Need help with making a Red Ale.......red

[Brianyear]

Can someone tell me how to get a really bright red color in an ale?
I know that even the macro stuff (Killian's) is really a shade of amber, but is it possible to brew a RED beer?

I'm not set up for a traditional all-grain, but extracts and BIAB are doable.
Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[DannPM]

Red? Try using Melanoidin malt, Crystal 60 and 120, Special B adds red color as well but wouldn't be appropriate for an Irish Brew according to style Nazis but wouldn't be bad IMO

A secondary with pureed cherries adds a HUGE red color from my experience.

 

[Brianyear]

The pureed cherries sounds like an idea I might use in a cherry wit, or something along those lines.

As far as the grains that you named, do you have a recipe that uses them? Or at least a basic outline that I could tweek?

As far as the "Style Nazis" go...
If it tastes good, then that's the style I'm going for. This brew is for me, not a competition. ;-)

 

[Brianyear]

The pureed cherries sounds like an idea I might use in a cherry wit, or something along those lines.

As far as the grains that you named, do you have a recipe that uses them? Or at least a basic outline that I could tweek?

As far as the "Style Nazis" go...
If it tastes good, then that's the style I'm going for. This brew is for me, not a competition.

 

[stubbornman]

Crystal 80L

 

[Brianyear]

The pureed cherries sounds like an idea I might use in a cherry wit, or something along those lines.

As far as the grains that you named, do you have a recipe that uses them? Or at least a basic outline that I could tweek?

As far as the "Style Nazis" go...
If it tastes good, then that's the style I'm going for. This brew is for me, not a competition. ;-)

 

[dedhedjed]

a touch of roasted barley or carafa special I/II/III will give you a nice red hue. Don't use more than about 1-2% of the grainbill.

 

[Brianyear]

I really appreciate all of the suggestions I've gotten. Even though I got some gallons under my belt, I still feel like a noob.

For sake of simplicity, I put together an extract recipe. Any guidance or critiques of it would be welcome. I don't have a lot of experience designing recipes, so there may be some obvious errors.

3lbs light DME
2lbs amber DME
1lb special B
.5lb melanoidin
.5lb carapils

1.5oz cascade (60)
.5 oz cascade (30)
1oz Kent goldings (15)

WLP-001 ale yeast with 16oz starter

 

[Brianyear]

I really appreciate all of the suggestions I've gotten. Even though I got some gallons under my belt, I still feel like a noob.

For sake of simplicity, I put together an extract recipe. Any guidance or critiques of it would be welcome. I don't have a lot of experience designing recipes, so there may be some obvious errors.

3lbs light DME
2lbs amber DME
1lb special B
.5lb melanoidin
.5lb carapils

1.5oz cascade (60)
.5 oz cascade (30)
1oz Kent goldings (15)

WLP-001 ale yeast with 16oz starter

What say ye?

 

[Brianyear]

...and would someone tell me why my posts are in triplicate?
I really am not doing that intentionally.

 

[Brianyear]

...and would someone tell me why my posts are in triplicate?
I really am not doing that intentionally.

 

[DannPM]

No clue about the posts but 1 lb of special b will be quite intense. In my Rochefort inspired Dark Strong I use 0.5 lbs. For an average gravity beer I would use 0.25lbs, a little goes a long ways.

 

[BigEd]

Can someone tell me how to get a really bright red color in an ale?

Add food coloring.

Red ales aren't "red" like an apple or a fire truck. They have a reddish tinge like Killian's or Smithwick's. That color comes from a small addition of black malt as one of the posters has already suggested. Black patent, roasted barley, chocolate malt and Carafa will all work. Chocolate or Carafa would be my choice as they won't have as much flavor intrusion as the others. An ounce or two will do. Too much will start to give the beer a porter or stout-like background flavor and begin the transformation from reddish to brownish. Dark beers like porters and stouts, usually thought of as black, are actually a very deep shade of red. If you hold a glass of Guinness for example in front of you and shine a bright light through it from behind you will see the true color of the beer. But bright red like Kool Aid, tomato juice or a ripe cherry doesn't happen with conventional brewing ingredients.

3lbs light DME
2lbs amber DME
1lb special B
.5lb melanoidin
.5lb carapils

1.5oz cascade (60)
.5 oz cascade (30)
1oz Kent goldings (15)

WLP-001 ale yeast with 16oz starter

What say ye?

As for the recipe it's probably going to be more deep amber with brownish-orange tint than red. Also note that Special B is powerful stuff and a full pound in a five gallon recipe is way too much IMO. Try cutting it back to 1/4 lb and add 1-2 ounces of Carafa or chocolate malt to bring up that red tone.

 

[Nugent]

The pound of Special B with 001 will be a Special B beer.

Agreed with the posters who recommend a touch of roasted barley, some black patent or Carafa for the redness. You can dial the flavour with specific amounts of crystal and toasted malts from there.