Birthday Recipes for review

[flippedcracker]

I'm planning on doing a double brew this Sunday. My daughters are turning 3 and 1 in August, and I wanted some homebrew to server at the party. I'm still new to brewing, and even newer to coming up with recipes, so I'm looking for some experienced eyes to check my work. Both brews are 10 gallons.

Birthday Red
Irish Red Ale
15 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 65.2 %
3 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) 13.0 %
3 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 13.0 %
1 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 4.3 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 4.3 %
1.50 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 13.5 IBUs
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min 6.9 IBUs
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min 3.3 IBUs

WLP004 - Irish Ale Yeast

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.8 %
Bitterness: 23.7 IBUs
Est Color: 20.1 SRM

Birthday IPA
American IPA
19 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 79.2 %
3 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 12.5 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 8.3 %
2.00 oz Mosaic [12.25 %] - Boil 60.0 min 42.7 IBUs
2.00 oz Mosaic [12.25 %] - Boil 10.0 min 15.5 IBUs
2.00 oz Mosaic [12.25 %] - Boil 5.0 min 8.5 IBUs
2.00 oz Mosaic [12.25 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days 0.0 IBUs

WLP001 - California Ale Yeast

Est Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 66.7 IBUs
Est Color: 5.0 SRM

Anything you guys would change? Thanks.

 

[WayFrae]

I think you have way too much Caramel malt on the Irish Red. I would say use maybe a pound of one or the other caramel malts. The IPA looks great though and should be delicious.

EDIT: For the Irish Red, I think rye will give some red color, it will also give a spicy/peppery flavor. CaraRed is also supposed to be really good for red color, although I have never used it.

 

[Pappers_]

26% caramel/crystal malts seems like a lot to me, but I haven't brewed a red ale in a few years. You might look in the recipe database and see how much others are using in their red recipes. Also, with that much caramel/crystal, I don't think you would need any cara-pils.

I like the IPA recipe. I just bottled an IPA where I matched Mosaic with Summit, Citra and Amarillo.

And congrats on the little ones' birthdays!

 

[flippedcracker]

The red is the one I've definitely been having more trouble with. I found a recipe online and based mine off that, but haven't totally been happy with anything I've done, and you guys confirmed it. Back to the drawing board on that.

 

[WayFrae]

This Irish Red looks like it took 1st place in a HBT competition and is well liked by many people on this forum. You could give it a try or maybe use it as inspiration. Good luck!

 

[RonPopeil]

Yeah the red is a bit suspect. On your IPA, i usually do 4-6 ounces of late hops for a 5-5.5 gal batch You're double the volume so I would double the hops. Add another ounce at 15, 10 and 5.

 

[flippedcracker]

New revision:

20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 86.3 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.6 %
1 lbs Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.3 %
3.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4 0.8 %
1.50 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 13.4 IBUs
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 6.9 IBUs
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 1.8 IBUs

Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.9 %
Bitterness: 22.1 IBUs
Est Color: 13.8 SRM

 

[WayFrae]

I would still drop the Caramel malt down to 1 pound but I don't like sweet beers.

You could drop the caramel to a pound and try Maris Otter pale malt instead of the US 2 Row, it will give you a little maltier/biscuity flavor without being to sweet in my opinion.

 

[flippedcracker]

I would still drop the Caramel malt down to 1 pound but I don't like sweet beers.

You could drop the caramel to a pound and try Maris Otter pale malt instead of the US 2 Row, it will give you a little maltier/biscuity flavor without being to sweet in my opinion.

I don't mind a sweet beer, but I'll look into that.

I was trying to stick with 2-row since I have 40-ish pounds at home. I was thinking about dropping some of the 2-row in favor of some Munich.

 

[WayFrae]

I don't mind a sweet beer, but I'll look into that.

I was trying to stick with 2-row since I have 40-ish pounds at home. I was thinking about dropping some of the 2-row in favor of some Munich.

I think it will be good how you have it with a little less caramel but you wont know til you brew it! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Pappers_]

I think 8% crystal/caramel is good for a red ale. The carared is a good addition, too. Let us know how it turns out!