Red IPA and Steeping 4lbs Carared: Too much or Tweak?

[KlausUndFriends]

Hi guys!

I'm brewing my first Red IPA, and thought I'd just tweak an IPA grain bill I liked.

6lbs Light DME (this was 7lbs in my last non-red IPA)
1lb Wheat DME
8oz Turbinado

and then steep 4lbs Carared.

Beersmith tells me this will come out pretty red, but has anyone done anything similar, just straight Carared steep? Wondering if taste will be affected much. 4lbs is quite a lot too...

Any advice would be much appreciated Cheers!

 

[filthyastronaut]

Unless you're making 20 gallons of beer, I wouldn't ever steep 4 lbs. of crystal malt. From your recipe it looks like five gallons, so I'd try .5 lbs. of the Carared and 1 or 2 oz. of Roasted Barley. Roasted Barley is traditionally how a good red color is achieved, and it can synergize with certain specialty malts.

 

[KlausUndFriends]

That figure was what I came up with on Beersmith, so I'm glad I asked! Thanks! Second draft below -

8oz Caraaroma (130 SRM)
4oz Roasted Barley (300)
6lbs Extra Light DME (3)
1lb Wheat DME (8)
8oz Turbinado (10)

SRM = 15.8. So near the middle of the 11-19 range, and I might add a shredded beet in the last 10 mins to make it really pop, without any apparent effect on flavor.
ABV = 6.3%

 

[LKABrewer]

Those are two totally different beers. The cararoma will have dark fruit and light chocolate flavors, and the carared tastes like candy sugar. Be careful chasing SRMs with crystal malts and remember to think more of the flavor first. Find the crystal malt that adds the flavor you are looking for and add 5-10% (up to 15% for intense flavor like an Amber ale). Then, if you want the beer darker, add carafe malt or some other roast malt in small amounts to darken the beer.

 

[KlausUndFriends]

That makes sense. Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. Do you think there's too much going on now, so would clash?

8oz Carared
4oz Carafa I (337 SRM)
2oz Caraaroma
1oz Roasted Barley
6lbs XLight DME
1lb Wheat DME
8oz Turbinado

Alternatively I could just use my original recipe and JUST add beet juice... That might be simpler, but kind of feels like cheating and I do want to try something new/ come up with my own recipe. I've done mostly clones so far