Red IPA recipe

[jturman35]

I am about to brew a Red IPA that i am shooting for that old school spicy/sticky/herbal/ fruity pine character. Any thoughts on this recipe below? The malt bill is based off of Oscar Blues GKnight but shooting for a different hop character so i did my own hop combo. Edited to reflect 90 min boil.

14 lbs 2 row
1lb Carastan Malt
1lb Munich 1
.5lb Carafoam
3oz Choc Malt

.85oz Chinook @ 90 (32ibu)
1oz Simcoe @ 30 (26ibu)
1oz Columbus @ 15 (23ibu)

US05 x 3 packs

3oz Simcoe Dry hop

1.077-1.016 = 8.2%
83 IBUS
16 SRM

 

[mschoeffler]

Look into Red X malt. Half 2 row, half Red X and MAYBE 1/2lb caramel malt. I’ve had great success with this approach, surprisingly simple.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Any thoughts on this recipe below?

Malt bill captures the the spirit of the beer (see below).

Hop profile seems appropriate as well (but I haven't brewed with Simcoe recently).

---

A "Red IPA" at 8.3% with 9%-ish crystal and chocolate malt is probably not an 2020s Red IPA.

Long story short, it looks like G'Knight is a tribute beer, initially brewed in 2005.

"We brew Gordon in tribute to the late Gordon Knight. In addition to opening some of Colorado’s first microbreweries, Knight was a Vietnam vet, grade-A citizen, and huge promoter of craft beer. He lost his life in 2002 while fighting a wild fire outside of Lyons, Colorado."​

-- Internet Archives link (scroll down to the beer named Gordon)​

Oscar Blues GKnight

I couldn't find the beer at their current site, so I looked in the Internet Archives.

This capture, from Aug 9 2020, moves the beer into the "Imperial" Red IPA category.

Internet Archives link:

In the Internet Archives, I navigated back to the home page then "time traveled" back to July 2006 (Internet Archives link)

A May 2008 description (Internet Archives link) describes the beer using a mix of styles:

edits: minor wording and formatting changes.

 

[jturman35]

Look into Red X malt. Half 2 row, half Red X and MAYBE 1/2lb caramel malt. I’ve had great success with this approach, surprisingly simple.

I already have the grains for the above grain bill so for this batch i am going to roll with this recipe unless anyone has suggestions for tweaking. I do want to use Red X at some point it looks to be an interesting malt.


Just to clarify i am not trying to clone G'Knight but rather just use the malt bill for building my own version of a Red IPA. There is a local favorite Red IPA that i am shooting for called MS Fire Ant which is 80 IBU at 8%. When i last had GKnight it was more malty than hoppy. It was also probably aged more as this is a hard beer to get in my area. I am shooting for a pungent Pine earthy with some fruit which is why i substituted Simcoe for the DH rather than use Amarillo.

According to Beersmith my IBUs are well into the red on my slider bar at 80 IBU which i think is a good starting point even though the style calls for 40-70 IBUs. I am shotting for a more old school aggressive Pine tar beer.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My Red IPA clone

Pataskala Red IPA​

Red IPA
6.3% / 14 °P
Recipe by
David Edgeley
All Grain

Klarstein Mundschenk 30 L​

75% efficiency
Batch Volume: 19 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 23.75 L
Sparge Water: 2.95 L
Total Water: 26.7 L
Boil Volume: 23.83 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.050

Vitals​

Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU (Tinseth): 54
BU/GU: 0.94
Colour: 14 SRM

Mash​

Temperature — 65 °C — 60 min

Malts (4.785 kg)​

2 kg (41.8%) — BESTMALZ BEST Red X® — Grain — 15 SRM
1.5 kg (31.4%) — Crisp Vienna Malt — Grain — 4 SRM
1 kg (20.9%) — Crisp Finest Maris Otter® Ale Malt — Grain — 3.3 SRM
250 g (5.2%) — Weyermann Carared — Grain — 24 SRM
35 g (0.7%) — Weyermann Carafa Special III — Grain — 710 SRM

Hops (95 g)​

15 g (28 IBU) — Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) 14.3% — Boil — 60 min
30 g (17 IBU) — Cascade 7.2% — Boil — 15 min
50 g (9 IBU) — Cascade 7.2% — Aroma — 20 min hopstand

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I am shooting for a pungent Pine earthy with some fruit which is why i substituted Simcoe for the DH rather than use Amarillo.

In the 8% range, take a look at some Double IPA recipes, then find an approach get red color. Double IPAs often use 10% sugar to help promote the hop flavors and push the malt flavors into the background.

 

[InspectorJon]

There is a pretty good red IPA recipe here on HBT by @TimBrewz that looks similar to what you are after. You might want to scan that thread.

India Red Ale

 

[jturman35]

There is a pretty good red IPA recipe here on HBT by @TimBrewz that looks similar to what you are after. You might want to scan that thread.

India Red Ale

Funny you posted this, i brewed this back in 2019 and imperialized it using honey. That version only got down to 1.022 which was on the sweeter side. This beer i will pitch 3 packs of US05 for good measure, also going to stick around 80 IBU's to start and tweak the next batch if this turns out like i want.

The Chinook i got is a tad higher AA so i am torn on how much bittering i should roll with. This below is sitting at 83IBU not counting the DH. I brew a lot of NEIPAS and stick around 20 IBU at 60 but this RED has more body so it should hold up to 30-35 IBUs i would think.

1oz Chinook 12.4AA @ 60 (35ibu)
1oz Simcoe @ 30 12AA (26ibu)
1oz Columbus @ 15 16AA (22ibu)

3oz Simcoe Dry hop

Bitterness Ratio 1.116 IBU/SG

 

[InspectorJon]

I like the chinook. It can be a little harsh when young and benefits from a little aging.

 

[micraftbeer]

I like your hop schedule, should be good. That said, that is A LOT of Simcoe in the dry hop. If you love Simcoe, that should be good because I think it will be intense. I like Simcoe, but usually in combination with other hops because it has a strong/unique flavor.

Only other thing I'd offer up is if I'm making something with a lot of bitterness, I go for 90 minute boils and 90 minute bittering addition. I read about some research that showed 90 minute bittering was found more favorable in tasting than 60 minute. Take it or leave it...

 

[jturman35]

The Gordon GKnight malt bill did call for a 90 min boil. I think you have a point with the 90 min boil and adding to the caramelization that i am looking for. I have seen where others suggest skip the 90 min hop addition and start at 60 min. I guess its a flip of a coin.

 

[jturman35]

I updated the recipe in the original post to reflect the change to a 90 min boil. Can’t wait to see how this turns out.

 

[micraftbeer]

These pictures are fascinating. You must share full view pic and describe what you have going on with your brew rig!

 

[jturman35]

I use the Brew Boss 240v BIAB system since 2018. I dont have a picture of the brew set during the brew process up but I basically recirculate the mash. Below is my complete garage set up including homemade glycol chiller. I am using the fermentation process to purge my serving keg below.

 

[jturman35]

10 days in the keg and really a great beer! Having a hard time leaving this alone. The hops are the star, not enough malt presence for my liking.

 

[mschoeffler]

10 days in the keg and really a great beer! Having a hard time leaving this alone. The hops are the star, not enough malt presence for my liking.

Red X

 

[Indian_villager]

I'm guessing you went with Carastan regular not carastan light?

What more were you hoping for on the malt side? A description may help guide you? Is the character you are hunting for akin to what you would get from Victory Malt?