Help brewing a RED Ale

[CaptainCookie]

Hi everyone, from long time ago I'm fond of Red Ales, So I decided to brew my very one, but I wish to get this kind of RED in my brew, any suggestions for getting it?

My grain bill is

Pale Ale Malt: 4.4 lbs
CaraAmber: 1.1 lbs
For the color Im' thinking in roasted barley, but no idea of how much, also I saw people coloring just with high °L crystal malts, any idea will be great
for a batch of 1.85 gal

 

[Lefou]

How about this? Up the batch size to 2 gallons, done with Brewer's Friend.
4lb pale ale
.25lb Crystal 40 (Carapils OK, but lightens the color)
**** 2oz Roast barley**** (At 3%, it's less than 5% of your grains at this level)
WLP001 yeast, one ounce Cascade hops .... at 6.5AAU.
Half ounce Cascade for 25min, remaining half ounce added with 5 mins left in the boil.
Mash 150F-155F.

***Use one-half of a Whirlfloc tab on the boil 5-15 minutes before removing the heat. It will help clarify your wort.***

SG= 1.055
FG= 1.013 or below
SRM= 15
IBU= 26.5
ABV= 5.5%
Diastatic = 110 BU/GU= .49

https://learn.kegerator.com/american-amber-ale/

BJCP "amber ale" (American red) describes a medium-high to high maltiness with medium to low caramel character. This recipe hits the mid-range of the style and with a longer mash could yield a drier beer.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

I'm working on the same thing. Been researching for a while and am comparing many friends and online recipes... Here's some of my findings...

Caraaroma is similar to crystal 130 but more of a real red. Go 8% to 10%. It is also maltier and more body.

Caraamber is more brownish than redish.

Carafoam (same as Carapils) is good for mouthfeel and head retention. 5 ish percent.

Roasted barley (and similar things). Use the right amount, you are fine. One grain not enough and you wasted your time. One grain too much and its brown burnt coffee. 2 to 3 oz per 5 gallon batch max. Less if using other reddish malts.

Melanoiden is not always true to style but will add maltiness, more rounded flavors and help reds be more red. Around 20 SRM. Use maybe 5%.

Many prefer a Maris or Vienna malt over generic 2 row, although all are well liked. I'm toying with 50/50.

Special B: A few options. Chateau seams to be the most "red". Really an odd/different kind of malt. I find it really tasty.

Hops: Go easy. Something smooth, earthy or maybe a little floral. Stay away from the harsh bite. < 20 IBU

Yeast: Something like a WLP001 (higher flocculating, can ferment wet newspaper if you ask it too) or Wyeast 1084 (medium flocculation but more complex, more authentic flavors and slightly less tolerant of higher temps)

Mashing: Most commonly >= 153F, 60 to 90 minutes.

Most importantly: Everyone's tastes are different. Read between the lines a little.


Hope this helps a little. Keep on brewin!

 

[thehaze]

I gave up using roasted malt for red colour some time ago. I use a combination of crystal malts. Usually a medium crystal with a very dark one. Something like Special B/ CaraAroma and Crystal 90 L ( english ). CaraRed also adds a beautiful red shine to the beer, but you need to add it in a fair amount.

If you still want to use some toasted / roasted malt, I would go with Weyermann Chocolate Spelt/Chocolate Rye/CaraWheat or CaraRye.

Base malt, take your pick, but I like to mix Pale/Pilsner malt with Munich I ( light ).

IBUs should probably not be more than 40-50, depending on ABV and the amount of hops used. A red / amber ale should be malty and chewy and get less emphasis on the hops, and more on the balance between great malts mixed together , smooth bittering and citrusy/flowery notes from the hops.

 

[CaptainCookie]

Sweet thanks guys for all the feedback, gonna report later on my results. Something I always think as a pain in the ass is the distinctions over the crystals malts, I'm from Perú, so in here all the locals homebrewer stores sell just German malt, so is impossible to get the typical "Crystal L" malts, we just get here by brand name, e.x. caramunich I - III, carahell, cara aromatic. So if I want to work with a Crystal 40L, I just look at the "L" range of the brand name equivalent malt and use it?

