Shiner Ruby Redbird Clone Recipe

[estricklin]

Bottled today...definitely good news bad news in this case! Good news...The green beer smells great, tastes a little sweet but a nice finish with the ginger...bad news the ABV is way low!
So since the OG was so low, I am guessing the sugars in the extract did not break down properly? Not a vigorous enough boil? BTW used a White Labs WLP 001 since I had it on hand...was still within the "freshness" period and we did have very active visible fermentation.
Hopefully can give you a taste update in a couple of weeks after bottle conditioning.
Any feed back thoughts about the low OG and low ABV would be greatly appreciated.

Do you remember your OG by any chance? You probably know this but, sometimes a beer can taste a little light and watery before it's carbed up nice. I sure hope it turns out great for you.

I finally got my brew shed half way set up and am back to brewing. I have racked my brain about cloning this beer and came up with a few ideas.

I'm going to pick up some grain in a few days and make a 10 gallon batch of it.

I am going to split the batch in half, and ferment one with S-23 and the other with 34/70. These are basically the 2 most popular lager yeast strains...well ever. I'm sure Shiner has some house lager strain but it may even be based on one of those old German ones. I dunno that I'll prove anything by doing this but, it can't hurt right?

For the grapefruit. I am guessing that Shiner uses actual grapefruits, and not juice, in fact I think I read that on the website. They most likely would either add them to the mash or to the fermenter since they likely don't have a way to deal with all that grapefruit in the boil kettle. I still don't want to risk adding any bugs to the fermenter so I stand behind my idea of adding them at flameout. I think it's the best compromise between not loosing any flavor and risking contamination. I'm going to use whole grapefruits, ran through my food processor. I'm not sure how many pounds i will use yet.

I am not going to substitute hops anymore, but strictly stay with the ones listed on the label. I may blend them all for 2 separate additions, I am going to think on that some more.

Since I don't intend to filter this beer I may add some pectin enzyme to help with the haze a bit, purely cosmetic but does bug me a bit.

If anyone has anymore ideas would love to hear them.

 

[estricklin]

Brewed yesterday.

For 10 Gallons
20 lbs of Munich
.25 lbs Crystal 120
1.0 oz Cascade 60 min
.25 oz Citra 15 min
.25 oz Mt. Hood 5 min
10 lbs Grapefruit
8 oz fresh sliced ginger
5 gallons S-23
5 gallons 34/70
I've been playing around with BIAB, and my OG was terrible, 1.036, instead of 1.052. This beer is though, only 4.01% ABV so I'm not that far off the real thing in terms of ABV.

I added the grapefruit and ginger a few minutes before flameout. If your wondering if it smelt awesome, the answer is YES! I think the color looks pretty spot on? My recipe calculates to 12.9 IBUs, the original is 13.

I do think it's fair to mention, I was wearing my crocks while carrying the 2 buckets from my brew shed into the house, it had started to rain and I slipped and fell, long story short the 34/70 fermenter is only at about 4 gallons instead of 5. Hopefully the different pitching rate between the 2 won't skew my results unknowingly. They are both at a happy 52F at the moment.

The grapefruits were actually from Texas, as the grapefruit in the original are according to the website and label.

 

[Shawn_P]

Oh no sorry to hear you slipped! While crying over spilt milk is never ok ... Crying over spilt beer is absolutely mandatory!
When back over my recipe card with the fella txt owns the local home brewing store....he quickly saw where I screwed up...I added in the full half gallon of grapefruit juice versus 2/5 of that amount (only set up to do up to 2 gal batches at this point...) so simple math or failing to pay attention to detail killed me again!
BTW the OG for our first attempt was 1.024 with a FG of 1.004.
We are doing a "clean the closet" ale next before we try the ruby red bird clone again.
Can't wait to hear how yours turns out !

 

[estricklin]

Oh no sorry to hear you slipped! While crying over spilt milk is never ok ... Crying over spilt beer is absolutely mandatory!
When back over my recipe card with the fella txt owns the local home brewing store....he quickly saw where I screwed up...I added in the full half gallon of grapefruit juice versus 2/5 of that amount (only set up to do up to 2 gal batches at this point...) so simple math or failing to pay attention to detail killed me again!
BTW the OG for our first attempt was 1.024 with a FG of 1.004.
We are doing a "clean the closet" ale next before we try the ruby red bird clone again.
Can't wait to hear how yours turns out !

Ok yeah that is pretty low, but sounds like one thing you won't be low on is grapefruit flavor, so I'm anxious to hear how this turns out.

