American Pale Ale Red Chair NWPA clone

saccw said:

I had Red Chair at the Deschutes taphouse in Portland a couple of years ago and immediately put it on my "need to make this" list. I haven't been brewing much lately but did a 6-gallon batch based upon post #52 with a couple of minor tweaks;

This beer was definitely a home run. If I did this again, I wouldn't change a thing. [EDIT: WHEN I do this again (guaranteed), I won't change a thing]

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Glad it came out awesome. It was several minor tweaks to get me to what I posted in #52 and it really is a winner anywhere around that recipe!

Just bottled my batch of this recipe. I missed my OG because of efficiency and volume issues with a new brew pot, but the beer that we just bottled was spectacular! I'll call it a session NWPA that isn't quite red chair but aging will only make it better!

Just a question though, didn't the original red chair batch have spruce needles in it? I thought I read that that was what defined a NWPA?

I have been meaning to take the knowledge in this thread and convert it to an extract brew, and finally did so this weekend. I thought I'd post the recipe and let everyone know how it goes in 7 weeks or so. My hops are lower than most here due to personal preference (but seemingly also recipe accuracy: according to TastyBrew the below recipe has an IBU of 57 vs. Red Chair's stated 60). So far it looks and smells amazing in the fermenter.

Water - 6.3 gal

Steeping Grains (30 min @ 158*):
1.5 lb Carapils
1 lb 60L
1 lb Munich
0.5 lb Carastan

Extract (60 minute boil):
6 lb light DME

Hops:
1 oz Centennial (45 min)
1 oz Cascade (14 min)
1 oz Cascade (9 min)

Yeast (added at ~68*):
White Labs 001 (no starter, just let the tube warm to room temp and dumped)

I forgot to add carastan malt to my batch. How much effect will this have on it?

Deklin said:

I forgot to add carastan malt to my batch. How much effect will this have on it?

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Probably going to lose the color and some flavor.

Malt Properties from a few different web sites:

Carastan is a British crystal malt with a caramel/toffee flavor and hints of toasted bread.

Carastan is a malt similar to Crystal malt produces by the Crisp Malting group in the UK. The flavor, is a bit more of a Toffee sort when compared to American Crystal.
The product is sold in ranges rather than one particular Lovibond value (13 to 17L and 30 to 37L.) When formulating a recipe, I always just take the average Lovibond value and use that.

Hi,
What's the purpose of the 1lb of Pilsner malt in this recipe on pg1? My limited knowledge makes me think that little bit of pils (roughly 8%) would get lost amongst the other, bolder malts. Does it really make a difference?
I brewed 2.5 gals of AZ IPA's recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I brewed it again without the Pilsner and it was a different beer. Granted, I made several process changes between the two batches but I'm curious if the recipe change had that large an effect. I used Crisp Pale Ale malt as my base and just increased it by the amount of pils I left out.
I've got grain to brew this again and this time, I included the pils against the recommendation of the LHBS dude.

Thanks, Brian

briantompo said:

Hi,
What's the purpose of the 1lb of Pilsner malt in this recipe on pg1? My limited knowledge makes me think that little bit of pils (roughly 8%) would get lost amongst the other, bolder malts. Does it really make a difference?
I brewed 2.5 gals of AZ IPA's recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I brewed it again without the Pilsner and it was a different beer. Granted, I made several process changes between the two batches but I'm curious if the recipe change had that large an effect. I used Crisp Pale Ale malt as my base and just increased it by the amount of pils I left out.
I've got grain to brew this again and this time, I included the pils against the recommendation of the LHBS dude.

Thanks, Brian

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I chose it based on the ingredients listed on their website:

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/beer/red-chair-nwpa/

I believe I chose the amount (1lb) based on what a sack of pilsner would be for their bbl production size - scaled down to ~5 gallon batches. Just a total guess, but I imagine a brewery scales their recipes based on sacks of grain, not lbs/oz.

I agree with you that it shouldn't really make much of an impact, but for some reason it does...

Excited to brew this one today.

oscarjets said:

kind of dumb process question, but when you add the 2oz of cascades after the boil is complete are you leaving the hop bag in the brew pot until it is chilled and moved to the fermenter? if not how long are you leaving the hops in the kettle for?

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With IPAs and such where additions are made right up to flameout, I've been finding great results in using a hop stand technique. Cool the wort slightly to about 170. Turn the chillier off and let the whole thing sit for 20-30 minutes. then chill the rest of the way. I'm finding really good hop flavour and aroma when doing this.

I think something has gone wrong. I got a 1.078 OG and a post boil volume of 5 gallons on the dot. I just pitched the yeast (S-04) too. Any suggestions? Would it be too late to top of with bottled water?

I'm inputting this recipe to Beersmith and it doesn't recognise Crystal 90L or Carastan. I'm still new to all grain brewing, do these grains have other names? I'm looking forward to brewing this beer in a couple days.

Try Caramel crystal 90. Or American Caramel Crystal 90.

Cheers!!

The carastan should come up United Kingdom Carastan or British.

Cheers!

it's close to the release of SN Celebration, i brewed it last month so i can compare to the real thing. i'm doing this clone for a red chair side-by-side, which should be out in a couple months. BUT, i made a few tweaks:

original recipe:

10lbs 2 row
1lb Munich
1lb Pilsner
1lb Crystal 60L
0.5lb Carapils
0.5lb Carastan

Mash @ 152*F

1.5oz Centennial (9.1%AA) @ 60
1.5oz Centennial (9.1%AA) @ 15
2oz Cascade @ 0

My recipe:

9.5lbs great western pale 2-row
1lb munich 10L
1.5lbs pilsner
.625lb crystal 40
.375lb crystal 90
.5lb carastan
.5lb carapils

1.5oz centy @ 60
.75 centy @ 15
.75 centy @ 5
whirlpool 2oz cascade (at 170F)

wlp007 ferm'd @ 65

te-wa said:

it's close to the release of SN Celebration, i brewed it last month so i can compare to the real thing. i'm doing this clone for a red chair side-by-side, which should be out in a couple months. BUT, i made a few tweaks:

original recipe:

10lbs 2 row
1lb Munich
1lb Pilsner
1lb Crystal 60L
0.5lb Carapils
0.5lb Carastan

Mash @ 152*F

1.5oz Centennial (9.1%AA) @ 60
1.5oz Centennial (9.1%AA) @ 15
2oz Cascade @ 0

My recipe:

9.5lbs great western pale 2-row
1lb munich 10L
1.5lbs pilsner
.625lb crystal 40
.375lb crystal 90
.5lb carastan
.5lb carapils

1.5oz centy @ 60
.75 centy @ 15
.75 centy @ 5
whirlpool 2oz cascade (at 170F)

wlp007 ferm'd @ 65

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How did this come out?