Red IPA

[Madmannvan]

Wanted to give a red IPA a go. This is what I came up with not sure if you would even call it a red IPA but it's red in color and will hopefully be nice and hoppy.

Red Bucket IPA

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.020
ABV: 5.90 %
Calories: 215IBU's: 70.55
Efficiency: 70 %Boil Size: 4.27 Gal
Color: 14.3 SRM Batch Size: 3.50 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.061Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
NameDays / Temp
Primary7 days @ 64.0°F
Secondary14 days @ 70.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
AmountPercentageNameTimeGravity
8.00 lbs80.00 %Fawcett Maris Otter Pale Malt60 mins1.038
1.50 lbs15.00 %Carared60 mins1.035
0.50 lbs5.00 %Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L60 mins1.034

Hops
AmountIBU'sNameTimeAA %
1.00 ozs62.46Magnum60 mins14.00
1.00 ozs8.09Goldings, East Kent10 mins5.00
1.00 ozs0.00Goldings, East Kent0 mins5.00
1.50 ozsGoldings, East Kent7 days5.00

Yeasts
Wyeast 1217 smack pack

Additions
AmountNameTimeStage
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient15 minsBoil

Mash Profile
Light Body Infusion60 min @ 150.0°F
Add 12.50 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 167.6°F
Sparge
Batch Sparge 11.77 qt ( 0.00 qt/lb ) of 170.0°F water over 15 mins



Notes

Split dry hops half @ end of ferment
Half in keg hops

 

[m00ps]

I would definitely switch out most of that crystal for another specialty malt to get it red. Crystal has no place in IPAs IMO. Some like a bit, but the general consensus is its not good for IPAs. You could use a bunch of munich or red x malt to get the color. Or possibly 3-4oz of roasted barley. The crystal malts will clash with the brisk hop character and it really muddles things out

Do you have any other hops? I only ask because EKG isnt anything near what I would call "hoppy." I tried to make a noble IPA once with 14oz of sazz and EKG and it still didnt even seem like an IPA. One ounce of something like Columbus would get you a more prominent hop character than that EKG.

 

[joe_four_strings]

I brewed a Red IPA a few weeks ago and used 4oz of Pale Chocolate malt (in a 8lb total grain bill) to get the color. Worked great.

 

[Yooper]

That's too much cara- type malts. The max I would ever use is 15% total, and that's only in a well hopped American amber. For a red IPA, I'd cut that by quite a bit and use only 7-12%.

Here's a grainbill for one of my favorite IRAs (10 gallons):
18 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) 79.1 %
2 lbs Borlander Munich Malt (Briess) (10.0 SRM) 8.8 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) 6.6 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 3.3 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 2.2 %

Carared gives red color, but so does RedX malt from what I understand. A little chocolate malt or roasted barley added to some crystal malt can give a red color as well, and Munich malt has an orange-ish hue so mixing Munich malt, and light and dark crystal does turn fairly red.

 

[Madmannvan]

Would something like this be better


9.00 lbs90.91 %Fawcett Maris Otter Pale Malt60 mins1.038
0.75 lbs7.58 %Weyermann Carahell60
0.15 lbs1.52 %Chocolate Malt60 mins1.034

 

[Madmannvan]

And as for the hops, I haven't used ekg before and thought I'd give them a try. But if they will fall short on a hoppy beer I am up to try any other variety.

 

[m00ps]

you really cant go wrong with typical american hops for an IPA. Just pick a flavor type to stress and find hops that fall along that line. Or you ould pick a particular hop you like, and find other ones that compliment it. My favorite combo so far has been citra, huell melon, and belma. It makes a very unique strawberry melon peach character that is so different than anything Ive tasted in a beer before. But belma and huell melon arent really usual IPA hops so I end up having to use a lot of them

really any american hop starting with a C is fair game

 

[brent1395]

Skip the Carared, it won't make your beer red. I know this seems impossible since it has the word "red" in it. I tried making 3 or 4 red ales of various types using Carared, but despite its name, it turned my beers amber. I kept trying it and trying it because it had the word red in it, so it has to make my beers red, right? Wrong. Do a google search of Carared and you will find lots of people saying Carared ain't red. It also tastes bland and boring. Much different than your standard Cara 20 malt. More of a malty flavor and less sweet.

For a red color, do a bit of a medium and/or dark crystal and a bit of roasted barley, as others have suggested.

As for your hops, EKG is great in other styles but too mild of a hop if you are looking to make an American style IPA. There are a ton of better choices: centennial, amarillo, simcoe, columbus, cascade, citra...

 

[mrdail87]

And as for the hops, I haven't used ekg before and thought I'd give them a try. But if they will fall short on a hoppy beer I am up to try any other variety.

Personally I love Chinook in a red, the pine and caramel flavors blend to give a sweet resiny flavor.

But as for how to adjust your malts and hops, I think it would be more helpful if you could describe the kind of flavors you're looking to achieve.