Jamil's Irish Red with Rahr 2-row?

[brainfrz]

From "Brewing Classic Styles" the Irish Red recipe calls for British Pale malt as the base malt. Would substituting that for Rahr 2-row make a huge difference in taste?

Side note: I've recently started brewing all-grain and have only used Rahr 2-row, I like the cost of it and am considering buying a grain mill and 55# sack of it.

 

[samc]

It will still be a good beer but it will be lighter in color and not be very authentic to what it is supposed to be. If I was doing it I'd get away with using GW Pale Ale Malt, and I think Rahr has a similar malt.

 

[brainfrz]

For what it's worth, I'd like my "house ales" to be Jamil's Blonde, Irish Red and Heffeweizen; all styles I love. As for hops they just need bittering so I'd use cascade to cut down on costs. If you can't tell already my goal is to cut costs and let the beer flow like water.

 

[yodalegomaster]

Will it be a good beer with all Rahr 2-row yes, But if you want the complexity of continental malts, you need to use continental malts. i have made a compromise mix of 10% melanoidin malt, 20% marris Otter, 70% Rahr 2-row, it's very close to using weyerman or straight Marris Otter.

 

[wickman6]

Will it be a good beer with all Rahr 2-row yes, But if you want the complexity of continental malts, you need to use continental malts. i have made a compromise mix of 10% melanoidin malt, 20% marris Otter, 70% Rahr 2-row, it's very close to using weyerman or straight Marris Otter.

Good tip, I've been curious as to subbing for maris otter but never really looked too far into it.

To the OP, I just finished the last few bottles of an Irish Red that I brewed with Rahr 2 row, and it was a very good beer, HOWEVER I feel it was missing a dimension of flavor I'm assuming would be provided by using the maris otter called for.

I was still quite happy with the results though. I bittered with magnum, and if memory serves my flavor/aroma addition was fuggles. My opinion is that cascade might be too citrusy for the red, but to each their own!

Do you have a supply of cascade? Price differences in hops generally isn't much, if anything if you are buying in small quantities. I cut my costs by buying a pound of magnum to bitter almost everything, being a high aa hop I can use less for the same level of bitterness over other hops.

Good luck with your brews!

 

[mkling]

If you're highly committed to using the Rahr, I'd add in 1/2lb of Victory or Biscuit. Both lend some of the toasty elements found in Maris Otter but missing in American 2 Row.

 

[borden]

Misfire, sorry... see below.

 

[borden]

It will still be a good beer but it will be lighter in color and not be very authentic to what it is supposed to be. If I was doing it I'd get away with using GW Pale Ale Malt, and I think Rahr has a similar malt.

Rahr does indeed have a Pale Ale malt that is more in the direction of a British malt (though not exactly the same, of course). You should try it and report back so I can decide about whether or not to buy a sack of it.