I did cry......

My dogs and the fire ants did not.........

 

[estricklin]

Ok I've been drinking the last one I brewed for a couple weeks now and WOW. It's 90% the real thing easy, and maybe closer. I have not had a chance to do a side by side beteween the 2 yeasts though. I will update with some photos and more tasting notes when I have more time, just wanted to give a quick update. I honestly don't think I will be changing this recipe very much at all from this point on.

 

[estricklin]

Ok another update. Haven't had a chance to grab a 6 pack of the real thing to do a honest to goodness side by side but I will soon, and when I do I will update again, and with more photos.

When I first kegged this beer, it had a much stronger malt profile, and the ginger stood out a bit more. After a few weeks of being in the keg the stronger malt flavor is merely a whisper and the ginger has quietened down as well. I honestly don't know waht to change, it tastes amazing and it's super close to Shiner's version. It may need a slight bit more grapefruit flavor, and maybe less ginger. If a person wanted to substitute some of the Munich for regular 2 row that probably wouldn't hurt either. The one I"m drinking now is the one fermented with S-23, I taste no real yeast esters or off flavors. Very smooth. Some bitterness from the actual grapefruit comes through in the aftertaste. It doesn't seem quite as acidic as Shiner's.

I think I will learn more when I do a side by side, but am very excited about the results. I could drink this beer all summer!

 

[laserwash]

Brewed yesterday.

For 10 Gallons
20 lbs of Munich
.25 lbs Crystal 120
1.0 oz Cascade 60 min
.25 oz Citra 15 min
.25 oz Mt. Hood 5 min
10 lbs Grapefruit
8 oz fresh sliced ginger
5 gallons S-23
5 gallons 34/70

I think I'm going to do a five gallon batch in the spirit of something like this along with a few other recipes that I've found tomorrow. I have some loose citra, and some Magnum and Cascade pellets in the freezer so I'm building around that. I want to play up "honey" and "grapefruit" more than I want the ginger aspect of this beer. That's why I'm going to go with a lot less than what others have done (also I've read that some people are thinking they've done too much ginger).

I'm coming up with this:

Stats according to BeerSmith:
1.045 SG
1.010 SG
ABV 4.5%
33.9 IBU
10.3 SRM

5 lbs. Munich 9-10L
3 lbs. 2 Row or German Pilsner
1 lb of Honey or Caramel 10L - for the honey taste
.25 lb of Caramel 80L - for color and head retention
5 pounds of sliced grapefruit @ 5-10 minutes
0.5-1 oz of sliced ginger @ 5-10 minutes

Bittering @60 minutes
.25 oz Magnum - 12.4 IBU

Flavor @ 15 minutes
.5 oz Cascade Pellet - 6.5 IBU
.5 oz Citra Leaf - 11.3 IBU

Aroma @ 5 minutes
.25 oz Cascade Pellet - 1.3 IBU
.25 oz. Citra Leaf -2.3 IBU

Aroma @ 0 minutes
2.25 oz Cascade Pellet
.25 oz Citra Leaf

Yeast
A healthy dose of WLP 835 - German Lager X - this is a lager yeast from Andechs Brewery in Germany

Dry Hop
Might dry hop with some Citra or Cascade or both.
Might also buy some more grapefruits and put some "zest" in a few days after the fermentation has started.
Might also go with a little bit of grapefruit juice in the keg.

 

[laserwash]

oops. Double Post.

 

[laserwash]

Triple Post

 

[laserwash]

Quadruple Post

 

[Beersnob16]

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and was really surprised to find this way up here in maine. I'm going to give it a go tonight and if it's good I'll brew some for myself using the posted recipe.

View attachment 1438288420899.jpg

 

[estricklin]

I think I'm going to do a five gallon batch in the spirit of something like this along with a few other recipes that I've found tomorrow. I have some loose citra, and some Magnum and Cascade pellets in the freezer so I'm building around that. I want to play up "honey" and "grapefruit" more than I want the ginger aspect of this beer. That's why I'm going to go with a lot less than what others have done (also I've read that some people are thinking they've done too much ginger).

