if you batch sparge) to leach a color contribution without the heavy roastiness.

Just use roasted barley and if he notices the taste tell him he is imagining things.

I did 2oz of roasted barley in my last red ale and it gave it a nice tint without any roastiness that I can detect.

3-oz of Roasted Barley will give it the color. It will not give it a pronounced "roasted" flavor, but will give it the characteristic dry finish. De-husked Carafa will do the job too, but will not give the dry finish. I would like to try Golden Promise base malt in an Irish red one of these days.

Rhoobarb (my neighbor here in the southwest burbs of Chicago) has a recipe for an Irish red where he describes what is mentioned above - add the dark malt at the end of the mash, to add color but not flavor/sugars. You could take a look at his recipe for a sense of the proportions he uses, or send him a PM about your recipe. Mark's a great guy and knowledgable.

Or you can use beets!

Cinnamar? Never used it, though. I like the late malt addition idea.

But I would argue that an Irish Red without a slight amount of roastiness wouldn't classify as one, or score very well.

But nothing wrong with brewing something you like!

kanzimonson said:

Cinnamar? Never used it, though. I like the late malt addition idea.

But I would argue that an Irish Red without a slight amount of roastiness wouldn't classify as one, or score very well.

But nothing wrong with brewing something you like!

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Oh, I know. It's not an Irish red. We call it Irish Draught. It's more "Irishy" than a bitter, but sort of on the same line. Like an Irish session beer. Of course, it doesn't fit into any style. It makes a nice tap beer, though!

I ended up digging through my stash, and didn't have anything I wanted to use. So, I found some special roast (I thought a biscuity flavor would be nice) and a little crystal 80L and a little pale chocolate malt. I went with 4 ounces of 80L, and about an ounce of pale chocolate, along with the caramalt and special roast. The wort is a copper color at the moment, and I just pitched the yeast.

YooperBrew said:

...I would really like to make him happy!

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I won't go there...

Sounds like toasted malt may be an answer.

"Toasted malt can be made at home by toasting pale malted barley for 35-45 minutes at 350 F. Similar to Biscuit or Victory malt - this malt adds reddish/orange color and improved body without sweetness. Toasted flavor. Mashing required to avoid haze."

I use toasted malt in my "Captain Hooked" and it has a nice amber color.

Well, since I pitched the yeast 15 minutes ago, you're a wee bit late, BM!

That sounds good, though. I like home toasted maris otter, and the thought never even occurred to me! Maybe the special roast will give a similar flavor.

I'll let you know in two weeks what it came out to be!

Pappers said:

Rhoobarb (my neighbor here in the southwest burbs of Chicago) has a recipe for an Irish red where he describes what is mentioned above - add the dark malt at the end of the mash, to add color but not flavor/sugars. You could take a look at his recipe for a sense of the proportions he uses, or send him a PM about your recipe. Mark's a great guy and knowledgable.

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Jim lies; I'm not that great a guy. But I'll take the compliment - thanks, Jim!

Yoop, I'm, late to the party here. The recipe Jim speaks of is in my recipe drop-down. In fact, I'm about to empty the keg and need to brew another ten gallons ASAP. It's pretty popular around the house. I used the same method for my Schwarzbier (also just added).

But I recall seeing a picture around here taken during the HBT BJCP contest judging , IIRC, showing a beer that had hibiscus added to it. Looked like a murder scene, it was so red. Can't seem to find that pic right now.

little late but my reds recipe is very close to yours with 1/2 lb of melanoidin malt in place of the chocolate.No honey either Was a good beer