Brew to celebrate graduation - Red Ale

[RichBrewer]

I will finally be done with school in a week and a half!
To celebrate I'm going to brew a beer. I'm craving a nice malty, balanced beer so I'm going to try an Irish Red ale. I've looked at the style guidelines and I have worked up a preliminary recipe for 3 gallons. I use grams for the hops because it is easier to measure out on my small scale. 14 grams is approximately 1/2 oz. and 9 grams is almost 1/3 oz.
Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[JimRausch]

Just compared your recipe with my latest(which turned out great). Numbers are very comparable. Basically the only difference is my SRM was 16 which did give her a beautiful red color. My grain bill % was very close to yours, but I added a couple oz. of carared, a couple oz. biscuit malt, and a little chocolate malt.
I think yours will be quite enjoyable!

 

[RichBrewer]

Just compared your recipe with my latest(which turned out great). Numbers are very comparable. Basically the only difference is my SRM was 16 which did give her a beautiful red color. My grain bill % was very close to yours, but I added a couple oz. of carared, a couple oz. biscuit malt, and a little chocolate malt.
I think yours will be quite enjoyable!

I may have to give the carared a try if I can find it. In researching it I have seen opinions all over the board. I've read that you need 1/2lb to get the red color, it doesn't impart red color just makes the beer browner, and that it imparts a beautiful red color. If I try it I will only use about 2 oz. so I'm not sure if it will do much at all. The roasted barley should do a fair job anyway. I am more interested in the taste rather than the color but having a nice red beer would be fun too!
Thanks for the reply!

 

[RichBrewer]

OK. My LHBS had Carared so I've included it in the recipe. I modified it just a bit and here is what I'm going to brew:

 

[RichBrewer]

This brewing session went quite smoothly and was enjoyable. I did have some problems with final volume and gravity. I came up 24 ounces short of three gallons and I overshot the FG by 4 points (1.062) even after topping up to three gallons.
I know the problem is my understanding of BeerSmith. I used Pro Mash for many years and knew how it worked. I was able to hit my numbers fairly consistently. Once I could no longer use Promash, I purchased BeerSmith and for some reason it is harder for me to figure out. Now that I have more time on my hands, I will take thorough notes during each session and adjust my equipment settings and see if I can get the program dialed in for my system.
This beer is going to me good, just not exactly what I had planned for.

Even with the minor glitches, I made beer and it was fun!

 

[RichBrewer]

This finished at 1.015 and is about 6% ABV. It is extremely drinkable but is low in bitterness. The next version will have a bit more hops. All-in-all I'm very happy with this beer and enjoying every sip. Oh and it will make ya tipsy in a hurry if you aren't careful!

 

[JimRausch]

Beautiful color! Glad it turned out well.