I'm coming up with this:

Stats according to BeerSmith:
1.045 SG
1.010 SG
ABV 4.5%
33.9 IBU
10.3 SRM

5 lbs. Munich 9-10L
3 lbs. 2 Row or German Pilsner
1 lb of Honey or Caramel 10L - for the honey taste
.25 lb of Caramel 80L - for color and head retention
5 pounds of sliced grapefruit @ 5-10 minutes
0.5-1 oz of sliced ginger @ 5-10 minutes

Bittering @60 minutes
.25 oz Magnum - 12.4 IBU

Flavor @ 15 minutes
.5 oz Cascade Pellet - 6.5 IBU
.5 oz Citra Leaf - 11.3 IBU

Aroma @ 5 minutes
.25 oz Cascade Pellet - 1.3 IBU
.25 oz. Citra Leaf -2.3 IBU

Aroma @ 0 minutes
2.25 oz Cascade Pellet
.25 oz Citra Leaf

Yeast
A healthy dose of WLP 835 - German Lager X - this is a lager yeast from Andechs Brewery in Germany

Dry Hop
Might dry hop with some Citra or Cascade or both.
Might also buy some more grapefruits and put some "zest" in a few days after the fermentation has started.
Might also go with a little bit of grapefruit juice in the keg.

I think you'll enjoy that recipe. Like the nice hop kick your adding too. I am a lager yeast whore, but haven't tried that one yet so I may have to pick up a vial of it.

I have bad news to report on the 34/70 batch I did, it appears to be contaminated with some sort of souring bacteria. Apparently, after spilling it, and pitching yeast, I didn't have the lid snapped on all the way! It may have gotten knocked loose in my fermentation chamber, not sure. My wife says it just tastes sour like grapefruit, but to me it's more of a very light acetic acid sour, or could be a lacto. I'm drinking a pint now so it's not terrible, but I think it would be unfair to speak to it's taste very much.

Keep us updated on your batch!

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and was really surprised to find this way up here in maine. I'm going to give it a go tonight and if it's good I'll brew some for myself using the posted recipe.

I'm actually surprised you could find it up there too, I've heard many times it's only available in this part of the country more or less. If you can find some other Shiner beers, "Ryes and Shine" is a personal favorite, but I'm partial to "Wild Hare" as well. Their winter beer, "Cheer", is very exceptional, it's a peach and pecan flavored winter beer. I would LOVE to clone it, but one thing at a time.

I hope you enjoy "The Bird" as it's known around my house, and let us know if you decide to brew it.

 

[laserwash]

I think you'll enjoy that recipe. Like the nice hop kick your adding too. I am a lager yeast whore, but haven't tried that one yet so I may have to pick up a vial of it.

This is a "platinum strain" from White Labs that comes out every January-February. I don't really have a "house strain" per se, but I've been testing this out lately since I like the Helles that Andechs Monastery (impossible to get outside of the small area outside of Munich, Germany) does.

Put it in my Shiner Bock clone and it was good. Now I'm trying it out on the Redbird clone and a Munich Helles that I just pitched this week.

I'll let every one know how this turned out. He's sitting in the guest tub right now doing a diacetyl rest. Then he'll lager in the keg for a while. Not sure how long I can let him sit there. I'm ready to drink. :rockin::rockin::rockin:

 

[laserwash]

I think I'm going to do a five gallon batch in the spirit of something like this along with a few other recipes that I've found tomorrow. I have some loose citra, and some Magnum and Cascade pellets in the freezer so I'm building around that. I want to play up "honey" and "grapefruit" more than I want the ginger aspect of this beer. That's why I'm going to go with a lot less than what others have done (also I've read that some people are thinking they've done too much ginger).



I'm coming up with this:



Stats according to BeerSmith:

1.045 SG

1.010 SG

ABV 4.5%

33.9 IBU

10.3 SRM



5 lbs. Munich 9-10L

3 lbs. 2 Row or German Pilsner

1 lb of Honey or Caramel 10L - for the honey taste

.25 lb of Caramel 80L - for color and head retention

5 pounds of sliced grapefruit @ 5-10 minutes

0.5-1 oz of sliced ginger @ 5-10 minutes



Bittering @60 minutes

.25 oz Magnum - 12.4 IBU



Flavor @ 15 minutes

.5 oz Cascade Pellet - 6.5 IBU

.5 oz Citra Leaf - 11.3 IBU



Aroma @ 5 minutes

.25 oz Cascade Pellet - 1.3 IBU

.25 oz. Citra Leaf -2.3 IBU



Aroma @ 0 minutes

.25 oz Cascade Pellet

.25 oz Citra Leaf



Yeast

A healthy dose of WLP 835 - German Lager X - this is a lager yeast from Andechs Brewery in Germany



Dry Hop

Might dry hop with some Citra or Cascade or both.