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Kinda sorta almost a 40L could be a brown L or a reddish L or an orange ish L. It may have a different body or flavor than other malts that are the same SRM range. Google is your friend as is the suppliers websites for descriptions of their "cara<whatevers>". Ask your supplier what brand it is then check the descriptions on their website. Or email them.

 

[thehaze]

German malts should have both low and high Lovibond malts. Something like CaraMunich I, II, III, CaraAroma, CaraAmber, CaraWheat, etc.

 

[Lefou]

German malts should have both low and high Lovibond malts. Something like CaraMunich I, II, III, CaraAroma, CaraAmber, CaraWheat, etc.

CaraMunich I or CaraMunich II would be a fine substitute for Crystal40L. Lovibond rating is 31-38 for CaraMunich I and Lovibond 42-49 for CaraMunich II.
CaraRed is 16L-23L
This from BSG website.
https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craftbrewing-malt-weyermann-caramel-line

 

[jessup]

RedX. It is cheating but I SUCK at red beers. Theyre always brown or orange. Dont waste your words on my i am helpless

 

[Lefou]

RedX. It is cheating but I SUCK at red beers. They're always brown or orange. Don't waste your words on my i am helpless

Cheer up! There's always the next brew.
Maybe a small change in your method might make a difference. I made an extremely dry beer by making a couple of changes. Figured out why because I wrote down everything on brew day.

I was going to brew a late summer saison, but changed my mind because of this thread. Going from low SRM ales to an amber might be fun, even if it gets eff'ed it up ... but first, I have to get some Victory malt. The stuff I bought yesterday was old. Before all the weevils could get microwaved, the "helpful" wife charred a goodly portion roasting malt on the stovetop - then mixed the lot back in.

Now I have three pounds of roasted bird seed. The sparrows should be happy.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

RedX. It is cheating but I SUCK at red beers. Theyre always brown or orange. Dont waste your words on my i am helpless

Stop over thinking it and try this.

7 1/2 to 8 pounds of base malt (I prefer maris otter), a pound of CaraAroma, and a half pound of Melanoiden, will give you a wonderful yummy and really red beer. Toss in a half pound of carafoam (or carapils or dextrin, they are all basically the same thing) for some head retention and body. Hop it nice and mild to about 16 ibu's (unless you are one of those hop-heads that need every beer to taste like 49 ibu turpentine to be happy). Willamette and Crystal is nice, so is Saaz (kinda floral and mild). 1084 yeast or something similar. Mash it at about 152 or 153. Done!

This will come in at about 1.054 OG, finish around 1.013, maybe 5.3% ABV, and 15-ish SRM.

Log what you did and study the results before changing anything. If you love it, you'll want notes to repeat it. If something is not quite right, post up your notes and we'll help you slightly change it.

 

[CaptainCookie]

Hey guys, I've been reading that red ales should have a strong caramel flavor as principal characteristic, any ideas how to get it? also, there's a difference between malty and caramel flavor? which is better for a red beer?

 

[Lefou]

I usually get my inspiration from BJCP and kegerator.com for styling and yeast choices.
More experienced brewers sometimes post their base recipes and opinions, so it's fun to modify a few things based on their choices.
https://learn.kegerator.com/american-amber-ale/

You want the essence of malt? Use a slightly modified, less diastatic barley like Munich or Maris Otter. There are others, too, depending on your tastes.
Caramel flavor? Crystal malts 40L, 60L, 80L or their equivalent special grains will do.
https://www.brew.is/files/malt.html

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Hey guys, I've been reading that red ales should have a strong caramel flavor as principal characteristic, any ideas how to get it? also, there's a difference between malty and caramel flavor? which is better for a red beer?

There is a definite difference between caramel and malty. Read back through this thread. Also find the omnipotent and everlasting thread on "raging red ale" (or just google it). Stay away from any recipe that calls for darker roasted/black/patent/et. al. Those are high risk and can accidently lead to something that tastes like burnt starbucks.

