How to fix a Red Ale that came out too dark/Roasty! Advice Needed!

[Brewjangle]

In February I brewed an Irish Red that I have brewed a few times before. Every other time it has turned out just as expected: Red, Malty, crushable.
However, this time it is waaay too dark and has a strong roasted flavor to it.
The grains were:
8# maris otter
2# Vienna
6oz Roasted Barley 500L
3oz Crystal 120L

1oz Fuggles @ 60min
.5oz Goldings @ 15min

White Labs 002 English Ale Yeast

Mashed in at 153 for 60 mins
Overshot my numbers due to efficiency being too high. The last time I brewed this recipe I was getting around 72% efficiency. This time I hit around 85% so instead of 1.040 preboil, I came in around 1.046. Collected 7.25 gallons of wort.
Boiled for 60 mins - collected 6 gallons of 1.052 wort.

This was my first time using a new LHBS for grains. I have the Maris Otter in bulk so I only used the shop for the Vienna, Roasted barley and Crystal.

Honestly, Im at a loss as to what happened. The only thing I can attribute this to is that the LHBS may have given me too much Roasted or Crystal.

Anyway, It is what it is at this point which is something resembling a Brown Ale that has a Malty/Roasted flavor.

Im looking for ideas on what i can do to mute the roasted flavor and make a drinkable brew out of it. I have TONS of Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, and citra hops if thats all that can be done. but Im not above adding off the wall ingredients to try something new.

Thanks in advance!!! Cheers!

 

[stieg000]

Does it taste more like a brown ale or is this just in looks? I don't think adding dry hop is gonna cut the roast flavor down. I've done some second runnings beers as an afterthought when brewing an imp stout that I ended up blending at the tap with a dark cherry cider or a brown ale and it was actually pretty good. Fruit, blending or an addition to make it more brown ale like is all I can think of. However without tasting it i dunno know, cocoa or hazelnut maybe, I've done those in brown ales before.

 

[Brewjangle]

It definitely taste more like a brown ale than a red ale.
Wasn't wanting to dry hop it, just wondering if combining hops with something else may add an unusual character.
I made a chocolate cherry Stout a while back that was great. Thought about added my something like that to the keg to see how it would balance it. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Jtk78]

What else do you currently have on tap? Before I went combining things on a keg level, I would start with a mixing in a glass.

 

[stieg000]

I do all mixing in the glass, works good. Right now I have a cherry and date dark beer (2nd runnings concoction from a quad). I've been mixing it with a guiness clone or the quad which is good.

 

[Brewjangle]

What else do you currently have on tap? Before I went combining things on a keg level, I would start with a mixing in a glass.

Only other beers on tap are:
Mexican Fake (Westbrook Mexican Cake clone) its almost empty though

Mexican Lager (Dos Equis)

Belgian Red Pepper (red ale fermented with Belgian Ardennes yeast, ginger, and coriander and lime) almost empty as well.

 

[JohnSand]

I fixed a too roasty Dubbel and a not quite right Belgian IPA by blending them. That Mexican Lager might blend well with it. Or you can brew something intended to mix. But If I had nothing handy, I might just dump it.

 

[Miraculix]

Maybe brew an almost boring pale ale and mix it? Or if you suspect that you got too much of the roasted malt initially, then just brew the original recipe again, without the roasted malts, and blend it with the one that has too much of the roasted till the roast is at the right level. The leftover unroasted ale can be dry hopped afterwards or enjoyed as it is.

 

[Grod1]

cold distill the whole batch to double the alc. then drink it. brew more

 

[Jtk78]

Only other beers on tap are:
Mexican Fake (Westbrook Mexican Cake clone) its almost empty though

Mexican Lager (Dos Equis)

Belgian Red Pepper (red ale fermented with Belgian Ardennes yeast, ginger, and coriander and lime) almost empty as well.

I would try a couple oz of the Mexican lager and fill the rest of the glass with the red ale. Try a few different ratios to see if you can fix it.

 

[Brewjangle]

I fixed a too roasty Dubbel and a not quite right Belgian IPA by blending them. That Mexican Lager might blend well with it. Or you can brew something intended to mix. But If I had nothing handy, I might just dump it.

Tried blending but it didn't quite do the trick. The roasted flavor is coming through pretty strong even at 50/50 mix. I like the idea though about brewing something with the intention to mix. It will need to be something that can cut through the roast, though. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Brewjangle]

Maybe brew an almost boring pale ale and mix it? Or if you suspect that you got too much of the roasted malt initially, then just brew the original recipe again, without the roasted malts, and blend it with the one that has too much of the roasted till the roast is at the right level. The leftover unroasted ale can be dry hopped afterwards or enjoyed as it is.

Hmmm...brewing it again without the roasted malts is a great idea! Thx!

 

[LLBeanJ]

Honestly, Im at a loss as to what happened. The only thing I can attribute this to is that the LHBS may have given me too much Roasted or Crystal.

Your 500L Roasted Barley is actually Black Barley, or Black Roasted Barley, as it's sometimes called. What you want for an Irish Red is regular ol' Roasted Barley, which should be around 300-350L. You probably had the correct RB on your previous brews, which is why they came out as expected.

 

[Ninoid]

I have same problem. Red Ale is too dark.
I blame roasted barley. Is too dark. Just now I have found that it has 600L instead of 300L as it should be for red beer.