Might also buy some more grapefruits and put some "zest" in a few days after the fermentation has started.

Might also go with a little bit of grapefruit juice in the keg.

Here's the latest on my version of the bird:

Put this in secondary after a two week diacetyl rest (was busy) and now it's sitting in the keezer for a few days while I travel to Kansas. Took a nip from the hydrometer sample.

Super good, I really like the grapefruit and the hint of ginger. The extra little punch of hop bitterness is nice. I've decided to rid myself of the dry hop idea. This has plenty of grapefruit aroma and the dry hops WOULD be too much grapefruit.

If you want to go high'ish on grapefruit flavor do the six pounds of grapefruit slices I did @ 10 minutes in the boil. If you want just a hint of grapefruit do 3-4 pounds. I wouldn't do more than six pounds though.

Not Ruby Redbird but it is in the spirit and this keg is going to go quick at my house.

 

[laserwash]

Here's the latest on my version of the bird:

Put this in secondary after a two week diacetyl rest (was busy) and now it's sitting in the keezer for a few days while I travel to Kansas. Took a nip from the hydrometer sample.

Super good, I really like the grapefruit and the hint of ginger. The extra little punch of hop bitterness is nice. I've decided to rid myself of the dry hop idea. This has plenty of grapefruit aroma and the dry hops WOULD be too much grapefruit.

If you want to go high'ish on grapefruit flavor do the six pounds of grapefruit slices I did @ 10 minutes in the boil. If you want just a hint of grapefruit do 3-4 pounds. I wouldn't do more than six pounds though.

Any lager yeast would do.

Not Ruby Redbird but it is in the spirit and this keg is going to go quick at my house.

 

[laserwash]

Going to do a quick update, had it sitting in the keg and I'm going to update the recipe for posterity (on HBT).

I'm not big on the ginger aspect of Ruby Redbird (or any ginger beer for that matter), so take that with a grain of salt when I say I would do the following with this recipe. Also, I really like the grapefruit, which is fairly strong and prominent flavor and aroma wise. If you wanted to play that up, do the 6 pounds of grapefruit slices, otherwise, do more like 2-4 pounds.

This recipe also makes me want to think of what a "honey grapefruit" beer would be like without the ginger. Do the honey malt and grapefruit, without the ginger.

One thing I've learned is that it's a little hard to distinguish ginger and grapefruit aromas/tastes. So to me they are interchangeable.

I'll post a pic as soon as I take another pour from the keg.

Updated recipe for next summer:

Stats according to BeerSmith:

1.045 SG
1.010 SG (I ended up with 1.005)
ABV 4.5% (I ended up with 5%)
33.9 IBU
10.3 SRM


Grains and other stuff

5 lbs. Munich 9-10L
3 lbs. 2 Row or German Pilsner
1 lb of Honey or Caramel 10L - for the honey taste
.25 lb of Caramel 80L - for color and head retention
2-6 pounds of sliced grapefruit @ 5-10 minutes (depends on taste and what you are going for)
0.25 oz of sliced ginger @ 5-10 minutes (or none, would be delicious without)



Bittering @60 minutes

.25 oz Magnum - 12.4 IBU (basically anything for clean bittering 10-15 IBU)



Flavor @ 15 minutes

.5 oz Cascade Pellet - 6.5 IBU
.5 oz Citra Leaf - 11.3 IBU



Aroma @ 5 minutes

.25 oz Cascade Pellet - 1.3 IBU
.25 oz. Citra Leaf -2.3 IBU



Aroma @ 0 minutes

.25 oz Cascade Pellet
.25 oz Citra Leaf

Don't dry hop. Perfect as is.

Yeast

Any clean lager/ale/hybrid yeast. I used a lager yeast (WLP 835 - German Lager X) A good pitch of WLP001 or something like a Kölsch yeast like WLP029 would be good too. Try to pick something that doesn't have a lot of estery characters. Try to get the esters from the grapefruit/honey/ginger thing.

 

[laserwash]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441712742.087978.jpg

 

[shadows69]

any updates on this or are we settled on a finial recipe?

