Crimson Ale / Smithwicksish

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MVKTR2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
1,404
Reaction score
138
Location
Columbia
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Safale S-04
Yeast Starter
1 Qt of yeast cake/slurry
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.042
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
68
IBU
20
Color
18
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
3 weeks
Tasting Notes
Quaffable easy drinking very light roast character, well balanced, clean.
This is my 'Crimson Ale' brewed up for the 2008 College FB season by this Bama fan. It's based on Jamil Zainasheff's IRA recipe, but different enough to call my own!

Recipe:
7# Marris Otter
.5# Carapils
.375# Caramel 60
.25# Caramel 120
.25# British Roasted Barley
1.08 oz. Kent Golding 4.8 AAU - 60 Mins
1 tsp Irish Moss @ 15-20 mins till flameout

Mash 1.3 U.S. Qts of water per pound of grain @ 154 degrees f.
Sparge with close to 2 U.S. Qts of water per pound of grain @ 178 degrees f.
Safale S-04 yeast pitched onto approximately 1 Qt. of slurry
Ferment at 60-65 degrees f. Ferment cool to keep the esters down!

SG 1.042 estimated FG 1.012 estimated abv 4.1%
IBUs 20 SRM 18
Brewhouse eff. 71%
I forget the Carb level, but carb on the low end. I used approximately 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons.

Tasting notes:
Did a side by side with Smithwicks. My bier is darker by about 5 SRM, has a bit more roasted barley character, and bigger caramel and toffee notes. Notice this isn't a clone of Smithwicks it's similar but with bigger flavor, lower in alc., and has a bit more roasted character. Very clean finishing with balanced bittering. The intent here is for a quaffer to drink during CFB games, something that'll go with my usual fair of spicy pub style foods. A flavorful versatile quaffer was the goal, goal achieved!

If ya brew it, let me know how it turns out.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
Here's a side by side, my head retention while not stellar is better than this pic shows. Also note the color is a little lighter than the side by side indicates, see the 2nd image.

IRAvsSmithwick1.jpg

Side by side with Smithwicks on the right.
IRA.jpg

IRA sample alone.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
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