Irish Red Ale Little Red Irish Ale

[Brooothru]

Perfect timing on reviving this thread. Two days ago I was thinking to myself: "Self," I said to myself, "it's time you should be brewing an Irish Red Ale for St. Patrick's Day." And right on time, I came across your post to this thread from last March/April. My recollection of Windsor is that it starts slower than Nottingham, does floc quite nicely, but takes longer to clear. Both attenuate about the same (mid-70s%). Only used Windsor, maybe twice, but I've used Notty quite a bit, both Lallemand dry format and WLP-039 liquid. Of the two I prefer the Lallemand dry yeast, which is unusual since I'm a big fan of liquid yeasts.

For this year's grist I think I'll forget the Red-X since I never got the clarity I wanted or expected and think it contributed to the darker than desired final color. So, base will be Maris Otter with about 2# CaraRed and 4 oz. or less melanoidin. I'll round out the color with 1 oz. each of dehusked carafa and BlackPrinze. Hops will be Fuggles and EKG around 26 IBUs. For yeast, I've got both Windsor (Imperial A09 "Pub") and Lallemand Nottingham in the yeast bank, and will probably go with the Notty.

All this talk has got my mouth watering for corned beef and boiled potatoes. AND an Irish Red!

 

[Immocles]

I have some viking red active malt stashed away, but im saving that for a red ipa.

Irish red getting delayed a day due to it snowing this weekend, and I might as well brew if im going to be stuck indoors all day anyway. Gathering grain, I noticed my C120 was ordered crushed, and is easily two years old. So out that goes. Instead I found some English C75 and 1oz of roasted barley. Beersmith tells me its going to be a tad darker than I would like, but I'm still hoping to coax out enough red to please my eyes. 3G batch. I had planned on using pale chocolate and a pinch of Carafa, but this uses up the remainder of my roasted malt. Decided on notty. Its my go-to and I have half a packet opened up already. I think that means it was meant to be used.

 

[Argie86]

Perfect timing on reviving this thread. Two days ago I was thinking to myself: "Self," I said to myself, "it's time you should be brewing an Irish Red Ale for St. Patrick's Day." And right on time, I came across your post to this thread from last March/April. My recollection of Windsor is that it starts slower than Nottingham, does floc quite nicely, but takes longer to clear. Both attenuate about the same (mid-70s%). Only used Windsor, maybe twice, but I've used Notty quite a bit, both Lallemand dry format and WLP-039 liquid. Of the two I prefer the Lallemand dry yeast, which is unusual since I'm a big fan of liquid yeasts.

For this year's grist I think I'll forget the Red-X since I never got the clarity I wanted or expected and think it contributed to the darker than desired final color. So, base will be Maris Otter with about 2# CaraRed and 4 oz. or less melanoidin. I'll round out the color with 1 oz. each of dehusked carafa and BlackPrinze. Hops will be Fuggles and EKG around 26 IBUs. For yeast, I've got both Windsor (Imperial A09 "Pub") and Lallemand Nottingham in the yeast bank, and will probably go with the Notty.

All this talk has got my mouth watering for corned beef and boiled potatoes. AND an Irish Red!

Can I ask your hop schedule?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brooothru]

Can I ask your hop schedule?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry. Away from my computer with a few distractions going on. I'll try to get it to you. Ping me in a day or two if I don't.

Cheers!

 

[Brooothru]

Can I ask your hop schedule?

Thanks in advance.

Found it. Here's the hopping schedule. 7.8 U.S. gallon pre-boil volume/5.6 U.S. gallon batch volume. 75 minutes boil, Est. IBUs 25.2.

 

[Brooothru]

Can I ask your hop schedule?

Thanks in advance.

I see from your avatar that you are located near Cordoba. I used to fly into Buenos Aires on occasion, and the arrival routing would take us overhead Cordoba. I used to love the trips to B.A., and especially the bife de limo, provoleta, and of course a fine Malbec from Mendoza! I miss those trips quite a lot.

 

[Argie86]

I see from your avatar that you are located near Cordoba. I used to fly into Buenos Aires on occasion, and the arrival routing would take us overhead Cordoba. I used to love the trips to B.A., and especially the bife de limo, provoleta, and of course a fine Malbec from Mendoza! I miss those trips quite a lot.

Yes, Villa General Belgrano is located 100km/60 miles from Córdoba Airport.
Next time you come by, you are invited to a good asado with provoleta, wine, an of course, a homebrew!

 

[Immocles]

I’m very happy with my results from this recipe thread. I made some small tweaks, but tried to stay reasonably true. I’m terrible at pictures and can’t quite catch the red color very well, but it’s there. Definitely not as upfront as OP though!

 

[Yaksha808]

I will be brewing this as the first beer on my new system(whenever that gets in). Hopefully in the next two weeks! I want to bring it as a bribe to my soon to be MiL.