 

[Roycebarrow]

Well, after searching and searching this is the only place on the interwebs that I could find what appears to be a promising lead to some ruby redbird. To many of us, it is the holy grail of summer beer in Texas. I am from Odessa but live in Germany and as you could imagine, shiner is non existent over here. I have already ordered the stuff to make a 5 gallon batch, but I will do a partial mash as I like saving the extra hour or two while brewing. I will post the recipe used, and progress. and will continue to update as I go with further batches. Give me red bird or give me death! also. thanks to everyone in the older thread for starting this crazy clone

 

[estricklin]

Well, after searching and searching this is the only place on the interwebs that I could find what appears to be a promising lead to some ruby redbird. To many of us, it is the holy grail of summer beer in Texas. I am from Odessa but live in Germany and as you could imagine, shiner is non existent over here. I have already ordered the stuff to make a 5 gallon batch, but I will do a partial mash as I like saving the extra hour or two while brewing. I will post the recipe used, and progress. and will continue to update as I go with further batches. Give me red bird or give me death! also. thanks to everyone in the older thread for starting this crazy clone

I think the partial mash will work fine, especially since Munich extract is available now. You have all inspired me again to brew this beer AND, it will be brewed on the first official brew day for the home brew club that I've started recently, so I'm very excited about it.

I have a newborn in the house, and the wife hasn't gone back to work yet so my budget is a little tighter than normal. I am going to be using plain 2 row for this batch because I already have 25 lbs of it. I may try to use some Caramunich though.

Here is what I plan to brew, it's basically the same as before but with a slightly lower dosage of ginger, and a little more grapefruit.

For 15 gallons BIAB
25 lbs 2 row
6.4 oz of C120 And/Or some Caramunic (haven't decided)
11 oz of Ginger
20 lbs of grapefruit
1.5 oz Cascade 60 min
.35 oz Citra 15 min
.35 oz Mt. Hood for 5 min

For the yeast, I'll be using some stuff I have laying around as well. Split into 3 batches, 2 will get 34/70 and 1 will get T-58.

Obviously this isn't ideal, but I did note that the last batch was a bit too malty so maybe the lack of Munich won't be a deal breaker, I hate to brew it this way but it should still be fun.

Our club website is www.arkansashillbillyhomebrew.com and it lives on my server at home, so if it loads slow someone is watching Netflix haha. I'll post pictures of the brew day there but I'll share them in this thread as well of coarse.

In the mean time, I'm gonna grab my guitar and play some Red Dirt Country while the wife and I plan a trip down to Austin this summer, Cheers!

 

[Roycebarrow]

you are not playing with the 15 gallons. I am still waiting on stuff to come in sometimes things are hit and miss in Germany. im still on the fence about grapefruit juice, or real grapefruit. there is no way I am getting my hands on ruby reds over here. so I can either grab some random ones or just try the juice first. ill figure that out on brew day.

ive found that I really like how mellow the Budvar beer is here which is the original Budweiser from czech. I will use that as a lager at first, and if it comes out weird, I swill swith to a Bavarian lager yeast.

estricklin, have you had the opportunity to try a budvar yet? if not since you have done all of the due diligence, I could possibly get one your way.

 

[estricklin]

you are not playing with the 15 gallons. I am still waiting on stuff to come in sometimes things are hit and miss in Germany. im still on the fence about grapefruit juice, or real grapefruit. there is no way I am getting my hands on ruby reds over here. so I can either grab some random ones or just try the juice first. ill figure that out on brew day.

ive found that I really like how mellow the Budvar beer is here which is the original Budweiser from czech. I will use that as a lager at first, and if it comes out weird, I swill swith to a Bavarian lager yeast.

estricklin, have you had the opportunity to try a budvar yet? if not since you have done all of the due diligence, I could possibly get one your way.

I've never had a Budvar, and I'd offer to swap you some Ruby Redbird for some but I bet the shipping would be insanely high.

I think any lager yeast would suffice, you can get your hands on Budvar's strain?

I strongly suggest using real grapefruit, even if it's not from Texas. Switching from the juice made a bigger difference (to me) than anything else I tried. If you do use juice it's still gonna be good though.

 

[Roycebarrow]

I've never had a Budvar, and I'd offer to swap you some Ruby Redbird for some but I bet the shipping would be insanely high.

I think any lager yeast would suffice, you can get your hands on Budvar's strain?

I strongly suggest using real grapefruit, even if it's not from Texas. Switching from the juice made a bigger difference (to me) than anything else I tried. If you do use juice it's still gonna be good though.

Thanks for the advice for the grapefruit. Im hoping my stuff shows up and I can brew by Friday. I think I will go with 5lbs and see how that goes. reading back through the threads 4-6 seems to be the going rate so I will split the difference. and I sent a pm to your inbox

 

[Roycebarrow]

So....

