I want to try to brew an Irish Red Ale in a month or two. I like dry yeasts since the LHBS is a 220 mile round trip. Any thoughts and recommendations are greatly appreciated.
I have heard that US-05 works fine for an Irish Red. I think you want something clean with little to no ester production.
US-05, or Nottingham
US-O5 can give acceptable results (I would ferment cool - 60F).
I have also wanted to try the new Lallemand ESB yeast for one and would ferment that in the cooler range too.
I have both of those on hand. Also s-04 and MJ Burton Union M-79.
Mother of god.
I’ve never tried it, but I bet that k-97 at fairly low temps would work
Well, this is the West…bad and good. Looong way to the LHBS but my neighbor can’t see me pee in the bushes. 
I have packet of k-97 on hand too. But I’m hesitant to use it (again). Four months ago I tried it on a kolsch. Bad idea! Turned out kinda sour or slightly vinegary. Could have been a slight infection maybe? Dunno, but I’m a little gun-shy on that yeast.
I don’t think that’s an infection. When I tried K97 on a light beer I got tart flavors. Off topic, but, I think K97 will work well for an American Wheat. Supposedly American Wheat yeast (WY1010) is a mutation from this Alt yeast. I think they have similar flavor but one flocs better than the other.
Sorry to go off topic here. I am glad you have pointed out some tart character from K97. Normally I have used it in beer styles where it works well but I did a couple German inspired brown ales that had a strange tartness as you noted. It did seem to fade with time but was pretty discouraging with relatively young beers.
I did use it in a wheat beer and it worked great.
My experience with K-97 has also led me to steer clear of it. I’ve used several “kolsch” (or german ale) yeasts over the years and this one is not for me. I don’t get the “tart” very much, but perhaps it’s overshadowed by the sulfur production of the strain (regular old high oxygen batches). The aroma I get reminds me of low tide or a brackish wetland smell. No bueno.
Edit: I also wouldn’t pick US05 for an Irish red ale due to it’s powdery nature; you gotta have really clear beer for the red color to be striking. Wyeast 1056, on the other hand, flocks and sediments really well, so I might choose it if I didn’t have access to much else.
Yes, I agree! I don’t get tart either, but I do get a bit of sulfur from it.
What temps are you guys fermenting K97 at? I have noticed the tartness but not the sulfur in any way. I am normally 60-62F.
To the OP, I could see not using 05 if you have a hard time getting it to clear. I don’t have much of an issue that others report though it usually takes a couple of weeks in the keg.
One batch (alt) was at 60F, and one batch (kolsch) was at 66F - both have significant sulfur but the alt/60F is less. My buddy has also put about 7 beers through his taps using K97 and they all have the same sulfur-aspect in common - some to higher/lesser degrees than others. One thing is for sure, once I picked up on the sulfur aspect of this strain it’s very hard to ignore.
Thanks. I was very excited when they released this strain and was hoping to use it often. I have been using it for hybrid styles so haven’t really evaluated it in the proper context.
Derail done…sorry
No worry, I sorta started the derail when I mentioned the tartness in a kolsch with k-79. The derail confirmed that maybe it was the yeast and not a problem in my process.
OK, back to topic: Dry Yeast → Irish Red Ale?
I’ve had success with US-05 and Nottingham
Both US-05 and Notty are pretty clean yeasts, no? Do I want clean in an Irish Red or do I want a little more ester complexity? Or do I get complexity (spicy, fruity or ?) from the malts?
You don’t want esters. From what I can tell from the style guidelines you want a clean yeast and complexity should come from the malt and hops.