kanzimonson
Well-Known Member
I've been thinking a lot about amber and red ales recently and how I'd like to make a beer with some strong pronounced roasty flavors but still maintain a red color.
You'll see in my Recipe tab that I have an Irish Red. I really love this beer, but its roasty character is "medium." It's a mostly caramelly beer with a crisp, dry finish. Nothing chocolatey or burnt, just toasty and mellow. Like the crust on a loaf of bread straight out of the oven, or the bottom side of a biscuit.
The beer, however, is so red that it's allllllmost brown. I really wouldn't want to increase its color the slightest bit. So my question is, if I wanted to make an amber ale that has both caramel flavors, and a strongly toasted finish, what do I do? Should I use a lot of the "toasty" malts like munich, aromatic, victory, special roast? Or should I reduce the crystal amounts and use more dark grains? I don't want to completely lose the crystal flavors, either.
You'll see in my Recipe tab that I have an Irish Red. I really love this beer, but its roasty character is "medium." It's a mostly caramelly beer with a crisp, dry finish. Nothing chocolatey or burnt, just toasty and mellow. Like the crust on a loaf of bread straight out of the oven, or the bottom side of a biscuit.
The beer, however, is so red that it's allllllmost brown. I really wouldn't want to increase its color the slightest bit. So my question is, if I wanted to make an amber ale that has both caramel flavors, and a strongly toasted finish, what do I do? Should I use a lot of the "toasty" malts like munich, aromatic, victory, special roast? Or should I reduce the crystal amounts and use more dark grains? I don't want to completely lose the crystal flavors, either.