My Irish Red is more "well kinda it has a red hue" than red

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SkinnyShamrock

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Ok, so I made a hybrid APA/Irish Red, here's my recipe:

-5 gallon batch, 2 gallon boil
-Steeped 8 oz. Crystal 80 and 2 oz. roasted barley for ~30 minutes while water heated, removed once temp. went over 160*
-Added 2 lbs. light DME, boiled, added .5 oz Centennial
-At 15 minutes left, added 1 lb. light DME, 2 lbs. amber DME, and tsp. Irish moss
-At 10 minutes left, added .25 oz Centennial
-Chilled, added water to make 5 gallons, pitched WLP004 Irish Ale yeast

About the steeping grains: I had asked the guy at the LHBS about making a red ale, and he said that's what he had used when he did one last year. When I steeped them, the wort did have a beautiful dark red color, but it went away, especially when I added the water in the fermenter. My guess is I watered it down too much. Should I have used more steeping grains?

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The gravity sample tasted awesome, so one hand, who cares what it looks like, it tastes great!
 
What you described is EXACTLY what I would recommend for making a red ale. To the "T". It will probably come out really good.

You will NOT get something that looks like Killians unless you use food dye, because that's how THEY do it... Cheaters! :p
 
If it doesn't come out the way you want it, throw a small amount of melanoidin malt in next time. A touch can bring up a nice red color.

Given your recipe, the C80 and the roast should do a good job at getting you what you're looking for. I'd probably trust the recipe.
 
RDWHAHB - I love it. Coming from my "vast" experience of 3 batches, I have already learned that motto. I thought I messed up each batch and I would be left with 5 gallons of garbage. Guess what happened? Everything turned out well. I learned some mistakes and how to prevent them, and still got to enjoy good tasting beer.

Good luck with your Irish Red hybrid.
 
Yeah, like the others have said, a legit red isn't so much red as amber or brown with red highlights. I think yours will come out just fine.

Do you shop at Keystone, by chance?
 
I shop at Keystone and have them ship up to CT. Better prices and selection than a lot of local guys. Two thumbs up for those guys ...
 
RDWHAHB - I love it. Coming from my "vast" experience of 3 batches, I have already learned that motto. I thought I messed up each batch and I would be left with 5 gallons of garbage. Guess what happened? Everything turned out well. I learned some mistakes and how to prevent them, and still got to enjoy good tasting beer.

Good luck with your Irish Red hybrid.

That's the wonderful thing about beer. So long as you give it a bit of love and nudge it on its way, most of the time it will take care of itself just fine...
 
Yeah, like the others have said, a legit red isn't so much red as amber or brown with red highlights. I think yours will come out just fine.

Do you shop at Keystone, by chance?

I do, either there or Wine, Barley, and Hops Homebrew Supply in Feasterville. I like both places. Keystone is a bit more established, and they always have like six guys running around that can answer questions, but the one in Feasterville is a bit more spacious, both have about the same selection of stuff.

Keystone was hiring, I put in an application, but it was apparently for the Christmas rush only...I should still nag them about hiring me anyway ;)

Thanks for all the suggestions about the Irish Red. Gravity was 1.018 yesterday, so another week or so and it should be ready to bottle!
 
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