Best red malt

[Demus]

I'm doing an all Citra IPA and want it to have a nice deep red to it. Like with food I think you eat with your eyes first and the red color will set your palate for the nice pink grapefruit and tropical pop that's so awesome about Citra. I can use the SRM estimate for quantity but am wondering if I'd be better off with Cara-Red or just a smaller amount of crystal 60? Which would have more of a true red color?

 

[Brulosopher]

2 oz of Roasted Barley for a 5 gal batch works beautifully.

 

[bobbrews]

CaraRed isn't even really that red. It's a type of Crystal 20, which is quite on the pale side. Don't go by the name of things. Instead, research them. Citra isn't that citrusy either in case you were wondering.

Go with something like 2 oz. chocolate malt or debittered black malt. These malts can be used as a color adjustment with no flavor contributions if used in low percentages.

 

[Brulosopher]

CaraRed isn't even really that red. It's a type of Crystal 20, which is quite on the pale side. Don't go by the name of things. Instead, research them. Citra isn't that citrusy either in case you were wondering.

Go with something like 2 oz. chocolate malt or debittered black malt. These malts can be used as a color adjustment with no flavor contributions if used in low percentages.

Good points. I'm not a fan of Citra, but I certainly like me some citrusy hops.

 

[Demus]

CaraRed isn't even really that red. It's a type of Crystal 20, which is quite on the pale side. Don't go by the name of things. Instead, research them. Citra isn't that citrusy either in case you were wondering.

Go with something like 2 oz. chocolate malt or debittered black malt. These malts can be used as a color adjustment with no flavor contributions if used in low percentages.

I kinda thought that's what I was doing, thanks! Wouldn't the choclate or black malt darken it on the brown side of the spectrum rather than red? I've seen red as a descriptor of many crystal malts, the point of my post was to find out which is the red-est...

I wasn't wondering about Citra, I've used it many times and love it...

 

[bobbrews]

Wouldn't the choclate or black malt darken it on the brown side of the spectrum rather than red?

No, since you're not using so much of it where it would turn brown.

Don't think of the darker malts as adding yellows, browns, reds, blacks. Think of them as adjusting the SRM. Some of them do this rather slightly... others not so much.

CaraAroma is rather red to begin with, but if you use 12% of it in a hoppy beer, you will have a sweet mess on your hands. Alternately, 2% chocolate malt might get you to the same SRM with no noticeable flavor contributions.

 

[BridgewaterBrewer]

I've researched this a bit and although opinions differ the majority say that roasted barley is the best way get red color (without using beets or food coloring). The BJCP style guidelines also mention RB as the source for the Irish Red's color. I made an Irish Red with 8 oz. CaraRed, 8 oz. Caramel 60L, and 3 oz. Roasted Barley (Briess, 300L) per 5Gal and it has a beautiful red color.

 

[Demus]

Good info, thanks guys. I see your point about SRM, I just thought some malts might darken more brownish on their way to black, others more red...