How can I get the reddest ale possible?

I'm planning on doing a red ale for my next batch and I'm curious what ingredients and techniques people would recommend in order to get as close to a true red color as possible. I've searched around the forum and elsewhere a bit and have seen some pretty interesting suggestions, but I'm wondering what might work best.

I want to use legit ingredients for the color, rather than "cheating" with food coloring or something like that. Using beets was one idea I came across, but I'm a bit concerned about how that might affect the flavor. I don't have the space for all-grain, so this is going to be an extract batch. I typically brew 5-gallon batches and usually do darker stuff, like stouts. I also only have 1 carboy for now, so I won't be able to do a secondary fermentation.

Basically I want to make a red ale that people look at and say "hey, that's red!" (not amber, etc). Any suggestions on what "magic ingredient" I can use to achieve this?

I haven't found that magic ingredient.. red ales are still amber in color, I haven't seen a beer that's seriously red and not just included some shade of red in the amber.

Toast some pale malt at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring at 10 and 20 minutes. Let it sit in a paper bag for a week or so to "air out" and it will give your beer a wonderful red color.

Melanoidin is a German malt that will give a reddish color to beer. It can make up to 20% of the total grain bill.

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EdWort said:

Toast some pale malt at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring at 10 and 20 minutes. Let it sit in a paper bag for a week or so to "air out" and it will give your beer a wonderful red color.

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Thanks for the clue, Ed. Think I'll give it a try when the roasted barley runs out.....

I've used Ken Lenard's advice of using a combo of Crystal 120 and Special B....awesome RED color and didn't have an over the top sweet or raisiny flavor you might expect for 8 oz of each in an 1.045 ale. SRM= 18 was right on!

Crystal 80, with a longish boil - 90 minutes

weyermann's CaraRed.

I made a beet red ale and while the color is quite beautiful its still not red red and the beet flavor does show through (earthy) even with just one beet in a five gallon batch. Furthermore, it seemed that a lot of the red from the beet was actually a solid that wasn't fully soluble. So right after brewing and during fermentation it had an amazing ruby color, but as things settled, the color subsided.

do a mini mash with some red wheat, small amount of crystal 60 or 80, a bit of rye malt, and use a pound of medium-heavy caramelized honey in the boil, that'll get a nice amber-ruby color

Stout-n-Braggot said:

do a mini mash with some red wheat, small amount of crystal 60 or 80, a bit of rye malt, and use a pound of medium-heavy caramelized honey in the boil, that'll get a nice amber-ruby color

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Red wheat? Never heard of it...I am intrigued.

EdWort said:

Toast some pale malt at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring at 10 and 20 minutes. Let it sit in a paper bag for a week or so to "air out" and it will give your beer a wonderful red color.

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How much would you suggest for a 5-gallon batch? I assume you're talking liquid pale malt? Any special storage instructions for keeping it in the bag (ie: keeping it from seeping through, etc)?

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I may end up doing a couple of batches spread out using these different methods.

cranberries, crystal malt, or tomato paste

A couple lbs of CaraRed + 2oz of Carafa III will do it.

Most homebrew supply shops I've been in have red wheat. It is larger than standard wheat malt, large enough that a grain mill set for standard 2-row barley can crush it without needing to readjust. It has a slightly more nutty/earthy flavor than standard wheat malt and it gives a nice red-amber color to pale/amber ales and is a nice addition for dry stout too.

Beets

See at
http://beertech.blogspot.com/2010/02/brewing-bloody-ale.html

And

http://beertech.blogspot.com/2010/02/brewing-bloody-ale-part-2.html

I think my Dead Run Red is pretty red...pretty simple recipe...check it in my drop down to the left.

surferdrew said:

I think my Dead Run Red is pretty red...pretty simple recipe...check it in my drop down to the left.

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That's in the direction I want to go. Kinda want to see if I can get a little more red when it's in the glass for my experiment. Thanks for the link!

nilo said:

Beets

See at
http://beertech.blogspot.com/2010/02/brewing-bloody-ale.html

And

http://beertech.blogspot.com/2010/02/brewing-bloody-ale-part-2.html

Click to expand...

That's about right. I guess beet juice might be worth pursuing.

Blueberries