CTB Bloo Balz Spring Irish Ale

I loosely based this on a more American style red that I brew occasionally. I used Northern Brewer's Maris Otter LME as the base. Their extract is 100% Maris Otter malt, so this can easily be converted to a PM or all-grain.

I used Golden Naked Oats to give it a smoothness similar to Kilkenny (if you ever visit Ireland, you MUST try that beer). I fermented with a blend: one packet of S-04, and one packet of US-05. This wasn't done intentionally. I initially used just S-04, but it got stuck at around 1.020. I then added the US-05 to finish it.

I kegged this after 5 weeks. On the sixth week, I tried it. It was OK, but nothing special. A week later it was much better. By eight weeks it was awesome. The S-04 gave off a little bit of that ester profile that Whitbread yeast is known for, while the US-05 dried it out nicely. It's very drinkable. Malty, but you get a taste of the EKG hops.

Anyway here it is:

CTB Bloo Balz Spring Irish Ale

Fermentables
6 lbs NB Maris Otter LME (add half at start of boil, half at flameout)
6 oz Crystal 80L
4 oz Golden Naked Oats
3 oz Special B
1.5 oz Roasted Barley

Hops
1 oz EKG (5 AAU) @ 60 min
1 oz EKG (5 AAU) @ 5 min

Yeast
1 packet S-04, 1 packet US-05

Interesting do you think it would be dramatically different if your yeast blend were both added at the start of fermentation? Did the oats provide you the smooth mouthfeel you desired?

buzzerj said:

Interesting do you think it would be dramatically different if your yeast blend were both added at the start of fermentation? Did the oats provide you the smooth mouthfeel you desired?

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The oats did add some body to the beer, and gave it a little bit of a silkier mouthfeel. I'd be interested to try this without the oats just to compare it.

The yeast blend was not intentional. I initially used S-04, and ended up with a stuck fermentation. At that point the only yeast that I had on hand was US-05, so I pitched it to get the final gravity down. For this style US-05 would probably have been the better choice all along, but the little bit of esters that S-04 gave off wasn't bad at all.

The next time I brew this I might go for an Irish Ale yeast.

I traditionally use the Wyeast 1084 for my Irish Reds.

buzzerj said:

I traditionally use the Wyeast 1084 for my Irish Reds.

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Yeah I probably will try that one next time I brew this.