How can I get a REALLY RED ale?

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dcimera

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Hey guys, i'm trying to make a light beer with some serious red color to it and was just wondering if any of you have had experience with that kind of thing. I was thinking of making it as pale as possible and then using some fruit extract (cherry?) or maybe just some red tea to help make the color more noticeable. If you guys have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated! Cheers!

Dan
 
Food coloring? Fruit extract will be semi unreliable for providing color. I had a raspberry wheat that was nice and red coming out of the carboy. Turned into a muted purple/brown color after bottle conditioning. Fruit will likely give you some haze in your beer.

You could steep CaraRed or CaraAmber in .25 or .5 lb amounts, but it will change your flavor profile some. CaraMunich may be another option as well.
 
+1 on the food coloring. Only thing I can think of that shouldn't change the flavor but get it really red.
 
How "red" is red? are you looking for like Blood Red?? or are you just wanting it to have no other color?

I know that you can use different grains that impart a red color

CaraAroma® (crystal malt) 130°-170° 1.034 Imparts a deep red color, adds body and malt aroma. For use in bocks, porters, stouts and ambers.

CaraRed® (crystal malt) 15°-20° 1.033 Provides body and a deep red color for use in red ales, lagers, Scottish ales and alts.

Crystal Malt 90° 1.033-1.035 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.

Crystal Malt 120° 1.033-1.035 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.

Crystal Malt 80° 1.033-1.035 Sweet, smooth caramel flavor and a red to deep red color. For porters, old ales.

Also Weyermann makes a Munich I and Munich II that impart red colors

Perhaps doing a nice mix of some of them and a base of Pale/Pils malt will get you want you need
 
I've gotten a very nice copper red on an Irish ale by adding 1/2 pound of black patent to the mash just before sparging. You get the color but no flavor extraction. I've seen this referred to as "capping the mash".
 
I wanted to try to make a red ale that truly embodied the name so i wanted to see what natural techniques i could use to exaggerate that. I dont want it artificially soda pop red but just a bit more noticeable than the usual red ale. I plan to make a few small batches of these beers and try some different things out. Thanks for your ideas guys, i will post some pictures of my experiments of this beer idea before theyre all gone.
 
I've gotten a very nice copper red on an Irish ale by adding 1/2 pound of black patent to the mash just before sparging. You get the color but no flavor extraction. I've seen this referred to as "capping the mash".

Would this cause protein haze due to a very small amount of conversion or is it pretty much just rinsing the un-mashed grains?
 
Would this cause protein haze due to a very small amount of conversion or is it pretty much just rinsing the un-mashed grains?
You're essentially just steeping the grains. There are few starches left in black patent malt so I don't think protein haze is an issue. My Irish red was very coppery, almost orange and crystal clear.
 
There is a really good technique I use to get my red really red. Any crystal or carmel grain malt between 30 and 60 will work. When I make my seep I simply use one cup of crystal malt grain (pre cracked in zip lock baggie) put in muslin cloth bag , seep this for 20 minutes. Then add a cup of roasted barley ( same manner ) for no more than 7 minutes. Reduce heat and throw out bags. The roasted barley will darken it to blood red color. You will not notice it until it is ready for drinking. 'HAPPY HUNTING!'
 

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