Red Color without flavor for Irish Red Ale

Looking to do an Irish Red this weekend, and I want to make that baby red as all get out, to the point that people are asking if I added Red 40.

But I also want the right flavor profile, of course.

The problem is that the malts known for giving the red color (mostly mid level Crystal) also impart a flavor you don't necessarily want in a Red.

I'm planning on brewing Schneckerla's Quaffable Irish Red, and one person who brewed it said that it was more brown than red, so I wanted to see if I could adjust it to make it redder.

I also found this-

I’ve read on a beer tools red ale thread a brewer uses black patent, uncrushed, just a handful during sparge to get his red color. He doesn’t uses 20 L crystal also not the darker ones.
never tried it..

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-http://www.brew-dudes.com/irish-red-ale-recipe/137

Has anyone tried this? Or any other suggestions?

What about a little carafa special? All color without much flavor.

a little chocolate can get you red without much flavor too.

philrose said:

What about a little carafa special? All color without much flavor.

a little chocolate can get you red without much flavor too.

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Won't the carafa push me too much towards brown?

seriously thow the amount of pigment in a beet is unbelaveable if you have never cut one up the color just runs out of them its like thay are full of red ink

Clayton said:

BEETS
just add one beet and it will be super red
and i dont think it will change the flavor at all
beets have a very mild tast
i have been pickeling some here with eggs and
veggys and just a sliver of beet turns the whole jar red.

Beet Puree Soup

get you a beet and taste it then think about that deluted with 5 gal of beer
i dont think it will have any real impact if you slice it up thin and steep it in the last 15min of the boil

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I'm guessing you want to avoid Food Coloring eh?

Food coloring I do want to avoid. But beets... hmmm... this could be a good idea.

I thought throwing in a (very) small amount of roasted barley would give you a red color? I'm thinking its in the range of 2-4 ounces. Have you looked into that at all?

get you a beet and taste it then think about that deluted with 5 gal of beer
i dont think it will have any real impact if you slice it up thin and steep it in the last 15min of the boil

ajwillys said:

I thought throwing in a (very) small amount of roasted barley would give you a red color? I'm thinking its in the range of 2-4 ounces. Have you looked into that at all?

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That is it. Use an ounce of roasted barley- that will get you red. FWIW- I brew an Irish Red that uses the same amount and it is red. You can also add about half that for color in IPA's etc! I've also heard that black patient works in about the same amounts. Never used though.

Now you seem like you want someting that is really red? I don't think traditonal grain additons will do that- even the trusty combos of crystal isn't really red so much as it is a crimson/amber color.

I've heard that Magic hat has used beets for color

Also fermentables!

makes sense, get the sugar and cut out the middleman!

jamesnsw said:

Won't the carafa push me too much towards brown?

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were talking about grams of carafa here, ground into a powder and added to your mash during recirc.