Oaked Irish Red

I want to make a beer to give as a Christmas gift. I was considering a porter to appeal to some of my friends who don’t like Guinness-type stouts while still being worthy of a Christmas gift for the cold Canadian winters . That was until I had a oak aged beer from “Innis & Gunn” tonight. It is an Irish red ale aged in whiskey barrels. The scotch taste was a little too strong but I liked what I tasted!

This leads me to my recipe. It is basically what I think is a Irish red but with some oak flavour added. This is only my second partial mash and the first recipie I have ever designed so I would appreciate some feedback.

Beer: Irish Red Oak Style: English Pale Ale
Type: Partial Mash Size: 6 gallons Color: 13 SRM
Bitterness: 26 IBU
OG: 1.056 FG: 1.010
Alcohol: 5.9% v/v
Grain: 4.5 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. American crystal 20L
4 oz. American chocolate
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.083 4.0 gallons
4.5 lb. Light malt extract
.5 lb. Honey
Hops: 2 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (5% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 (pitched onto existing yeast cake)
Oak: 1 oz soaked in whiskey then boiled. Add the “tea” to secondary for ~4 days.

I was going to mash the grains in a 2 gallon cooler with 6 quarts water at 154^F and batch sparge two times with 5 quarts each time.

For the boil, should I add the DME late or would caramelization be desirable in this style? I used chocolate malt for the colour but would roasted barley be more suitable? I know 1056 isn’t the most exciting yeast but I was originally planning to use it for a porter. Is it up to the job for an red ale?

Ok! Enough questions. I would appreciate any feedback you could give me.

Thanks!
Paul

Looks good but I would sparge with at least 3 gallons of water to be sure you get most of the sugars. If your brew pot isn't big enough you could cut back the 2 row and increase the extract.

I saw at the store the other day that you can buy oak chips made from old Jack Daniels barrels. I thought that was kind of neat, I guess that would really give you an authenitic whisky-barrel aged beer. Just a thought

paul_beer said:

Oak: 1 oz soaked in whiskey then boiled. Add the “tea” to secondary for ~4 days.

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1 oz of new oak chips is quite a bit, but this is going to be a pretty sweet beer so it may be able to stand up to it. Don't boil the chips: steam them over the soaking whiskey for about 20 minutes to sanitize, then add the chips and the liquid. You can certainly leave them in there for longer than 4 days.

paul_beer said:

I want to make a beer to give as a Christmas gift. I was considering a porter to appeal to some of my friends who don’t like Guinness-type stouts while still being worthy of a Christmas gift for the cold Canadian winters . That was until I had a oak aged beer from “Innis & Gunn” tonight. It is an Irish red ale aged in whiskey barrels. The scotch taste was a little too strong but I liked what I tasted!

This leads me to my recipe. It is basically what I think is a Irish red but with some oak flavour added. This is only my second partial mash and the first recipie I have ever designed so I would appreciate some feedback.

Beer: Irish Red Oak Style: English Pale Ale
Type: Partial Mash Size: 6 gallons Color: 13 SRM
Bitterness: 26 IBU
OG: 1.056 FG: 1.010
Alcohol: 5.9% v/v
Grain: 4.5 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. American crystal 20L
4 oz. American chocolate
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.083 4.0 gallons
4.5 lb. Light malt extract
.5 lb. Honey
Hops: 2 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (5% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 (pitched onto existing yeast cake)
Oak: 1 oz soaked in whiskey then boiled. Add the “tea” to secondary for ~4 days.

I was going to mash the grains in a 2 gallon cooler with 6 quarts water at 154^F and batch sparge two times with 5 quarts each time.

For the boil, should I add the DME late or would caramelization be desirable in this style? I used chocolate malt for the colour but would roasted barley be more suitable? I know 1056 isn’t the most exciting yeast but I was originally planning to use it for a porter. Is it up to the job for an red ale?

Ok! Enough questions. I would appreciate any feedback you could give me.

Thanks!
Paul

Click to expand...

first, your "style" category should be Irish Red Ale (BJCP 9D) not English Pale Ale... this should give you a darker "acceptable" color in your recipe design software...up to about 18SRM should be good for and irish red.
second, i'd go with a quarter pound of roasted barley instead of the chocolate...it'll give you a better red color and a bit of added "roasted bitterness"
third, i'd go with the irish ale yeast (1084 or wlp004) at the low end of the suggested fermentation temp range to get a taste truer to irish red style.
fourth, i think an oaked irish red ale would be awesome...i might have to add that to my own queue....
good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I think my brew pot is large enough for four gallons. I think it is a 20 qt pot, hopefully that is enough. I might have to split the sparge into three batches do to the size of my cooler. That is ok as long as the SG doesn't get too low right?

I like the idea of the JD oak chips. Clay, were they in the grocery store? I think I remember you posting about that.

Would 1/2 oz oak chips and a longer time in the primary be a better choice, CW? I don't want the oak to be too bold.

I played with my recipe a little more and I think I will go with the roasted barley instead of the chocolate. The chocolate was only there for colour so if the roasted gives a better red colour I will go for that.

paul_beer said:

Would 1/2 oz oak chips and a longer time in the primary be a better choice, CW? I don't want the oak to be too bold.

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For a fairly subtle oak, I'd do 1/2 oz soaked chips in the secondary for 7-10 days. I did that on an IPA this spring and was quite pleased. You could up the oak if the beer is going to cellar for a while, because it does mellow over time.

paul_beer said:

I think my brew pot is large enough for four gallons. I think it is a 20 qt pot, hopefully that is enough. I might have to split the sparge into three batches do to the size of my cooler. That is ok as long as the SG doesn't get too low right?

Click to expand...

I would think you will be Ok doing a third sparge but maybe the batch sparge experts could chime in.

If you have ever heard of BBC they make a Bourbon barrel stout that may be the best beer I have ever hand. I live in Ky (hints the BBC, Bluegrass Brewing Co.) so Bourbon barrels are VERY easy to come by, I can get them as low as 50 bucks for a 53 gal. monster of a barrel. Not that I have any use at all for a barrel that size but it sure is nice to know its there. And as for those wood chips id say your going to be disipointed when you find them... the only Jack Daniels wood i have seen wasnt chips at all, it was little compressed pellets of shaven wood, id say that would be a hell of a problem come time to rack and god knows what they hold those shavings togeather with.

Well first.welcome to a fellow Canadian. Second, if you are giving this brew as a gift make sure it will be liked by the receiver. That is of course unless you plan on drinking it yourself if they don't like it.

boo boo, it is always good to see another Canadian on this board so hi back!

Instead of the JD pellets I think I will just use wine making oak chips, I know those will work. What is a good time period to let this beer cellar? I could make it later in the summer, I just wanted to give it time to reach it's potential.

I hope that this beer will be easy to like. I want to give it as a gift so that some of my friends will realize there is more to life than pee in a can. Should I just drop the oak for now and make a straightforward irish red? That doesn't sound like as much fun!

Nah... keep the oak, man. It comes out pretty interesting. I've always added oak to the primary, and just kind of boiled up the chips in a pint of water... used wine-making oak no trouble at all... seems to be about the right amount too. It all depends on how oaky you like your juice.