Irish Red Ale Raging Red Irish Red Ale

I brewed this about a year ago and it was a good beer but not as great as some of the reports on here. The only thing I did different was use Mt. Hood instead of Crystal but I really think I must have messed up in some other way as it was only my 4th batch. Now that I have more experience I'm going to give it another chance.

This was the one and only beer I used Caraaroma or Melanoiden for, maybe the flavour from one of these malts is just not my thing.

Another possibility is that I drank it all too quick - does this beer get much better with age?

Shenanigans said:

I brewed this about a year ago and it was a good beer but not as great as some of the reports on here. The only thing I did different was use Mt. Hood instead of Crystal but I really think I must have messed up in some other way as it was only my 4th batch. Now that I have more experience I'm going to give it another chance.

This was the one and only beer I used Caraaroma or Melanoiden for, maybe the flavour from one of these malts is just not my thing.

Another possibility is that I drank it all too quick - does this beer get much better with age?

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it does age well... so maybe giving it a little extra time will help.

Can't wait til after work to pour my 1st pint.

Shenanigans said:

I brewed this about a year ago and it was a good beer but not as great as some of the reports on here. The only thing I did different was use Mt. Hood instead of Crystal but I really think I must have messed up in some other way as it was only my 4th batch. Now that I have more experience I'm going to give it another chance.

This was the one and only beer I used Caraaroma or Melanoiden for, maybe the flavour from one of these malts is just not my thing.

Another possibility is that I drank it all too quick - does this beer get much better with age?

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Yes, Irish Reds do get better with age. 2-3 months is a good target to shoot for in my opinion. I like to brew batches of Irish Red in mid December so it'll be ready around St. Patrick's Day.

I leave out the honey all time, no issues at all

LandoLincoln said:

Yes, Irish Reds do get better with age. 2-3 months is a good target to shoot for in my opinion. I like to brew batches of Irish Red in mid December so it'll be ready around St. Patrick's Day.

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I believe I read in this thread that someone aged this beer for four months and it was really good. I brewed this about two months ago and I am bulk aging it for an up coming family event in about eight weeks, so I'll post an up date with a picture when I get there.


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This is my next batch, sans the honey. I'll post a review. Thanks for the recipe!

This is on my to do in Dec for St Pat's 2015.


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Toilet Rocker said:

This is my next batch, sans the honey. I'll post a review. Thanks for the recipe!

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I think the honey is the key to getting a really red beer with the OG that is typical for the style.

LandoLincoln said:

I think the honey is the key to getting a really red beer with the OG that is typical for the style.

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Good point. Perhaps a game time decision...

BTW, love the Lando

LandoLincoln said:

I think the honey is the key to getting a really red beer with the OG that is typical for the style.

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the caraaroma and melanoidin malts provide the color as well as malty aroma. Trust me.. I added the honey as a simple ABV boost; 1lb of honey won't add to the color and very little if any flavor. In fact, the boost in abv actually pushed it to the very upper edge of the BJCP guidelines. Leaving it out will make a slightly lower ABV version. Adding it gets about 1% higher ABV

caraaroma: Very dark caramel malt with aromatic properties. Adds deep red color and aroma.

melanoidin: Red colored malt that improved head retention and stability. Used in red lagers, ales, dark beers. Intense red color and malty aroma.

Mysticmead said:

the caraaroma and melanoidin malts provide the color as well as malty aroma. Trust me.. I added the honey as a simple ABV boost; 1lb of honey won't add to the color and very little if any flavor. In fact, the boost in abv actually pushed it to the very upper edge of the BJCP guidelines. Leaving it out will make a slightly lower ABV version. Adding it gets about 1% higher ABV

caraaroma: Very dark caramel malt with aromatic properties. Adds deep red color and aroma.

melanoidin: Red colored malt that improved head retention and stability. Used in red lagers, ales, dark beers. Intense red color and malty aroma.

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What I'm saying is, if you drop the honey but still want to keep the OG of the original recipe, you're going to have to add more base malt, and if you do that, you're going to dilute the deep redness. It'll still probably be red, but more of a brownish red.

