Red Ale / American Red Recipe

Beer Recipes
1

So I am looking to make an American Red Ale for st. patricks this year. I’m really looking for a red as you can get colored brew. I came across these recipes and pictures http://www.craftedpours.com/homebrew_recipe-recipe-type/red-ale-recipe Recipes and Pictures
I am most curious about the Mosaic Red Ale recipe. It states:
Malts

10 lbs Golden Promise Malt

8 oz. CaraRed

8 oz. Flaked Barley

6 oz. Crystal 70

4 oz. Crystal 100

Hops (Pellets)

1/2 oz. Mosaic 13%a, 60 minutes

1 oz. Mosaic 13%a, 30 minutes

1/2 oz. Mosaic 13%a, 10 minutes

Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast

Any input? I want to make an american red version of this. Changing out GP for 2Row and using the C hops instead of mosaic

2

What’s the SRM?  I shoot for about 14.  Also, I personally like to use only one Crystal if any.

What’s the IBU?  Are you going for an Irish reddish malt forward, or more bitterness?

3

that seems like a lot of crystal to me too, thinking of dropping the 70 and 100 and go with 60.  this is not my recipe, just one from the site because I like the look of it.  So im trying to make an american version of irish red. So, enough malt to know its a red but more hoppy.

4

I agree to shoot for 13-14 SRM. I would keep the carared and possibly use some dehusked roasted malt (carafa, midnight wheat, etc) to make up any color if necessary. Since it is a red, I suppose I could see using a significant amount of crystal if you aren’t planning to mess with the recipe too much.

5

for an American amber/red, its pretty spot on as far as the crystal % goes - I often see upwards of 15% in these styles.

however, for an Americanized irish red, yeah one crystal and some carafa is prob the way to go.

6

So are you saying something more like
10 lbs 2 Row

8 oz. CaraRed

4 oz Carafa

or leave flaked barley?

7

As Blatz noted, maybe keep the crystal pretty high for a red. Maybe a pound or more of the carared?

8

but drop the other crystals and flaked barley?

9

I will defer to others on that. I keep most of my recipes very simple out of personal preference with 2-4 malts total; usually 3 unless I am doing something dark or complex.

Based on the original recipe, I would do:
10.5# two row
1# carared
3 oz carafa special III

Again, that’s just me. Someone else will likely have better advice…

10

That red color in beer is a tough one to nail.  I’ve bounced all around it with various recipes, and none have finished exactly where I had hoped in terms of color.  I’ve had some that were dark reddish, and orange-red, and brown-red, but none have been that beautiful ruby red (yet).  Odell Isolation Ale this year is a decidedly ‘RED’ color if you don’t pour in the dregs.

From my experience in seeking a solid RED, I’ve determined that the beer needs to be very bright (near brilliant) to showcase the red color.  So much so that I would sacrifice a little flavor and body with finings just to ensure the clarity was spot on - granted, I’ve never hit “spot on”.

The color malt choices also need to be pretty tight, and need to mesh well with the other color malt contributions. A little too much orange in one malt and you’ve got brownish-reddish ale; a little too much dark malts and you’ve got brown-amber ale; a little too little color and you’ve got orangeish ale.  Starting minimal and making subsequent batch adjustments seems like the ideal place to start. Three malts is probably an great place to start like goschman suggests.

In regards to roast malts for color, I would caution against midnight wheat for finding your ‘red’ color. I’ve used it a couple times for this purpose and each time it pushed things into a solid ‘brown’ category.  I’ve made a hard rule for my brewing that midnight wheat is only used for coloring beer into the brown side of things, I have to look elsewhere for red.  UK Crisp Roasted Barely in very small amounts has some red color to it, but use too much and the bits of roast character can be perceived, as I’ve experienced on a few batches.  Black Patent is said to give some red in small amounts as well, but I’ve never played with it myself.

So there you go, more information to add to the already tough decision.  I’ll be interested in what you finally settle on and how well the ‘red’ color pans out.

11

Sounds like some solid feedback and experience.

The perfect red beer for me was a 100% Red X lager at 1.050 (surprise, surprise). I think the color estimate was right at 13 SRM which is why I target that number knowing it may end up a different hue. I have little experience in using different roasted malts to reach that red color although roasted barley is classic for an Irish Red right?

My Amber lager uses a couple oz of midnight wheat, is 11 SRM, and approaches red but definitely has that orange quality to it.

Obviously color estimates are just that. My 13 SRM beer might be identical in color to someone else’s 15 SRM beer…

12

Jamil’s Irish Red in Brewing Classic Styles is spot-on.  Maybe make that with a large amount of American hops?  Not sure if the American hops would clash with the grain bill though.  I’d hate for you to end up with a Fat Tire clone.

13

thanks for all the info. im gonna brew it within 10 days or so. ill post pics.

14

jamil’s evil twin (can be found in articles on Mr.Malty.com has a great blood red color. Pretty much an overcomplicated grain bill, but everyone loves the outcome. As written it is a hop bursted red with no bittering hops, but you could change hop schedule to anything you wanted. I think the base beer could take on any number of different hop schemes and come out great. Just another thought that nails the red color for me

15

My formula for a really red beer is make a basic amber ale (SRM 11-12) with base malt and 40L-75L caramel malt.  Sometimes use another specialty malt like Special Roast, Biscuit, Melanoidin or maybe a second caramel malt.

Then add Midnight Wheat or Roasted Barley or Carafa 3 to get it to 15 SRM.  The amount of dark malt is usually 2-4oz in a 6gal batch.

Use a yeast that will drop really clear or use finings.  If it isn’t clear, it won’t be red.

This produces a deep red beer every time.

16

That’s pretty much exactly what I’ve always done - add roasted barley (around 2 oz) to an amber to hit 14-15 SRM, then fine it clear as hell.

17

This is what happens when a red beer isn’t clear

Yuck

18

How did it go ?
I’m trying this receipe next week and I scale it down a little bit.

Thanks