I Have finally brewed my beginning batch to try and nail some sort of extract clone for this. I took a lot of what you previous guys have said and started there. I will be gone for the next two weeks while this is fermenting but will update as I go along. Fortunately / unfortunately I am pretty adiment about carbing this beer in a keg with sugar so I will have to give it awhile before I will try it. I just feel like something like this needs the best opportunity to be good and force carbing for me makes the beer ok, but nothing like sugar and time. so here is what I went with...

Extract (5 gallons)

steeped 5.6 oz caramel malt 30 minutes
added 6 lbs Munich lme
added 1.5 lbs extra light dme

-brought to boil-

added 1oz northern brewer @ 60 minutes
added .50z citra @ 15 minutes
added 5 lbs grape fruit (not ruby red sadly) @ 10 minutes
added 40z ginger @ 3 minutes
added .5oz cascade @ 3 minutes

yeast is Wyeast Bavarian lager 2206

est alc 7.5
OG 1.055

It was a split decision to swap out the budvar yeast for the Bavarian lager. I really like budvar but I think they probably went with some sort of old school German yeast.

will keep the thread updated on how it all comes out if you care. if not, I will drink beer anyways haha. I tried the beer that I had in my hydrometer and it was super good. I think either way, it will be something I like

 

[estricklin]

So....

I Have finally brewed my beginning batch to try and nail some sort of extract clone for this. I took a lot of what you previous guys have said and started there. I will be gone for the next two weeks while this is fermenting but will update as I go along. Fortunately / unfortunately I am pretty adiment about carbing this beer in a keg with sugar so I will have to give it awhile before I will try it. I just feel like something like this needs the best opportunity to be good and force carbing for me makes the beer ok, but nothing like sugar and time. so here is what I went with...

Extract (5 gallons)

steeped 5.6 oz caramel malt 30 minutes
added 6 lbs Munich lme
added 1.5 lbs extra light dme

-brought to boil-

added 1oz northern brewer @ 60 minutes
added .50z citra @ 15 minutes
added 5 lbs grape fruit (not ruby red sadly) @ 10 minutes
added 40z ginger @ 3 minutes
added .5oz cascade @ 3 minutes

yeast is Wyeast Bavarian lager 2206

est alc 7.5
OG 1.055

It was a split decision to swap out the budvar yeast for the Bavarian lager. I really like budvar but I think they probably went with some sort of old school German yeast.

will keep the thread updated on how it all comes out if you care. if not, I will drink beer anyways haha. I tried the beer that I had in my hydrometer and it was super good. I think either way, it will be something I like

I'll send a reply to you in a little while, as well as give an update too. Brewed it last night.

 

[estricklin]

I ended up brewing only a 5 gallon batch but did follow the recipe as listed above, only 1/3rd. I did use 10 lbs of grapefruit though. It is bubbling away happily with 34/70. I wish I could have made the 15, but my pot had a leak that I wasn't able to repair in time.

 

[Roycebarrow]

ok, update n the extract redbird. have just put it in a keg with sugar to prime. so I will give it a few weeks before I mess with it.
my OG was 1.055
FG was 1.014
alcohol content....drumroll...5.38%

a little more than I was hoping for, but not too bad I guess.

I always use secondary to clean up the beer a little, but for some reason this time, I did not. floated a keg last night and was excited about replacing I guess.

I tried the green beer and the first thing I tasted was ginger. pretty strong but not too bad. after reading a lot of earlier posts, I hope it should subside with time. grapefruit was there also, but the ginger stood out way more.
looking forward to see how this thing ends up tasting once it is all said and done. also this is the first time I am priming a keg with sugar. so, I'm hoping that it will end up super carbonated like most of the beers that I bottle.

how is yours coming along estricklin? I will post photos once I have a cold glass in hand. until then, happy brewing!

 

[estricklin]

ok, update n the extract redbird. have just put it in a keg with sugar to prime. so I will give it a few weeks before I mess with it.
my OG was 1.055
FG was 1.014
alcohol content....drumroll...5.38%

a little more than I was hoping for, but not too bad I guess.

I always use secondary to clean up the beer a little, but for some reason this time, I did not. floated a keg last night and was excited about replacing I guess.

I tried the green beer and the first thing I tasted was ginger. pretty strong but not too bad. after reading a lot of earlier posts, I hope it should subside with time. grapefruit was there also, but the ginger stood out way more.
looking forward to see how this thing ends up tasting once it is all said and done. also this is the first time I am priming a keg with sugar. so, I'm hoping that it will end up super carbonated like most of the beers that I bottle.

how is yours coming along estricklin? I will post photos once I have a cold glass in hand. until then, happy brewing!

