Irish Red Ale Raging Red Irish Red Ale

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tramik said:
So I made this two weeks ago. I just checked my gravity and it's 1.028? Weird. My OG was 1.058. It's fermented really hard in the beginning and died down quick. Current temp is around 68-70F.

I think I'm going to leave it in primary another week and then check - anyone else have a similar experience? Did I maybe do something wrong?
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lots of things could be the cause. What was the mash temp? (when was the last time you verified your thermometer was accurate?) What yeast? Did you pitch enough yeast? try swirling the carboy to get yeast back in suspension and see if that helps.
 
Mysticmead said:
lots of things could be the cause. What was the mash temp? (when was the last time you verified your thermometer was accurate?) What yeast? Did you pitch enough yeast? try swirling the carboy to get yeast back in suspension and see if that helps.
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I used Fermentis US-05 American Dry Ale Yeast - the whole packet. I did about 152-155F mash temp. My thermometer seems good and checked my calibration on my refractometer. I'll try giving it a swirl.

I'm thinking it might be because I used different yeast, might be slower?
 
Refractometers are not accurate for measuring final gravity. Use a hydrometer. I suspect you'll find you've reached final gravity.
 
tramik said:
I used Fermentis US-05 American Dry Ale Yeast - the whole packet. I did about 152-155F mash temp. My thermometer seems good and checked my calibration on my refractometer. I'll try giving it a swirl.

I'm thinking it might be because I used different yeast, might be slower?
Click to expand...

Thermometer's measure temperature... refractometers measure gravity. Test the thermometer by checking the temp of both boiling water and for ice water. both should be close to the correct temps for boiling 212F and freezing 32F (adjust boiling temp for your altitude http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oboilcalc.html ).

As far as your mash temp. If you started at 155F and slowly dropped to 152FG over 60+ minutes, then most of the conversion was done at 155F which would be for a more full bodied beer resulting in less fermentable sugars. If your thermometer is reading low then you may have been closer to the 160F mark which would explain the higher FG.
 
Mysticmead said:
Thermometer's measure temperature... refractometers measure gravity. Test the thermometer by checking the temp of both boiling water and for ice water. both should be close to the correct temps for boiling 212F and freezing 32F (adjust boiling temp for your altitude http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oboilcalc.html ).

As far as your mash temp. If you started at 155F and slowly dropped to 152FG over 60+ minutes, then most of the conversion was done at 155F which would be for a more full bodied beer resulting in less fermentable sugars. If your thermometer is reading low then you may have been closer to the 160F mark which would explain the higher FG.
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I'm still learning here so I'll apologize in advance for my ignorance.

If my OG after brewing was 1.058, doesn't that mean I've extracted the right amount of sugars, so my mash temp shouldn't really be a problem? Any thoughts on if that alternative yeast I used would just be slower?

I have it a stir last night and I'll take another measurement in a few days. After 3 weeks (this next Sunday) I'll be bottling it regardless.
 
tramik said:
I'm still learning here so I'll apologize in advance for my ignorance.

If my OG after brewing was 1.058, doesn't that mean I've extracted the right amount of sugars, so my mash temp shouldn't really be a problem? Any thoughts on if that alternative yeast I used would just be slower?

I have it a stir last night and I'll take another measurement in a few days. After 3 weeks (this next Sunday) I'll be bottling it regardless.
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learning is what this is all about. :)

even if the mash temp is high you will still extract the correct amount of sugars. they'll just have more that are not fermentable. Here's a perfect article on this exact issue. one mashed high...one mashed low... http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/12/the-mash-high-vs-low-temperature-exbeeriment-results/
 
Tramik, Mysticmead's advice re: mash temperature is solid but I'll go back to my previous point: Refractometers will give you falsely elevated gravity values when used to measure gravity when alcohol is present. If your measurement of 1.028 was obtained with a refractometer, it is incorrect (in other words, your actual gravity is lower than that). There are some calculators out there that will correct for the presence of alcohol though some question their validity. They seem adequate for a ballpark figure. If you plug in your OG of 1.058 and recent gravity of 1.028 into the Brewer's Friend refractometer correction calculator, you get a corrected gravity value of 1.014, which is close to Mysticmead's FG on his original recipe. To eliminate any uncertainty, use a hydrometer to measure final gravity.
Here's the link to the refractometer calculator.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
 
Rdom said:
Tramik, Mysticmead's advice re: mash temperature is solid but I'll go back to my previous point: Refractometers will give you falsely elevated gravity values when used to measure gravity when alcohol is present. If your measurement of 1.028 was obtained with a refractometer, it is incorrect (in other words, your actual gravity is lower than that). There are some calculators out there that will correct for the presence of alcohol though some question their validity. They seem adequate for a ballpark figure. If you plug in your OG of 1.058 and recent gravity of 1.028 into the Brewer's Friend refractometer correction calculator, you get a corrected gravity value of 1.014, which is close to Mysticmead's FG on his original recipe. To eliminate any uncertainty, use a hydrometer to measure final gravity.
Here's the link to the refractometer calculator.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
Click to expand...

yep... I use a refractometer only to check pre-boil and post boil gravity. after fermenting, hydrometer is the way to go. plus you get to drink the sample :)
 
Mysticmead said:
yep... I use a refractometer only to check pre-boil and post boil gravity. after fermenting, hydrometer is the way to go. plus you get to drink the sample :)
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To both of you, THANKS!

