Irish Red ain't red.

Let me start off by saying, this beer tastes great! Can u see why it doesn't have a red hue to it?

2 Row. 13lbs
Flaked Corn 1lb
Crystal 10. 0.5 lb
Roasted Barley. 2.6 oz.

Challenger Hops. 1oz

Irish Ale yeast

All #'s came out spot on, just doesn't look like an Irish Red.

Thanks

Ummmm.....wrong forum, perhaps???

I think you need more crystal and a bit more roasted. Take out the C10. Instead go with 6 oz. each of C40 & C120 and up the RB to 4 oz. I'm not sure flaked corn belongs in the style, but if you like it, that's all that matters. I also prefer Maris Otter as the base, but that's just my personal preference.

Alternatively, you can keep your recipe as is and add a little chocolate and/or debittered black to darken it.

fuelish said:

Ummmm.....wrong forum, perhaps???

Click to expand...

And, yeah, that too.

if i remember correctly.. i used ~1/2lb (or so) of Melonoiden. (5 gal batch)

There's no corn in an Irish Red. Use a darker crystal, maybe 120 and a little more roasted barley.

maybe add a little munich too.

Irish red is what I consider to be a "tough style." There are only a couple of historical examples, and they're both basically pale ale malt, adjunct and a tiny bit of roasted barley.

I consider corn to be an appropriate ingredient. Smithwick's is the classic example of the style and uses straight brewer's corn syrup for 20% of the grist.

To get the appropriate color from a small amount of roasted barley, I recommend using a coffee grinder to make it into a powder. Works every time.

More Info:
http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000028.html

The last red I did called for a 90 minute boil (which I didn't notice until after I'd chilled it) which I believe was to caramelize the sugars and help with the red hue.

I was just thinking more about Irish Reds. You know what I think would be a cool trick? Try just a tiny bit of a whole bunch of varieties of roasted grains. Equal portions of enough to get it to like 18 SRM. My thought process is that the simplicity of the English or Irish base malt will be complimented by the complexity of the roasted flavors.

So, if you're using, say, 6 ounces of roasted malt, use 6 different varieties at 1 ounce each. Again, grind those things to a powder.

I think I'm going to try that.