Hoppy Red Ale

[cletus1]

I am making my first extract batch that is not from a kit. I am attempting a hoppy red ale 3 gallon batch. I found the below recipe:

3 pounds Light liquid malt extract
.5 pound CaraRed malt, crushed
1/4 pound Crystal 60L malt, crushed
1 ounces Black Roasted Barley malt, crushed
.5 ounce Centennial Hops—60 minutes
.5 ounce Centennial Hops—15 minutes
.5 ounce Amarillo Hops—5 minutes
.5 ounce Amarillo Hops—for dry hopping in secondary

The only yeast I have is an 11.5 gram packet of safale US-05. How much yeast do I need to use for this size batch?

Also, I would like to be pretty hoppy, but not over the top. Should I up the hops on this?

Thanks

 

[rodwha]

I've read how others have used the whole packet of yeast in smaller brews without issues. You could also split it in half and slightly under pitch too.

There's a diagram showing hop utilization time periods. For flavoring it appears that ~21 mins is the peak, and for the aroma addition ~7 mins is the peak.

Is this to be something like a red IPA? Maybe something along the lines of S/N Flipside?

 

[YeastMode]

Man, that Flipside is awesome. I have been trying to make something similar. On the bottle, they say they use Simcoe, Centennial and Citra to get the flavor. I plan on using a combination of those hops in my next red IPA.

Jut a thought.

 

[rodwha]

It is very good! Drank a few last night.

I've been thinking of other IPA styles to brew. I've only made the typical and a Cascadian Dark so far, but have created recipes for a wheat, amber, and brown.

 

[chickypad]

That's a pretty low gravity beer, probably around 1.040 max, is that what you are aiming for? If so I think the hops are fine. Or you could bump up both the gravity and hops. A half packet would be enough for that recipe but I usually just round up to a whole packet on my small batches. You probably can skip the rehydrating though if you usually do that.

 

[doug293cz]

I am making my first extract batch that is not from a kit. I am attempting a hoppy red ale 3 gallon batch. I found the below recipe:

3 pounds Light liquid malt extract
.5 pound CaraRed malt, crushed
1/4 pound Crystal 60L malt, crushed
1 ounces Black Roasted Barley malt, crushed
.5 ounce Centennial Hops—60 minutes
.5 ounce Centennial Hops—15 minutes
.5 ounce Amarillo Hops—5 minutes
.5 ounce Amarillo Hops—for dry hopping in secondary

The only yeast I have is an 11.5 gram packet of safale US-05. How much yeast do I need to use for this size batch?

Also, I would like to be pretty hoppy, but not over the top. Should I up the hops on this?

Thanks

Looks like the recipe for the second beer I ever brewed (earlier this year.) It was also my first non-kit brew. I really like it. I converted the recipe to all grain, and it has become one of my house brews. I really like the amarillo hops. I'm sure you'll be pleased with this recipe.

I've tasted it side by side with SN's Flipside. They are similar, but not quite the same. Both are good.

Brew on

 

[cletus1]

That's a pretty low gravity beer, probably around 1.040 max, is that what you are aiming for? If so I think the hops are fine. Or you could bump up both the gravity and hops. A half packet would be enough for that recipe but I usually just round up to a whole packet on my small batches. You probably can skip the rehydrating though if you usually do that.

Thanks everyone....So, if I want to up the ABV to around 6.5-7%, do I just need to add more malt extract? If so, how much?

Thanks

 

[rodwha]

You'll need a brew calculator. There are a few free ones. I use Brewtoad, but at times it seems the numbers are slightly off. It's not a super big deal to me, though I do like to know my numbers, but it's fairly simple and I'm used to it. But the numbers are close if not spot on.

There's also this one:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

If you need help understanding something just ask.

And you would add more malt or some form of sugar to increase the ABV to what you'd like. It will also reduce your IBU's a little bit. If that's important to you than you'll need to adjust that too either by increasing the weight or time. But IBU numbers don't tell the full tale.

Here's the hop utilization diagram:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lIFNmxZDY0w/TAhsg6J2N4I/AAAAAAAABR8/JTJHcgP0wBE/s1600/hop_utilization.jpg

 

[cletus1]

Thanks - That's really helpful.

I upped the recipe adding 1 lb of light DMe
Upped cara red from .5 to .75 lbs
Upped centennial from .5 to .75 OZ at 15 mins
Upped Amarillo from .5 to .75 OZ at 5 mins

Resulted in Fg of 1.015, ABV 5.92%, IBU 51.93. I am pretty happy with that.

Sorry for the noob questions, but am I doing anything overly stupid here?

 

[rodwha]

Don't be sorry for asking questions. And nothing stupid, but I would change the flavoring addition to ~20 mins for an increased flavor profile. But that's just me.

I've never used carared and so I'm uncertain how much may be too much. If it's anything like typical crystal malts than you are good as the max is about 20%, though with an IPA you generally want less so as not to take the light off of the hops as they are the star.

 

[doug293cz]

Sorry for the noob questions, but am I doing anything overly stupid here?

Nope. Barring any really serious execution errors, you will have a very drinkable beer in a few weeks.

I did pretty much the same type of messing with the recipe to up the ABV. The thing you want to be careful with is adding extra black roasted barely. A little goes a long way (ask me how I know.) But you left that alone, so you should be ok. Make sure to keep good notes, so that if you like it well enough to want to do it again, you can. Also, if there is something you aren't completely happy with, the notes can help you (and the rest of us) determine what might make it better.

Brew on