Cara Red question

[tobrew]

I got a 5 lb bag of Weyermann's Cara Red 15-25L given to me. I am new to AG and have been follwing some basic recipes from this site so I can nail my process down. So my question is what can I use the Cara Red for? I have not seen it it any recipes that I have been looking at. I have been making Ales. I want to try a Irish Red that I seen in the data base.
Thanks for your input.
ToBrew.

 

[Dr Malt]

Cara Red is designed for red ales. Weyermann dries this malt to develop those reddish colors in the malt for exactly that reason. If you have a recipe for your red ale, it probably has some caramel malt in it in the 20 - 40 L range. Just replace it with the Cara Red. Since this malt was given to you, I suggest you chew a little and make sure it taste fresh. Most malt can be stored for a fairly long time, but it never hurts to check before you brew.

Dr Malt

 

[tobrew]

It was a Christmas gift bought at my LHBS and given to me over the weeekend so i am sure it is fresh. The recipe I was going to brew calls for Crstal 120L. Do you think I can replace the crstal with the cara red?
ToBrew

 

[Dr Malt]

How much 120 L is called for in the recipe?? Also, any roasted barley in the recipe?? Red ale often have a few ounce as this adds some red color too.

Dr Malt

 

[tobrew]

the recipe calls for 6oz each
ToBrew

 

[CFuggles]

You can try some in an Alt Recipe. I made a sticke alt with some it turned out really nice.

 

[iarobertson]

I used maybe 8oz. on a pale ale (partial mash) that was awesome. Flavor didn't change too much, but it gave it a nice head and the color was effin' beautiful.

If nothing else, just use it to make a blonde a redhead.

 

[Denny]

Here's a recipe for my Waldo Lake amber ale (made into a kit by Northern Brewer) that uses carared as a major component.

http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/WaldoLakeAmberAle

 

[riored4v]

I've used 3lbs CaraRed in an Irish Red my dad and I made. We also used (i believe) 2oz of Roasted Barley. Had a VERY nice deep, dark red color.

 

[Dr Malt]

So that is 12 oz of C120 and roasted barley combined, correct? Are there any other high colored malts in the recipe like other caramel malts, special roast, black malt, etc? To replace these malts with the Carared is a bit of trial and error. Color is not like IBUs where you can calculate how much of a hops of one alpha acid to use to replace with another of a different alpha acid. If anyone has experience doing this feel free to add your coments.

If there are no other colored malts than C120 and roasted barley and you are making a 5 gallon size batch, my first cut at this is to try one of the following:

If using only the Carared, try about 3 lbs total.

If using a combination, 2 lbs carared and 2 - 3 oz roasted barley. Leave out the C120.

This should give you a red color. You can adjust if necessary on future brews as needed.

Dr Malt

 

[tobrew]

That is correct 12 oz combined. No other high colored malts.
I think I will try just using the Carared and go from there.
Thanks for the input.
To Brew

 

[RiffRaff]

Denny- question about the Waldo lake. I was impressed by the thick, creaminess of the head on my batch of Waldo (only one batch so far but the next one is on the brew list). It was unlike any other recipes before or since. The foam was so incredibly thick- almost like that expanding foam insulation you use around window or door frames! I've used Denny's favorite yeast on other batches, melanoidin, all of the malts in some amount or another. The only other time I've used carared was a disappointing failure so I'm not sure about that grain. I can't figure out what ingredient or combination gave me such a tenacious head. Do you have any input?

BTW- I was initially underwhelmed about the Waldo Lake Amber but the difference two months in the bottle makes is astounding! That recipe is one of my all time favorite beers, commercial or homebrewed! Thanks so much for developing this one!

 

[Denny]

Wow, thank you! As a WAG about the foam, it may have something to do with the carared. But foam is very dependent on fermentation. http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

Maybe you just everything right!

 

[RiffRaff]

Maybe I did something right? Bwaaahaaahaaa!

LOL, actually that batch was doomed from the start! I Mashed and lautered just fine but that's where everything devolved! My regulator screwed up and no gas would flow. I jacked around with the regulator for 45 minutes, then I drove to Lowes to buy another regulator but found out they don't have high pressure regulators so I went to the fireplace store. They "could order one, but it won't be here for 4 days". I'd already jacked around for 2.5 hours (with the wort in the kettle in my driveway). The LHBS is 45 minutes away and it's getting dark.

I carried 6 gallons of lukewarm wort inside and straddled two burners of my electric stove with the kettle and wrapped it with aluminum foil and that silver bubble wrap duct insulation. One hour later I attained a weak boil (after the duct insulation caught fire twice), and continued the boil. I had one more fire during the boil. I think I finished around 1 AM on a work night and still had to clean my equipment.

This batch was the first one I did that required a blowoff tube (as I discovered the next evening when returning home dead tired from work.

So 7-8 hours, FWH for 3 hours, three fires, probably 6 homebrews, countless swear words, 40 miles on the truck, one burner and one stovetop for a simple all grain 5 gallon batch of beer is a new record for me.

In the end, it was worth it. Excellent beer. Maybe you should add a few more steps to your recipe?