Irish red ale critique needed

[Happywanderer]

Ok. Extract with specialty grains. Here's my plan...started off building a red IPA and changed my mind. Decided I was in the mood to stick with Irish/English styles.

So.

7lbs Light DME (2lbs @60 5lbs @15)
4oz Roasted Barley
12oz Crystal 40L

1oz Target @60
1oz East Kent Golding @15
(1oz Fuggles(uk) @5)

WLP004 - single starter

This puts me at:
OG 1.067
FG 1.016
SRM 16
IBU 40-43.4 (depending on hop additions)

Questions:
1) 40-43 IBU is high for an Irish Red. should I skip the Target and just bitter with Goldings? This would put my SRM around 20 - which is within style limits.
2) should I drop the roasted barely to 1.5oz and add some extra Crystal
3) would carapils for head retention work alright in this recipe?





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[Adam_Selene]

Ok. Extract with specialty grains. Here's my plan...started off building a red IPA and changed my mind. Decided I was in the mood to stick with Irish/English styles.

So.

7lbs Light DME (2lbs @60 5lbs @15)
4oz Roasted Barley
12oz Crystal 40L

1oz Target @60
1oz East Kent Golding @15
(1oz Fuggles(uk) @5)

WLP004 - single starter

This puts me at:
OG 1.067
FG 1.016
SRM 16
IBU 40-43.4 (depending on hop additions)

Questions:
1) 40-43 IBU is high for an Irish Red. should I skip the Target and just bitter with Goldings? This would put my SRM around 20 - which is within style limits.
2) should I drop the roasted barely to 1.5oz and add some extra Crystal
3) would carapils for head retention work alright in this recipe?

2oz roast barley will make it plenty red.
If your Target(the hop) is 9% you will get *something like 30 IBU. If your Target is 12% you will get *something like 40 IBU.

* assumeing a few things, and you will never know for sure unless you get it tested.

Sure, carapils.

Adam Selene

 

[JayDubWill]

I brewed an Irish lager with a similar SRM estimate and it came out way to dark in my opinion. It's almost a black lager and you really have to hold it up to a light to glimpse the red beauty buried deep inside. Next time I'll be shooting for around 10-12 SRM. I agree with everything Adam said and would add not to hop it that high. An Irish red is about the malt not the hop. Quaffability is the determining factor on how good it is.