Red Rover

[Jonkl]

So I'm thinking of doing an Irish Red, and was looking for some feedback. I'm using WLP013, mostly because it's my "house" English yeast, and it's cool in my fermentation room now, so any big esters should be suppressed. Most of the information I've found is either folks who haven't tried it aren't sure if it's too much, and folks who have who thought it was okay. If you've tried it and found it wanting, please let me know.

Red Rover (Irish Red Ale)

Right now, I'm getting about 60% efficiency, so I'm planning for that range.
2.5 Gal Batch size.

Est Original Gravity: 1.051 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.2 %
Bitterness: 21.6 IBUs
Est Color: 13.8 SRM

4 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) 78.4 %
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 8.3 %
8.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) 8.3 %
4.0 oz Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) 4.1 %
1.0 oz Roasted Barley (700.0 SRM) 1.0 %

Mashing at 148F for 75 min for dryness. The yeast is really attenuative, so I may only mash for 60 at that temp, to keep a little body.

0.40 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 12.5 IBUs
0.30 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min 7.2 IBUs
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)
0.30 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min 1.9 IBUs

1.0 pkg London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) [35.49 ml] (Actually slurry from the fridge)

 

[m00ps]

4oz peat malt in 2.5gal is going to give a very strong smoky peat character. I would try cutting that in half

 

[Jonkl]

Good catch. I actually checked my records, and I did an amber this past summer that was about the same size that used 3oz. It was good, but I think even that gave a little more peat than I want here. I'll probably pull it back to 1oz, which hardly seems worth it, but it'll make a good experiment to see what a minimal amount of peat "seasoning" is like. Thanks.

 

[Jonkl]

This one's ready. I ended up at OG-1.062 and 6.3%ABV, so it's a little stronger than style, but flavor wise it's about what I was looking for. Maybe not as sessionable as I'd hoped, but oh well. I could probably cut back on the Special Roast a little, and maybe bump up the Peat from 1oz to 2oz (maybe). And adjust my expected efficiency on 2.5gal batches up about 10% or so. (It's still low for 1gal.)

My wife said I should have named it Wild Rover - but that would mean I have to bug it up with Brett. Hmm....