Fermentation is finished, I moved the fermenter to room temp for a couple days just to be on the safe side. Cold crashing starts today, may add some gelatin. Not sure how long I'll let it lager, I'm anxious to get it bottled.

 

[estricklin]

Ok it's been bottled for a week now. So far, it's too much grapefruit. I'm sure that I did need to increase it form the time before, but I increased it too much. Other problems are the ginger flavor isn't strong enough. It didn't occur to me at the time but I rough chopped the ginger and did not use the food processor like I did before. As for the malt flavor, it might be ok but trust me when i say the grapefruit is playing lead guitar. It is still freakin delicious, and doesn't appear to have any off flavors so by my own brewing metric it isn't a failure, but I'm afraid I missed the target.

I'm sure the flavors will change over the next couple of weeks so I don't want to send in the verdict yet, but I think I know what changes I need to make. Also, was thinking about pureeing the grapefruit next time so that it doesn't take as much of it, my guess is that Shiner may be doing that too.

Cheers!

 

[thaymond]

I just made a ruby red grapefruit pale ale. It will be perfect for hot summer weather. Super grapefruity. Similar to the SD slim limeade brew.

5g batch
7 lbs 2 row
2 lbs Vienna
4 oz crystal 60

Mash at 152 @ 60 minutes

1 oz Cascade @ 60 minutes
.75 oz Cascade @ 10 minutes
.75 oz Cascade @ 0 minutes
1.5 oz Cascade dry hop

Us05 @ 66 degrees F

After high krausen, add 1 bottle of simply grapefruit or other 100% grapefruit juice without preservatives. Continue ferment until finished.

Make a 6 oz vodka tincture with the zest of 3 grapefruits (in sanitized 1 pint mason jar for 1 week during fermentation). Add with dry hop bag.

Keg to 12 psi serving @ 38 deg F.

I'm not really a fruit beer guy. I like my IPAS red and dank. But this. This is a refreshing summer beer.

Just chiming in.

 

[Roycebarrow]

Ok it's been bottled for a week now. So far, it's too much grapefruit. I'm sure that I did need to increase it form the time before, but I increased it too much. Other problems are the ginger flavor isn't strong enough. It didn't occur to me at the time but I rough chopped the ginger and did not use the food processor like I did before. As for the malt flavor, it might be ok but trust me when i say the grapefruit is playing lead guitar. It is still freakin delicious, and doesn't appear to have any off flavors so by my own brewing metric it isn't a failure, but I'm afraid I missed the target.

I'm sure the flavors will change over the next couple of weeks so I don't want to send in the verdict yet, but I think I know what changes I need to make. Also, was thinking about pureeing the grapefruit next time so that it doesn't take as much of it, my guess is that Shiner may be doing that too.

Cheers!

hey Estricklin, looks great man! after going through the threads I understand now why you said you were quite satisfied with the results you were getting. I will post more below, in a separate one to update mine. hopefully the flavors will mellow out in yours, I'm sure they will over a month or so. as for pureeing, I have a juicer I wish I would have thought to use with the grapefruit as opposed to just throwing them in. oh well, there will be a next time.

 

[Roycebarrow]

I just made a ruby red grapefruit pale ale. It will be perfect for hot summer weather. Super grapefruity. Similar to the SD slim limeade brew.

5g batch
7 lbs 2 row
2 lbs Vienna
4 oz crystal 60

Mash at 152 @ 60 minutes

1 oz Cascade @ 60 minutes
.75 oz Cascade @ 10 minutes
.75 oz Cascade @ 0 minutes
1.5 oz Cascade dry hop

Us05 @ 66 degrees F

After high krausen, add 1 bottle of simply grapefruit or other 100% grapefruit juice without preservatives. Continue ferment until finished.

Make a 6 oz vodka tincture with the zest of 3 grapefruits (in sanitized 1 pint mason jar for 1 week during fermentation). Add with dry hop bag.

Keg to 12 psi serving @ 38 deg F.

I'm not really a fruit beer guy. I like my IPAS red and dank. But this. This is a refreshing summer beer.

Just chiming in.

hey thaymond, that sounds like a pretty good beer also. thats what I really enjoy about home brewing! you can always try something someone else has recommended.