I've done the raging red with maris otter (as well as a few other modifications of that recipe, victory, munich, yada yada). The red glows, and the malty and caramel both punch through wonderfully.

I'm rapidly becoming a fan of "Special B" but it has to be used in very very small portions in a red (<= 4oz for a 5 gal batch). Doesn't do a damn thing for red, but its taste is really interesting and nice. Kinda biscuit-nutty-bready-unique. Hard to explain.

Try hard to not over hop a red, it's NOT an IPA or high hopped anything. Think mild. < 20 ibu (I find about 16 or 17 with Willamette or Saaz works well). Balance it and let everything shine through.

Don't be afraid to mash at 153 or 154. It IS ok to not finish at 1.008 for some beers And take a check of your water profile for "balanced" or "on the malty side". Dry, bitter, hoppy side mashing and water can start to hide your maltiness and sweetness.

But as always, remember that peoples tastes are all different and unique. Results and opinions may vary.

 

[jessup]

Caramel is most likely originating the flavors from an innocuous base malt like pale/pils and adding cara/frystal malts.

Malty will be from the base malt itself. Think munich or any basic oktoberfest/marzen or bock recipe.

Melanoidon might be an exception that it is a character grain that adds maltiness.

 

[CaptainCookie]

There is a definite difference between caramel and malty. Read back through this thread. Also find the omnipotent and everlasting thread on "raging red ale" (or just google it). Stay away from any recipe that calls for darker roasted/black/patent/et. al. Those are high risk and can accidently lead to something that tastes like burnt starbucks.

I've done the raging red with maris otter (as well as a few other modifications of that recipe, victory, munich, yada yada). The red glows, and the malty and caramel both punch through wonderfully.

I'm rapidly becoming a fan of "Special B" but it has to be used in very very small portions in a red (<= 4oz for a 5 gal batch). Doesn't do a damn thing for red, but its taste is really interesting and nice. Kinda biscuit-nutty-bready-unique. Hard to explain.

Try hard to not over hop a red, it's NOT an IPA or high hopped anything. Think mild. < 20 ibu (I find about 16 or 17 with Willamette or Saaz works well). Balance it and let everything shine through.

Don't be afraid to mash at 153 or 154. It IS ok to not finish at 1.008 for some beers And take a check of your water profile for "balanced" or "on the malty side". Dry, bitter, hoppy side mashing and water can start to hide your maltiness and sweetness.

But as always, remember that peoples tastes are all different and unique. Results and opinions may vary.

talking about this post, right?

unfortunately, there isn't any WLP yeast here in Perú, just "Fermentis" brand, I'm using so far the Safale US-05 fermentis yeast, before that was using the safbrew T-58, but didn't like the peppery aroma that gives to the beer, any thoughts about theses yeast?

I've heard that the lower colored caramel malts are more "sweet", the lowest °L caramel we got here is the carapils, so this one gonna give more caramel flavor to the beer, or just I' getting it all wrong?

 

[Lefou]

If you have German malts in Peru the Caramunich version might be a good alternative. My local shops have US domestic, German, Belgian, and UK malts available so the selections are more numerous.
US crystal malts contribute a perception of sweetness and the color can vary. Carapils is a lightly toasted grain that would contribute more taste than color in an amber ale.

 

[dstockwell]

Will be trying a red this w/e using 12% CaraRed, 5% Melanoidin, and 1% Black barley (cold steeped overnight).

 

[Eucrid]

Roasted barley (and similar things). Use the right amount, you are fine. One grain not enough and you wasted your time. One grain too much and its brown burnt coffee. 2 to 3 oz per 5 gallon batch max. Less if using other reddish malts.

I completely disagree with that. I've used roast barely in reds loads of times ranging from 5-10% and I always get red of different depths. Maybe its because I'm in Ireland and use British roast barley as opposed to US? Anyway I like roast barely in a red, towards 10% adds a little copperish finish but never burnt or coffee.

I think one of the main issues in getting a nice red vs a brown hue is clarity. Any sort of haze issues can make a beer look muddy when you are going for a red. Get those finings in there.