 

[Beer Viking]

Looks great! I noticed that you make a final addition of hops at the 0 minute mark, does this mean you add them at the very end of the boil and then chill the wort? If you are not getting any IBUs out of the addition it is purely for aromatics right?

 

[Immocles]

Looks great! I noticed that you make a final addition of hops at the 0 minute mark, does this mean you add them at the very end of the boil and then chill the wort? If you are not getting any IBUs out of the addition it is purely for aromatics right?

If this was directed at me, then yes exactly that. I toss 0 min (flame out) hops in, cut the boil on my unit, and putz around for a minute or so before I start my chilling. So it sees minimal heat. Mainly for the aromatics, but it does impart a bit of flavor as well. I love EKG, and really enjoy the pairing of the floral from that late addition with the slight roast character. It's cleared significantly since that post. Really, really enjoyable beer.

 

[Beer Viking]

If this was directed at me, then yes exactly that. I toss 0 min (flame out) hops in, cut the boil on my unit, and putz around for a minute or so before I start my chilling. So it sees minimal heat. Mainly for the aromatics, but it does impart a bit of flavor as well. I love EKG, and really enjoy the pairing of the floral from that late addition with the slight roast character. It's cleared significantly since that post. Really, really enjoyable beer.

Got it. What is EKG and are you sure that an addition at flameout won't add to the IBU?

 

[Immocles]

East Kent goldings. It adds some ibu, I couldn’t give you a number, but I’d imagine it’s pretty minimal. It’s only seeing 200F wort for a couple minutes before chilling.

 

[Jeff...]

Just getting back on HBT after moving and finally getting by brew room set up.

I'm glad some folks tried the recipe and like it. I think the key to the red is a gentle boil for the entire 60 minutes.

I'll be brewing this recipe again in a few weeks for a September wedding.

 

[Jeff...]

Looks great! I noticed that you make a final addition of hops at the 0 minute mark, does this mean you add them at the very end of the boil and then chill the wort? If you are not getting any IBUs out of the addition it is purely for aromatics right?

Exactly right... flame out, then add the hops, then start the chill. Gives a nice aroma to the finished beer with little to no IBU addition.

 

[Yaksha808]

Just brewed this last night, it went a bit long as it was my first time using my new system... but its in the fermenters right now 10gal batch done! The numbers I hit were a bit high, 1.057 sg.

 

[Jeff...]

Just brewed this last night, it went a bit long as it was my first time using my new system... but its in the fermenters right now 10gal batch done! The numbers I hit were a bit high, 1.057 sg.

Do you know what your efficiency % was? The grain bill I posted was for a 6 gallon batch. I know... I just have to be difficult

 

[bwible]

I just bottled my Irish Red, (not this recipe but similar) and I’m finding it has a roasty flavor that I more associate with Newcastle brown ale.

I realize that most of the Irish Reds we get in the states are lagers. But I have had Smithwicks and it doesn’t have as much of the roasty flavor. My recipe was 3 gallons and it was Golden Promise, Crystal 40 and 3 oz of roasted barley for the batch. I’ve made this twice and changed ingredients around so I know it’s the 3 oz of roasted barley giving the flavor.

Is roastiness like the flavor of Newcastle considered a fault in an Irish Red? Everything else is right with this beer and I was hoping to put it in a local competition later this month. Wondering if I should enter it as Irish Red or British Brown Ale.

Thanks

 

[RevDroz]

This beer alone makes me wanna go right to AGB, but alas, I do not have the space for this.

Very gorgeous looking beer.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

I just bottled my Irish Red, (not this recipe but similar) and I’m finding it has a roasty flavor that I more associate with Newcastle brown ale.

I realize that most of the Irish Reds we get in the states are lagers. But I have had Smithwicks and it doesn’t have as much of the roasty flavor. My recipe was 3 gallons and it was Golden Promise, Crystal 40 and 3 oz of roasted barley for the batch. I’ve made this twice and changed ingredients around so I know it’s the 3 oz of roasted barley giving the flavor.

Is roastiness like the flavor of Newcastle considered a fault in an Irish Red? Everything else is right with this beer and I was hoping to put it in a local competition later this month. Wondering if I should enter it as Irish Red or British Brown Ale.

Thanks

A subtle toasty/roasty taste is quite common in Irish red ale,yes. Most real Irish or at least Brittish reds are actually quite dry with that little bitter roasted "bite" at the end of the palate. Most American versions I've tried have been sweeter and more like the Kilkenny red, wich is probably my least favorite. I don't know what the style guide says over there but ours say it should have a subtle dry, roasted finish.

 

[Jeff...]

Started secondary on the original recipe (first post). Nice coloring so far, held up to a ceiling fan light. I expect it to finish a deep ruby red.