I would be comfortable falling a few points below the SG that mystic hit due to omission of honey. I think I can approach a similar color as well, not necessarily a match.

Just brewed this on Saturday, 11gallons. Differences: Nottingham, by mistake added the honey at the beginning of the boil and 2oz of Hallertaurer at 60m and 1.5oz of Willamette at 30m. Gravity was a little off, but we will see how it turns out.

So this summer I have decided to re-try two recipes that I had made in the past but messed them up so bad that they had to be dumped, this recipe was one. Originally I let the mashed wort sit overnight and cool off before I boiled it the next day. This caused something very bad to happen and the aroma on that batch was so bad that it made me gag and I had to eventually dump it because I just couldn't get past the smell.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. This time big difference. My processes have improved over the years and I have eliminated stupid mistakes. The wort smelled wonderful. I only added 1/2 pound of honey since that is all I had on hand and I used rehydrated US-05. This morning I checked and the yeast are still chewing away.

I am positive that this is going to turn out great this time around.

Doed said:

So this summer I have decided to re-try two recipes that I had made in the past but messed them up so bad that they had to be dumped, this recipe was one. Originally I let the mashed wort sit overnight and cool off before I boiled it the next day. This caused something very bad to happen and the aroma on that batch was so bad that it made me gag and I had to eventually dump it because I just couldn't get past the smell.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. This time big difference. My processes have improved over the years and I have eliminated stupid mistakes. The wort smelled wonderful. I only added 1/2 pound of honey since that is all I had on hand and I used rehydrated US-05. This morning I checked and the yeast are still chewing away.

I am positive that this is going to turn out great this time around.

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glad ya gave this another shot. you won't be disappointed

jmac93 said:

Just brewed this on Saturday, 11gallons. Differences: Nottingham, by mistake added the honey at the beginning of the boil and 2oz of Hallertaurer at 60m and 1.5oz of Willamette at 30m. Gravity was a little off, but we will see how it turns out.

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you'll still make a great beer. this recipe is very forgiving. Notty is a good alternative yeast. Not as clean as US-05 or WLP-001 but still a good choice. adding the honey at the beginning of boil isn't a big deal and the hops are fine too.

Question, I have 55 lbs of munich II. What difference in this recipe will it make if I substitue munich II for the base male?

Thanks in advance.

I also dont have white labs, what is the equivalent wyeast?

iglehart said:

Question, I have 55 lbs of munich II. What difference in this recipe will it make if I substitue munich II for the base male?

Thanks in advance.

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it would be a completely different beer and not even close to an Irish red. Although a 100% Munich does make a great red lager as well as an american amber of hopped aggressively

iglehart said:

I also dont have white labs, what is the equivalent wyeast?

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what ever their California ale (west coast ale) yeast is.

Brewed this tonight, but substituted a few thing. I will post the modifications later on as I am very tired. Thanks MysticMead, it smelled and tasted great. Can't wait the 3 weeks or so to try the real thing.

So here was my Irish red modified, not sure its really an Irish red, but its red and malty. Smelled great.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Boil Size: 3.75 gal
Real OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 29.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.92 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Yeast: US-05
Final Gravity: 1.016 Estimated, not done yet.
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 Estimated
FG ?

Ingredients:
————
Amount Item
6.00 lb Munich II German (11 SRM)
1.00 lb Caraaroma (175.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (35.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Kent Goldings [7.20 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop)
0.50 oz Kent Goldings [7.20 %] (20 min)
1 Safale US-05

Mash
9 Quarts water 8 Lbs of grain
10 min @ 152
Add 2.25 Quarts water
80 min @ 158, dropped to 152 in 80 minutes.

Sparge
2 Gallons @ 175

Boil 60 minutes
0.50 Kent at 60 min
0.50 Kent at 20 min
1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Cooled with immersion chiller
10 minutes from 212 to 112
30 minutes from 212 to 82

Pitched Safale 11.5 US-05

Fermentation Temp of freezer is 57-63 with controller.
Planning on 14-21 days, then kegging.

