Red X Malt
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rshortt
Well-Known Member
Here's my SMASH with Hallertau Tradition in the spirit of a Vienna Lager. OG 1.048, FG 1.010, 25 IBU. W-34/70. Clear and tasty! Red too.
sivdrinks
Well-Known Member
Here's mine about 10 days into carbing at serving psi.
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505-Brewer
Well-Known Member
I have a sack of this malt. My original intention was to make a Maibock replacing Munich with this malt. Now I'm thinking more along the lines of a near 100% Red X malt beer. I see some comments on the flavor being Munich like, but how much so? I'm guessing its not as cloying, but not really sure.
How malty is this malt? Could i do a step mash to get a very fermentable wort and do a 100% red-X saison for example, or would it be too malty? Could i do a red IPA ? Looking for insight on the flavor profile. where is this malt best served?
Loving the pics of the red beers - some of them are quite special looking.
Cheers and thank you in advance for any info
How malty is this malt? Could i do a step mash to get a very fermentable wort and do a 100% red-X saison for example, or would it be too malty? Could i do a red IPA ? Looking for insight on the flavor profile. where is this malt best served?
Loving the pics of the red beers - some of them are quite special looking.
Cheers and thank you in advance for any info
rshortt
Well-Known Member
It's not nearly as malty as you may think. I've made beers with mostly dark Munich and this stuff isn't the same intensity. My 100% Red-X malt lager is light and easy drinking. In fact it's a bit under malty for the Vienna Lager style.
505-Brewer
Well-Known Member
Double post argh.
505-Brewer
Well-Known Member
So it's like 2-row and crystal 40 all in one then? Clearly I need to brew with it. Imperial Red Saison this weekend it is. I'll use some tropical hops (Rakau and Citra), make it too hoppy for a true Saison. Do a 11 gal batch, half with 3711 and half with 3711/Forbidden fruit/Brett Brux blend I have in another table saison. Oh and I'll dry hop it too.. Dang now I'm thirsty. Alas I'll probably learn nothing about the malt with all that so next weekend..........haha
sivdrinks
Well-Known Member
Mine is kinda like a Red IPA. It gets better with age IMO. Like others have said it's not quite like Munich, for me it comes across with more of a Irish/Scotch Ale kinda taste. I wouldn't use it as a sub for Munich FYI.
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sivdrinks
Well-Known Member
I get more of a mid/high crystal malt flavor. I wouldnt say Martis Otter at all , just me.
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I opened my last SMaSH bottle a few days ago. It was definitely a nice red hue, but I'm still not sure if it's any redder than any other beer of similar SRM.
As far as the taste, I honestly have no idea how to describe it. However, my batch was from milled grain that had sat around for about 6 weeks, and I think it may have been a bit stale.
I feel like it kind of falls somewhere in the Vienna/Munich spectrum but possibly a little lighter/sweeter? Really hard to describe. I'd like to try it again with fresher grains.
As far as the taste, I honestly have no idea how to describe it. However, my batch was from milled grain that had sat around for about 6 weeks, and I think it may have been a bit stale.
I feel like it kind of falls somewhere in the Vienna/Munich spectrum but possibly a little lighter/sweeter? Really hard to describe. I'd like to try it again with fresher grains.
CptnRedbeard
Active Member
How did that barleywine turn out? I'm trying to figure out a good imperial red ale to brew this weekend and looking for some hints or a good starting point.
CptnRedbeard
Active Member
How did that barleywine turn out? I'm trying to figure out a good imperial red ale to brew this weekend and looking for some hints or a good place to start.
Brewmex41
Well-Known Member
Drinking one now. Its great! What are you aiming for? I can help you out.
CptnRedbeard
Active Member
Well lately I've been brewing pale ales, blondes, and ciders, all really easy drinking casual stuff. So I want something bigger and more complex this time. I've also just switched to all grain.
I don't know. Something good. I'm looking for inspiration.
I don't know. Something good. I'm looking for inspiration.
Brewmex41
Well-Known Member
Ok well the barleywine i brewed was
pale 2 row
crystal 10l
crystal 120l
honey malt
magnum to bitter
simcoe for flavor/aroma.
You can start there and adjust for the abv you want, adjust the mash temp for the dryness and adjust the hops for bitter balance and flavor.
I have a red ipa i do from time to time.
Pale 2 row
crystal 60
wheat malt
and maybe an oz of midnight wheat to get to the 15-18 srm range
magnum to bitter
then simcoe, citra and amarillo for the late additions.
