Notso Red

[eriggity]

I recently made a Red ale that came out brown; using a recipe that called for 8 oz each of Munich, Caramel 40, Caramel 80, and 2 oz of roasted barley as specialty grains

Whats the real secret to getting a deep red hue?

 

[texasgeorge]

I recently made a Red ale that came out brown; using a recipe that called for 8 oz each of Munich, Caramel 40, Caramel 80, and 2 oz of roasted barley as specialty grains

Whats the real secret to getting a deep red hue?

I got a good red (nice and roasty malt flavor--- very tasty!!) out of a partial mash recipe which consisted of:

5lb Pale LME
2lb 2-row
1lb Crystal 60L
1/2 lb Crystal 120L
2 oz Roasted Barley (500L)

Tweak or modify as you see fit

edit: 2 lbs orange blossom honey in the boil too.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Start by losing the roasted barley

J/K if like it use it- though I hate the stuff.
A good brewing software like Brewsmith or Promash is a worthwhile investment. It helps formulate recipes, predicts things like color, gravity, ABV, hop utilization,etc. It helps calculate things like water temp and grain for AG brewing & lots more. It will tell you your color before you brew, and it's always spot-on with stuff like that.

 

[the_bird]

Blood. Either pig blood or the blood of a virgin will work. Menstral's better.

 

[disaffected]

I've seen several recommendations for using roasted barley to get a red color. Is it the taste you don't like, ablrbrau? What does it taste like?

 

[PT Ray]

Roasted barley is the way to go. It can give a nice red hue and the aroma is out of this world. I debated roasted or chocolate in my last batch for an amber and when I opened my container of roasted I couldn't get my face out of it. The grain itself appears dark red with some lighter highlights thrown in.
I see not everyone feels the same.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

As I said I don't care for roasted barley. It imparts what I call a "coffee" flavor and aroma to my brew, plus it's easy to put in too much. I go for crystal malts.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Vienna or a darker Munich will impart a reddish/orange tinge as well - without the roasty flavor.

 

[disaffected]

Guess I'll have to try the roasted barley on my next rendition of my red (orange) ale. I'm not going to know if I like it until I try it. Unless ... anyone know of any microbrews that use roasted barley where the flavor is discernible?

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I used 3oz of roasted barley in my last batch and the wort has a nice reddish hue. There shouldn't really be much flavor with the small amounts needed to color a brew.

I read somewhere that CaCO3 (I think it was Cal-carb, I'll have to go look it up) also helps to give a red hue.

 

[disaffected]

Thanks, Chairman. Yep, that's calcium carbonate, aka limestone.

I think I'll just go with a small amount of the roasted barley on my next attempt at this red ale, though. If small amounts color without adding flavor, that sounds ideal.

 

[the_bird]

I'm playing around with some de-bittered black malt on a recipe that's coming up, hoping that it will give me a reddish hue without imparting roastiness. Going to try a couple ounces to start. I'm shooting basically for a reddish IPA, which I suppose is more accurately called a hoppy red ale.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Yep, that's calcium carbonate, aka limestone.

I know it's calcium carbonate, what I was unsure of is whether or not the cal-carb is the right additive.

:cross:

 

[eriggity]

I ended up going with this recipe :

3 lbs Light DME
3lbs Pale liq Extract
.5 lb Carmel 40
.5 Caramel 80
.5 Munich
and 2 oz roasted barley

Used Columbus and Amarillo hops

Its in secondary now with gelatin fining. The color looks slightly red against the white dryhop bag but I wont be able to tell until I get in in a glass.

Thanks for the replies.

Whats the deal with Melanoidin grains? Has anyone used to to achieve red?