Will be brewing a 10 gallon batch of this on Saturday. It was delicious and even a hit with SWMBO! Easy drinking but ABV high enough that you have to watch out... It will slip up on you!

Beep

Mysticmead said:

what ever their California ale (west coast ale) yeast is.

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Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast

I have this in primary for a week now and the bubbles have slowed down considerably shall I rack off into secondary or leave it two weeks in the primary then rack off into secondary?



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Put it into secondary after bubbling has stopped. Wouldn't wait 2 weeks on it, at most 10 days but preferably 7.

zamo27 said:

I have this in primary for a week now and the bubbles have slowed down considerably shall I rack off into secondary or leave it two weeks in the primary then rack off into secondary?



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personally, I leave it 4 weeks in primary and keg it.

Thank you for your replay
I plan on botteling this so will I still leave it 4 weeks and so secondary?


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Ultimately it will depend on the yeast strain you used. Some strains will add some undesired flavors when in the primary for extended periods of time. To this end I find its usua''y a good idea to rack to secondary when fermentation slows and let what sugars remain be fermented there. Once yeasts have low sugar levels present all cellular metabolism will change and favor growth in conditions left in the bucket so transferring to a new vessel will, IMOP, limit new growth and keep off flavors to a minimum. Totally possible that your brew will last 4 weeks in primary and still taste awesome to you however.

zamo27 said:

I have this in primary for a week now and the bubbles have slowed down considerably shall I rack off into secondary or leave it two weeks in the primary then rack off into secondary?

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Just remember that visible bubbles don't indicate that fermentation has begun or stopped. You need to take a gravity reading to make sure. I have left beer on the yeast in primary for over a month with no issues, lots of brewers do this.

zamo27 said:

Thank you for your replay
I plan on botteling this so will I still leave it 4 weeks and so secondary?


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4 weeks then bottle

I brewed this on Satuday following Mystic's recipe, but omitted the honey. Hit a SG of 1.057, which was higher than expected. The color is a gorgeous red. Crushing the melanoidin and caraaroma was a real treat. Both smell incredible. It's chugging along now and I can't wait to get this kegged. Thanks for posting the recipe. I'll share photos/tasting notes when I crack the tap open in a few weeks.

It's absolutely fantastic mate.. I had it in the pub and lads preferred it over smythwicks
Well done mystic this is an awesome recipe
I'll be keeping an eye to recipe postings by you😀


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I just brewed this four weeks ago and will be bottling it this week. Smells great in the fermentor. I wasn't paying attention and added an extra 1/4 lb of honey to the boil so my OG hit 1.062.

Toilet Rocker said:

I brewed this on Satuday following Mystic's recipe, but omitted the honey. Hit a SG of 1.057, which was higher than expected. The color is a gorgeous red. Crushing the melanoidin and caraaroma was a real treat. Both smell incredible. It's chugging along now and I can't wait to get this kegged. Thanks for posting the recipe. I'll share photos/tasting notes when I crack the tap open in a few weeks.

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you're gonna love this even more once you get it carbed and ready to serve. make sure you take some pics to post. we all love beer porn!

zamo27 said:

It's absolutely fantastic mate.. I had it in the pub and lads preferred it over smythwicks
Well done mystic this is an awesome recipe
I'll be keeping an eye to recipe postings by you😀


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now THAT is what I love to hear. glad you like the recipe. if you like stouts check out my Dwarven Warrior Oatmeal Stout.

DAJDive said:

I just brewed this four weeks ago and will be bottling it this week. Smells great in the fermentor. I wasn't paying attention and added an extra 1/4 lb of honey to the boil so my OG hit 1.062.

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a little extra honey means a little extra to the ABV... nothing wrong with that

I took a gravity reading yesterday, 15 days after brewing; it's dropped from 1.057 to 1.010. The color is gorgeous and the taste is nice and malty, with solid bready/biscuity flavors. I can't wait to keg and tap this bad boy. Have you ever packaged it in under a month? Thanks again, Mystic.