 

[Roycebarrow]

OK, to update mine. I have had a huge change of heart with the red bird. as I have not lived in the states for the past 5 years, I have tried many beers abroad and finally had the chance to get a red bird here in Germany. I must say...I was quite disappointed after I held this beer so high in my likings. However I am also not in Texas floating down the comal mid summer either. That being said, I have a red bird and my kegged experimental beer here in front of me and I think mine blew away the shiner version. I am glad I stumbled upon this post because I think I have a new summer favorite. anyways, with the help of beer smith, I will save this one and maybe only take 1 lb of grapefruit away next boil. it tastes good, but I can faintly taste that bitter grapefruit taste. but not enough to deter me. Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. of course, mine is on the right.

 

[thaymond]

hey thaymond, that sounds like a pretty good beer also. thats what I really enjoy about home brewing! you can always try something someone else has recommended.

It's a crowd favorite. I'll need to brew it again because it's almost empty. It was supposed to be a summer beer. It didn't make it out of spring.

 

[Roycebarrow]

It's a crowd favorite. I'll need to brew it again because it's almost empty. It was supposed to be a summer beer. It didn't make it out of spring.

haha I hear that. these 5 gallon corny kegs seem like a lot until the first "get together" then you realize how quickly they go. estricklin has some good recipes and I have an extract version if you want to try these. I just brewed two other beers today. rough Saturday here

 

[estricklin]

I've been brewing like crazy, and the wife found the Ruby Redbird clone, I now have 6 left. I plan to brew it again in the next few weeks.

Again, too much grapefruit still and it sort of has that bitter taste from the grapefruit also. The Shiner version doesn't have that. I'm going to try the puree next time. I'm starting to believe the grapefruit flavor in this beer is delicate, it changes with age very quickly.

Cheers to all!

 

[Roycebarrow]

I've been brewing like crazy, and the wife found the Ruby Redbird clone, I now have 6 left. I plan to brew it again in the next few weeks.

Again, too much grapefruit still and it sort of has that bitter taste from the grapefruit also. The Shiner version doesn't have that. I'm going to try the puree next time. I'm starting to believe the grapefruit flavor in this beer is delicate, it changes with age very quickly.

Cheers to all!

Hey estricklin, its been awhile. The batch I brewed is pretty damn good I must say! As far as making a puree, like you mentioned above, I have a similar plan. I have a masticating juicer at my house, and I think I will actually juice the ginger and grapefruit this time and see what it does. I will try that before I change the ingredients as I dig what I have going on right now. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

 

[Roycebarrow]

Estricklin, how goes it? That was a damn good beer and after having an original next to the homebrew, I have to say I favored mine more. That being said, my computer has crashed since I made the last batch so I lost the exact recipe I used last time. anyhow, I ordered stuff and brewed another batch about 6 days ago. I used different yeast, and juiced both the ginger and grapefruits in my masticating juicer. It smelled good and the og reading beer tasted very good. It looks to be a whole different beer this time which is good and bad in a way. I wanted the same beer, but wanted to tweak a few things. curious to see how it will turn out.

 

[Stoutbrewingstouts]

I've been brewing like crazy, and the wife found the Ruby Redbird clone, I now have 6 left. I plan to brew it again in the next few weeks.

Again, too much grapefruit still and it sort of has that bitter taste from the grapefruit also. The Shiner version doesn't have that. I'm going to try the puree next time. I'm starting to believe the grapefruit flavor in this beer is delicate, it changes with age very quickly.

Cheers to all!

Thanks for all your work on this clone! I am thinking of attempting it, but I don't have a keg so I am going to have to risk bottle carbing and hope that I get no bombs. I did have one question: how long are you keeping your grapefruit soaking after flameout? My immersion chiller can get 5 gallons to pitching temps in 30 mins, but if you left yours for considerably longer it my change the flavor.

I am also thinking of making a tincture from grapefruit peels and a tiny bit of ginger that I add at bottling. Thoughts?

 

[estricklin]

Thanks for all your work on this clone! I am thinking of attempting it, but I don't have a keg so I am going to have to risk bottle carbing and hope that I get no bombs. I did have one question: how long are you keeping your grapefruit soaking after flameout? My immersion chiller can get 5 gallons to pitching temps in 30 mins, but if you left yours for considerably longer it my change the flavor.

I am also thinking of making a tincture from grapefruit peels and a tiny bit of ginger that I add at bottling. Thoughts?

It was taking about 15-30 mins to chill, I never got in a hurry. I don't think you need to worry about bottle bombs, I've bottled carbed this before too. Just make sure fermentation is complete like always.