Looking at making an irish red but as this is my first attempt at my own recipe I thought I would bounce it off some of you and get some input.
8 lbs Maris Otter
1.5 lbs Caramel 60
.75 lbs Caramel 80
1 oz EKG @ 60 min.
.75 oz EKG @ 25 min.
.25 oz EKG @ 3 min.
Thinking I should drop in about .5 lbs of Caramel 120 as well but the malt flavor may already be
to high with all the Otter. What do you think?
I’d go with one lb of crystal and add 2 ounces of roasted barley for color. 60 or 80L depending what caramel level you desire. I use 80L in mine along with a lb of flaked barley for a creamier mouthfeel.
+1 Cut the crystal/caramel down to one pound and add 2 oz of roast barley
Also, an Irish Red is not about the hops so you may want to back off some there too. According to the style guidelines, there should be “generally no flavor hops, although some examples may have a light English hop flavor”. Obviously it’s up to you to define that, but you’ve got .75 oz of flavor additions. Also, “Hop aroma is low to none (usually not present)” and you’ve got .25 oz. Guess that could be considered “low”.
May I suggest
6 oz Crystal 20 or CaraRed
8 oz Crystal 120
2-3 oz Carafa II Special (Dehusked)
Crystal 60 and 80 will not get you red, more brown
Carafa II special will give only a slight roast flavor, but a deep garnet color
for even less flavor contribution, add the Carafa separately - late mash during mashout or sparge.
All good input thanks. I ran this on BS to start but not sure how good the program is. If I put more hops in at the boil it jammed the high side of the bitterness. From what I understand about hops the longer it is in the more it tends to bitter rather than flavor. Maybe if I raise the time a bit and lower the amount on the second hopping I can get what I’m after. I’ve found in past brews that .25 at 3 min leaves a very slight hop aroma. I use tea balls for my aroma hopping so I can pull it out right away rather than leaving it in as the wort cools. Gives me a little more control I think. I don’t want it real bitter I just want to balance out the sweetness a little. Like your grain idea Dak0415 should add a little complexity to the brew.
what temp are you going to mash at?
I like the caramel flavor from C-40 in an IRA.
thinking single step at 155 should give a med body I think. Higher I think will make to much body.
By George I think I have it. lol
8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter
1 lb Crystal 80
.5 lb Barley, Flaked
0.13 lb Carafa II
1.50 oz EKG 60 min.
0.25 oz EKG 3 min.
IBU should be around 27,
Going to have to two step it I think with the Flaked Barley but that’s not a problem. Should help the head as well anyway.
Appears to to fit the style guide too. Had to knock the Barley down a bit with the Carafa to keep it looking right but I like the slight roast taste idea. Should make it a little more complex.
Thank you All. ;D
what makes you think that?
because I’m new at this and haden’t had a chance to check out all the grains yet. And now after checking I see I don’t . ;D Need time to learn you know it’s only my 8th batch and my 3rd all grain and 1st attempt at making it my self. There are all kinds of little suttle twists to this brewing you can do to change a beer. Change times, heat, amount or type of water. Got to account for the learning curve… See the one star? That’s a nice way of saying NOB.
whoa - didn’t mean that as an offense - was curious because I’ve never known flaked barley to require a step mash, but wasn’t sure - perhaps you had heard otherwise somewhere which is why I was asking - I only use it a few times a year max.
My bad. I was not offended just stating the facts at hand. Got a little short and to the point. All help is welcome and it makes me think and that’s good.
It’s to easy to jack things up and I really don’t want to dump a 5 gal. mistake but I’m sure it’s on my to do list some place. Sorry for being so short and to the point with you.
The IRA came out very well. Almost spot on to Sam Adams version. Tastes and smells exactly like it with the same body, a little darker than I wanted but still has a nice red tone to it also the Barley was a nice touch and gave a good creamy feel.
Guess rather than throwing the Carafa into the mash the next time I’ll just throw it into the sparge other than that it came out just fine. Again Sorry for jumping your case Blatz Just every time I say step mash in the forum someone has a comment as to why I don’t need to or that I should use a Decoction. It’s what I do, gives me more control over ABV and Body and saves time over a Decoction besides a Decoction from what I have researched about it is just an over glorified step mash anyway that takes more time and can lead to problems with color and extracting junk you don’t want that can lead to off flavors and haze. Thanks again for every ones help and input think it led to a very good first IRA. ;D