Since this is a red x malt thread maybe you can sub the pale 2 row and midnight wheat for red x and see if you like it.
wobdee
Junior Member
Just tapped this Red X Sterling smash with Wyeast 2124 and 5 weeks lagering at 34 degrees. OG 1.055, single Schmitz decoction boil of 30 min and a 90 min regular boil. Taste is malty and clean but not quite as malty as Munich malt. Still tastes great. Going to enter it in my club smash contest next month. Its red!
wobdee
Junior Member
I didn't use much Sterling, about 25 ibu's, just enough to balance it out. I was looking more to taste the Red X and see if it was similar to Munich malt.
Can I make an Amber Ale with just red x?
according to BYO, this is how you make crystal malt...
To make crystal malt place green malt on a cookie sheet in a 212° F oven for one hour or until the grains turn golden brown. Crystal malt imparts sweetness and brown color to homebrew without the burnt flavor characteristic of roasted malts.
I realize red X isn't "green" so would toasting it only give you the toasted/nutty flavor?
3 brewing friends and I are making red X smash beers, i can cheat and toast some, but I don't want the nutty flavor, so maybe 1.051 gravity 30ish ibu beer w/o toasting is the only option?
thanks
according to BYO, this is how you make crystal malt...
To make crystal malt place green malt on a cookie sheet in a 212° F oven for one hour or until the grains turn golden brown. Crystal malt imparts sweetness and brown color to homebrew without the burnt flavor characteristic of roasted malts.
I realize red X isn't "green" so would toasting it only give you the toasted/nutty flavor?
3 brewing friends and I are making red X smash beers, i can cheat and toast some, but I don't want the nutty flavor, so maybe 1.051 gravity 30ish ibu beer w/o toasting is the only option?
thanks
Well, according to the executive of Bestmalz, RedX is just a blend of Melanoidin and Munich malt, in other words, you cannot brew a smash with RedX.
Cheers, Philipp
rshortt
Well-Known Member
Source? Iany idea on the proportions? I feel kind of ripped since I already keep melanoiden and Munich malt on hand.
That I could believe. It does lend a rich maltiness to the flavor and it does contribute a lot of color. A normal Pils of mine runs around 7 SRM. Essentially the same recipe but using RedX for about 5/8 of the base malt ups the color to 16.7 which alone, of course, renders the appearance a pretty deep red but no more so than if any other malt or malts were used to raise the SRM that high. An unusually red appearing beer (Kriek or Framboise) will have a first spectral deviation coefficient of around +1. A typical pilsner will have that coefficient around -0.5. This beer (with the RedX) has a coefficient of -0.053.
The normalized spectra of Pils w/ and w/o redex are shown below. The Redex beer does appear to haev transmission of a couple percent more than the pure pilsner malt beer above 600 nm. Is that enough to make the products look unusually red? No one I've shown this beer to thinks so.
wobdee
Junior Member
Then why does Best Malz say you can use up to 100% Red X right on their site? It worked just fine for my SMASH.
I don't think it tastes quite as malty as a 100% Munich beer IMHO.
You surely can brew a 100% RedX beer and and there are numerous examples of it but hence RedX is a blend of malts it will, per definition, never be a S(ingle)M(alt)S(ingle)H(op)
Also, Melanoidin malt is often reffered to as "Turbo-Münchner" which means bluntly that it will boost up your maltiness, kind of munich malt on speed.
If you want to read more about the RedX, have a look at the german hobbybrauer.de there are loads of threads about it.
Cheers, Philipp
This is interesting news which I hadn't heard before. Based on the taste, like aj I can believe it as well.
As far as the proportions, it would depend on whether they use light or dark munich but it shouldn't be too easy to figure out.
I would expect that for their purposes they would use the Best "dark" munich which is 8-12L (~10). Their Melanoidin is 23-31L (27L).
Red-X is listed as 11-13L. If you were to blend their Melanoidin with their dark munich, you would need about a 9-1 or 10-1 ratio to get there. E.G. 5lbs of Dark Munich and 8oz Melanoidin would average 12.1 SRM.
BTW I have a red-X beer fermenting right now. Red-X, Rye, a pinch of Cara-Aroma and a decent amount of Mt. Hood. Interested to see how it turns out.
rshortt
Well-Known Member
I totally agree with this.
JordanKnudson
Well-Known Member
Interesting, I hadn't realized that this was a malt blend.
For the question of the SMaSH brew, though, I wouldn't worry too much about that "Oh it's not a single malt" business. For most folks (I think), SMaSH brews are a way to keep it simple, and test out an individual malt and hop variety. So even if RedX is a blend of two malts, you still buy it as "RedX," not separately as Munich and Melanoidin; so if you're just trying to brew a SMaSH with it to see what it tastes like, who cares? You'll know what RedX tastes like and be able to make decisions about how to use it in the future.