I used my hydrometer and it showed me 1.012... stellar. I thought I f'd up! I'm bottling it now!

Woot
 
tramik said:
To both of you, THANKS!

I used my hydrometer and it showed me 1.012... stellar. I thought I f'd up! I'm bottling it now!

Woot
Click to expand...

Hi tramik, I just bottled mine last saturday and got that same gravity, I was wondering how does your beer taste? Mine is a little bit sweet, I get some of the honey flavor when I took a sip. I think I screwed up cause I didn't control the mash temp, and mashed at 73 C (162) :drunk:
 
garynet20 said:
Hi tramik, I just bottled mine last saturday and got that same gravity, I was wondering how does your beer taste? Mine is a little bit sweet, I get some of the honey flavor when I took a sip. I think I screwed up cause I didn't control the mash temp, and mashed at 73 C (162) :drunk:
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I'm not kegging right now, so I'm waiting at least a week or two to try it. I'll post when I do.
 
Hi, thanks for recipe, I brewed it yesterday and it looks amazing, but I have one question.

It's my first experience brewing with honey, so I did a little googling and found out that the honey is best not at flameout, but a bit later (around 160F). So, I did it with a lot of sparging, gently pouring it in the middle of my immersion chiller :D

But the question, I totally forgot to measure OG before the honey, so I measured only after it. Don't know how good was the dissolving, but it was 1.055 (calculated OG with honey @ beersmith was 1.059, calculated OG without honey was 1.052). Oh, I measured it with refractometer (13.5 brix).

So, what was that, lack of efficiency on my gear\process? Or the honey doesnot dissolve so well or so fast and I actually overshoot my expected OG a bit?

Thanks in advance for the answer, and again, thanks for the recipe!
 
st1l3tto said:
So, what was that, lack of efficiency on my gear\process? Or the honey doesnot dissolve so well or so fast and I actually overshoot my expected OG a bit?

Thanks in advance for the answer, and again, thanks for the recipe!
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while adding honey at a lower temp is normally used in beers or mead where you expect a noticeable honey flavor or aroma, with only adding 1lb of honey in this beer it is simply there to boost the ABV about 1% higher. Adding at flame out or at the beginning results in the same as adding at 160F. now if you didn't mix the honey into the wort thoroughly your SG will be off.

Without knowing how well your grain was crushed, the equipment you use, the normal efficiency you get the chemical make up of your water the position of the stars and alignment of the planets, there is no way to know what would be the exact cause of undershooting the OG. I'd guess not mixed well enough

My advice... relax, don't worry, have a home brew.. you made beer and it's going to turn out just fine.
 
So, here's a little story about making lemonade from lemons.
I was all ready to brew this this weekend. I had planned ahead and special ordered the carafoam and caraaroma. My LHBS said they had melanoidin so I went over yesterday to pick it all up. But, as it turns out, no melanoidin was on hand. So, we started looking through the sub charts to find an alternate and for some reason decided on carafa I. It looked pretty and tasted good and I had no idea what melanoidin was all about so I went with it.
However, once back at the office I plugged it into BS and watched my SRM go from 15 to 25! Oops. So much for a red beer.
After feeling like a noob (which I am) for a while, I finally decided to see what I had. And as it turns out, by lowering the 30 minute addition of cascade from 1 oz to 0.75 oz I have the perfect profile for an American Brown Ale.
Now I'm excited again! :ban:
So, if it works out and tastes really good I'll probably post the recipe here as the Accidentally Brown Ale, with all proper credit to Mysticmead, of course.
 
Sunward33 said:
So, here's a little story about making lemonade from lemons.
I was all ready to brew this this weekend. I had planned ahead and special ordered the carafoam and caraaroma. My LHBS said they had melanoidin so I went over yesterday to pick it all up. But, as it turns out, no melanoidin was on hand. So, we started looking through the sub charts to find an alternate and for some reason decided on carafa I. It looked pretty and tasted good and I had no idea what melanoidin was all about so I went with it.
However, once back at the office I plugged it into BS and watched my SRM go from 15 to 25! Oops. So much for a red beer.
After feeling like a noob (which I am) for a while, I finally decided to see what I had. And as it turns out, by lowering the 30 minute addition of cascade from 1 oz to 0.75 oz I have the perfect profile for an American Brown Ale.
Now I'm excited again! :ban:
So, if it works out and tastes really good I'll probably post the recipe here as the Accidentally Brown Ale, with all proper credit to Mysticmead, of course.
Click to expand...

that's what brewing is all about... sometimes you have to make the best of a situation and roll with it. some of my best beers came from total screw ups on brew day.
 
