Looking for grain bill feedback on a red ale

[EMH5]

Hi All,

I'm thinking about brewing up an american-style red ale in the next month or so. Please offer any feedback or ideas that would boost this red ale grain bill.
I plan on using citra, centennial and amarillo as a hop combo.

# grain
5 Golden Promise
5 2-row
.5 Victory
.5 CaraAroma
.25 C60
.25 C120
.5 flaked oats
.5 flaked barley

I have never used caraaroma so this is a shot in the dark for me. The lovibond and a bit extra maltiness is what I was looking for in it. Was thinking of using Red X but, I don't know, Red X sounds so artificial...

Any feedback is helpful Thanks.

Eric

 

[bferullo]

probably don't need both flaked oats and barley.

This is the grain bill i used for my "hopped" red ale. Seemed to get decent reviews. (percents rounded, yes maybe over 100%)
60% maris otter
26% light munich
4% carared
4% flaked oats
4% special B -- will act similar to your C120, but with I think a bit more plum/raisen
1% roasted barley (color)

used a similar hop profile : hops came through but balanced well with the maltiness. I definitely ended up with a red color. (chinook,amarillo,cascade)

 

[kh54s10]

The very small amount of Victory is not going to add anything to the beer. You don't need the flaked oats. They won't give you any red color and you don't need it for mouthfeel or head retention with the crystals and flaked barley.

I have used Red X and there is nothing at all artificial about it. It will give you a nice flavor and a red color. I recommend that you give it a try.

 

[EMH5]

The very small amount of Victory is not going to add anything to the beer. You don't need the flaked oats. They won't give you any red color and you don't need it for mouthfeel or head retention with the crystals and flaked barley.

I have used Red X and there is nothing at all artificial about it. It will give you a nice flavor and a red color. I recommend that you give it a try.

How much red x? So remove the oats and victory... Keep the caraAroma?

 

[kh54s10]

I would use the CaraAroma, though I have never used it and am not sure on it's contribution in a beer. Red X can be used up to 100% of your grainbill. I would put it in a recipe software program and adjust until you get the color you are looking for.

 

[Yooper]

I like a traditional American red, with up to 15% crystal malt in a well-hopped beer. I like to "layer" the crystal malt, to add complexity to the beer.

here's a typical recipe for me (11 gallon batch):

16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 79.0 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) 7.4 %
1 lbs Aromatic Malt (Abbey Malt) (26.0 SRM) 4.9 %
12.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 3.7 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75L (75.0 SRM) 2.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 2.5 %

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Irish Red ale ...sort of

8.5 lb Maris Otter Pale 85%
1 lb Crystal 40L 10%
0.25 lb Crystal 120L 2.5%
0.125 lb Roasted Barley 1.3%
0.125 lb Special Roast 1.3%

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Curious why some hop an Irish Red.Isnt the Idea to get away from the hops and bring out the malt

As far as a really good simple Irish red this is my go to recipe

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...nWsRzgyyRQGesONDg&sig2=TawqrrpvZq4UEoaKQGOf_w

 

[EMH5]

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

 

[EMH5]

I like a traditional American red, with up to 15% crystal malt in a well-hopped beer. I like to "layer" the crystal malt, to add complexity to the beer.

here's a typical recipe for me (11 gallon batch):

16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 79.0 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) 7.4 %
1 lbs Aromatic Malt (Abbey Malt) (26.0 SRM) 4.9 %
12.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 3.7 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75L (75.0 SRM) 2.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 2.5 %

15% Crystal is a lot. Is that typically what an amber or red grain bill would have? I was thinking of layers crystals but 8-10%. Not sure though.

 

[Yooper]

15% Crystal is a lot. Is that typically what an amber or red grain bill would have? I was thinking of layers crystals but 8-10%. Not sure though.

Yes. Up to 15% is commonly used in a well hopped amber/red. I often use 12%, "layering" like above. The key is to provide enough bitterness so the beer is not sweet or cloying in the finish and make sure the beer is well attenuated by mashing fairly low (150-152) and using a well attenuating yeast.

 

[Yooper]

Curious why some hop an Irish Red.Isnt the Idea to get away from the hops and bring out the malt

As far as a really good simple Irish red this is my go to recipe

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...nWsRzgyyRQGesONDg&sig2=TawqrrpvZq4UEoaKQGOf_w

An Irish red is generally not well hopped. But American reds (the style we are discussing in this thread) are usually quite hoppy, and in the "west coast" tradition of being very well hopped.

 

[nealm]

What do you consider a "well hopped Amber/red" 35 ibu? Or greater?

Yes. Up to 15% is commonly used in a well hopped amber/red. I often use 12%, "layering" like above. The key is to provide enough bitterness so the beer is not sweet or cloying in the finish and make sure the beer is well attenuated by mashing fairly low (150-152) and using a well attenuating yeast.

 

[EMH5]

Yes. Up to 15% is commonly used in a well hopped amber/red. I often use 12%, "layering" like above. The key is to provide enough bitterness so the beer is not sweet or cloying in the finish and make sure the beer is well attenuated by mashing fairly low (150-152) and using a well attenuating yeast.

Ok so based on your recipe, I was thinking:

5# MO
5# 2-row
.75# Victory or Biscuit
.25# C40
.25# C60
.25# C75 or 80
.25# C120
.5 flaked oats
.5 flaked barley

would that be amber/red/caramelly enough?

 

[Yooper]

What do you consider a "well hopped Amber/red" 35 ibu? Or greater?

It depends on the OG. If the OG is 1.070, for example, 35 IBUs isn't much. But if the OG is 1.040, 35 IBUs is quite a bit!

It's important to look at the IBU/SG ratio. That's more of a key to the balance of the beer than the IBUs themselves.

In one of our house favorites, the OG is 1.048, with 37.4 IBUs. That's an IBU/SG ratio of .774 so it's definitely leaning towards the firm bitterness balance. It has 13% crystal malt, a bit of maris otter and a bit of victory malt in it, along with the base US two-row, so there is a lot of malt sweetness and flavor to balance that much sweetness as well as the bittering.

 

[nealm]

Gotcha on the IBUs. What yeast do you like for your reds.

It depends on the OG. If the OG is 1.070, for example, 35 IBUs isn't much. But if the OG is 1.040, 35 IBUs is quite a bit!

It's important to look at the IBU/SG ratio. That's more of a key to the balance of the beer than the IBUs themselves.

In one of our house favorites, the OG is 1.048, with 37.4 IBUs. That's an IBU/SG ratio of .774 so it's definitely leaning towards the firm bitterness balance. It has 13% crystal malt, a bit of maris otter and a bit of victory malt in it, along with the base US two-row, so there is a lot of malt sweetness and flavor to balance that much sweetness as well as the bittering.

 

[Yooper]

Gotcha on the IBUs. What yeast do you like for your reds.

I generally use Wyeast 1272, or WLP001 for the "clean" character, and both are pretty well attenuating.

 

[EMH5]

My plan is for 1318 London Ale. I stick to two yeasts: 1318 and OMEGA DIPA. I feel you can use 1318 for everything.

 

[EMH5]

Update: This beer turned out pretty good.

I think I would add 1-2# of Munich next time for a bit more maltiness but I'm happy with this overall.