Besides, it's not like SMaSH brews have some inherent merit just because they "only contain one malt," beyond their simplicity and ability to let you taste the malt without interfering flavors of other malts (exactly what I bet you'd be looking for with a RedX SMaSH, since it's a "new" variety). That's kind of like when people imply that beer brewed to the Reinheitsgebot is somehow better than a beer with a spice addition. It's just technical nitpicking, and it's totally not what homebrewing is about.
I'm imagining the original question, "Can I brew a SMaSH with this," was concerning whether or not it has enough diastatic power to convert, or if you would have to use another base malt to assist. To that question, the answer is that you can use 100% RedX, no problem.
For the question of the SMaSH brew, though, I wouldn't worry too much about that "Oh it's not a single malt" business. For most folks (I think), SMaSH brews are a way to keep it simple, and test out an individual malt and hop variety. So even if RedX is a blend of two malts, you still buy it as "RedX," not separately as Munich and Melanoidin; so if you're just trying to brew a SMaSH with it to see what it tastes like, who cares? You'll know what RedX tastes like and be able to make decisions about how to use it in the future.
Besides, it's not like SMaSH brews have some inherent merit just because they "only contain one malt," beyond their simplicity and ability to let you taste the malt without interfering flavors of other malts (exactly what I bet you'd be looking for with a RedX SMaSH, since it's a "new" variety). That's kind of like when people imply that beer brewed to the Reinheitsgebot is somehow better than a beer with a spice addition. It's just technical nitpicking, and it's totally not what homebrewing is about.
I'm imagining the original question, "Can I brew a SMaSH with this," was concerning whether or not it has enough diastatic power to convert, or if you would have to use another base malt to assist. To that question, the answer is that you can use 100% RedX, no problem.
Red x w/tettnang hops. Just kegged, i dig it. Nice malt flavor. I'm not sure I'm tasting the hops yet, maybe with a full pint I'll have a better idea. I was shooting for 17 srm, doesn't look like i got it
OG 1050
FG 1012
Nottingham ale yeast
1/2 oz tettnang @ 60
1 oz @ 28 (missed 30 min mark)
1/2 oz @ 8
OG 1050
FG 1012
Nottingham ale yeast
1/2 oz tettnang @ 60
1 oz @ 28 (missed 30 min mark)
1/2 oz @ 8
Brewmex41
Well-Known Member
Is there a way to get any confirmation on the report that this is a Munich/Melanoiden blend?
I just cracked open an 80/20 blend of Red-X/Rye + Mt Hood that I made. I will say that it really does remind me a lot of melanoiden. There's a flavor that I always get from melanoiden malt when I use more than 2 or 3% of it that is pretty distinctive that I get a lot of from Red-X.
So, the munich/melanoiden blend does sound right to my taste buds. then again I may just be looking for those flavors, as lots of people seem to think it's not as malty as munich. Shrug.
It was pretty red, though!
I just cracked open an 80/20 blend of Red-X/Rye + Mt Hood that I made. I will say that it really does remind me a lot of melanoiden. There's a flavor that I always get from melanoiden malt when I use more than 2 or 3% of it that is pretty distinctive that I get a lot of from Red-X.
So, the munich/melanoiden blend does sound right to my taste buds. then again I may just be looking for those flavors, as lots of people seem to think it's not as malty as munich. Shrug.
It was pretty red, though!
Just found this thread. Our local homebrew shop is clearing out the last 3 sacks of this malt. I'm thinking Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest, Irish Red, Dunkelweizen, maybe an American Amber lager.
wobdee
Junior Member
Any updates on this malt? I brewed a smash with it last year and it turned out pretty good. Just bought some more and plan on brewing a 1.050 lager and hopping it like a pilsner.
gointomexico
Well-Known Member
We use it for Lisa Red IPA. and Holly Red. At higher OG (1.064) it makes it a little too dark, so we use about 10% gambrinus pale ale malt to lighten the beer.
wobdee
Junior Member
I found this in my search for your question. I've also emailed Best about this and haven't heard back. I think it makes more sense that it is a blend of Munich, Melanoiden and a light Caramunich. I don't see how malting a single grain around 12 L would make a really red beer.
http://www.homebrewdad.com/view_topic.php?topicid=467
Hmmm... interesting. Thanks for that.
FWIW I'm not sure the fact that it's a blend or not makes much of a difference. A malt or a combination of malts that give you a 12SRM beer is going to be pretty red, regardless, I think. At the very least, I'm not sure a "blend" is necessarily any better than a single malt. Maybe, but only slightly. Shrug.
I really liked my 80/20 Red-X/Rye/My Hood Altbier though.
wobdee
Junior Member
I have a club buy coming up and I'm kind a on the fence over whether I buy a sack of Red X or Dark Munich. I'd like to try the Red X in my Oktoberfest and Dunkels instead of the Munich.