Does mine look lighter than it should be? Either way it's delicious!
iLWp3zA.jpg
 
so far, it appeared to be the best homebrew I ever brewed. 5 gallons vanished in 2 days :(. However, I stored half a gallon in a solid bottle to taste it on Christmas and see what it's gonna look like.

And it is not so reddish though, more like a mahogany! :tank:
 
Just a quick question, how did it taste like? mine was a little bit sweet, it may have been because it didn't ferment all the way?. I got a few mistakes when I was boiling the wort (I put the lid on the pot for instance) besides that it was delicious! I'll make this recipe again with no mistakes, I hope. I got chill haze, this is what it looks like:

12191561_10208083950356486_3979002707968800133_n.jpg
 
garynet20 said:
Just a quick question, how did it taste like? mine was a little bit sweet, it may have been because it didn't ferment all the way?. I got a few mistakes when I was boiling the wort (I put the lid on the pot for instance) besides that it was delicious! I'll make this recipe again with no mistakes, I hope. I got chill haze, this is what it looks like:
Click to expand...

Mine was like crystal clear, though I only used gelatine to clear (i do BIAB). I don't have a picture, because there is no beer left :ban: Mine was not so red though, much more like the previous picture on this page.

As for taste, it was just like Mysticmead describe in a recipe - strong malt flavour with gentle bitterness (however, i subbed Crystal hops for Saphir).

I had no extra sweetness in it, mine fermented from 1.055 to 1.011 quite fast, I used 2 packs of Nottingham (rehydrated) for a 5.5g batch.
 
Mysticmead What would you use or had used to sub the crystal hop? I used liberty but I would like a good advice here

Thanks :tank:
 
I'm making this tomorrow. My LHBS does not carry Caraaroma so I am substituting Special B. Looking forward to tomorrow's brew day. :)
 
Mysticmead said:
crystal 120 or 130 would be a good substitution.. special B might be a little too dark (it's 180)
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The LHBS recommended Special B over Crystal and I had no real clue. The Special B the LHBS had was 130 so I was able to basically do a 1:1 substitution.
 
Last edited:
Getting my grains to brew this tomorrow! Going to age it for St Patrick's Day. Any recommendations?
 
I make this beer every 2 months and it is constantly on tap. So yes brew one to drink and another to age
 
Just brewed this today. The color and aroma are absolutely great! I had a couple minor mishaps:
1. My starting gravity ended up being low by about 8 points. This is only my second all grain batch, but the first ended up low by 10 points. I oversparged that one though.
2. I mistakenly opened up the Cascade packet of hops and added as the FWH and not the Crystal. I fortunately had some leftover Centennial hops that I used for the 30 minute addition.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the brew day. Now I just need to figure out what's up with my low efficiency.
 
Brewed this the day after Thanksgiving. (You can have your Black Friday, I'll take my Brew Friday, thank you very much...)

I think the LHBS only gave me a half-pound of Caraaroma (or the one they have has a MUCH lower SRM) -- my color was pretty pale going into the fermenter, and pretty pale coming out. Gravity sample tasted great, though. Kegged it up tonight -- just need to finish off one of my other beers to free up a tap...

Thanks for the recipe!
 
I got some feedback from a local brewer near me on this. I made an extract batch & steeped the other grains. She loved it, but said "it could finish nicer". I actually agree, as this is the first time I have experienced what I think is "extract twang" in a batch. The beer is really good all the way until the very finish, when it gets this slight hint of soury-weird "twang" (for lack of a better word) that kind of ruins everything that went on up front.

Suffice to say, I will rebrew this in 2016, and I am determined to go AG from my next batch on out. But first, BM's Centennial Blonde! Hopefully, before Christmas.
 
slym2none said:
The beer is really good all the way until the very finish, when it gets this slight hint of soury-weird "twang" (for lack of a better word) that kind of ruins everything that went on up front.
Click to expand...

I got this out of it too. I didn't peg it as "extract twang" but wouldn't disagree with that assessment. I had it pegged as "boozy." But more of a boozy twang. But I've also only drank my bottled portion, will tap the kegs later this week.

15 gallons made, bottled 5 gallons, kegged 10.
 
Just sampled one early as it has only been bottled one week. It is a nice looking and tasty beer! The color is a nice light red and the flavor came through really well. I'm looking forward to it maturing a bit over the coming weeks. Thanks for the great recipe!
 
My LBS had me substitute Simpsons DRC double roasted crystal for Caraaroma. Should this turn out fine???

Thanks
 
Brewing this up tomorrow; I can't resist anymore!

Got my grains crushed, all the equipment's out and ready to roll... Brew day starts at 8am. Will be taking photos along the way.
 
Bottleing this afternoon after 30 days in primary, FG is only 1.018. I think I could have used two packs of wyeast 1084 instead of one. Last this I brewed this, it went down to 1.012 with only one. Next time, I'll make a starter to increase the number of healthy cells.
 

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