imperial red ale - need help

Awhile back I tried the southern tier big red imperial red ale. What a different tasting beer! The description says this beer features hallertau hops. I noticed the incredible aroma too. Does anybody know what makes up this beer? I think the description mentioned Belgian yeast, but not sure. I want to start with a clone of this beer then adapt the hop schedule to other beer styles.

Update from the bottle:
9% abv
20° Plato

2-row pale malt
Caramel malt
Chocolate malt

Kettle hops:
Hallertau magnum
Hallertau tradition

Dry hops:
Hallertau perle
Hallertau magnum


I was not aware of different hallertau varieties. Where can I find these?

arringtonbp said:

Update from the bottle:
9% abv
20° Plato

2-row pale malt
Caramel malt
Chocolate malt

Kettle hops:
Hallertau magnum
Hallertau tradition

Dry hops:
Hallertau perle
Hallertau magnum


I was not aware of different hallertau varieties. Where can I find these?

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I believe you can get the Hallertau from Ritebrew, or hopsshack and i see all of those varieties at midwestsupplies also: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-ingredients/hops/pellets-imported.html

I usually do something like this for my imperial red.

65-70% 2-row
15-20% Munich
5-10% Crystal malts
2-3% Chocolate malt (for color)

You could cut out the munich and add more base malt and up the Crystal malts as well. I like to do (40L & 120L crystal malts) I also like to add some sugar maybe .75 - 1 lb near the end of the boil and I like my reds with lots of hops and usually use CTZ, Centennial and Amarillo. I believe Hallertau would be great. Mt. Hood are similar too if you can't find them locally and need something quick. 20 plato would be 1.083 OG so you would want to finish around 1.014 to get to 9%. I'd mash in the 150-152 area.. Good luck!

Thank you. I'm aware of magnum and perle hops, but haven't heard of hallertau magnum and hallertau perle. Is this because magnum and perle are derived from hallertau? Also can I get the flavors I'm looking for here in an extract beer?

arringtonbp said:

Thank you. I'm aware of magnum and perle hops, but haven't heard of hallertau magnum and hallertau perle. Is this because magnum and perle are derived from hallertau? Also can I get the flavors I'm looking for here in an extract beer?

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IMO it is harder to get the flavor with an all extract batch but if you can steep grains and do a pm that should work.

On the hops I believe the are from the "Hallertau region".

From wiki on the German varieties of perle and Magnum

Perle
German dual-purpose hop. Often used in combination with other hops. Spicy and slightly floral/fruity. Substitutes: Hallertau, Mount Hood, Liberty.

Magnum
A high alpha acid bittering hop with mild flavor and low aromatic characteristics. Commercial examples include Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Pale Ale, and Hoptimum. 12-15% alpha acid.

Seems liked the dry hops I listed (perle and magnum) are used more for bittering and aren't really aroma hops. But this beer had an incredible aroma. Sweet from the malts, for sure, but also smelled of oranges and quite floral. All I can figure is that they must have dry hopped the hell out of it

if a hop is referred to as a bittering hop, that is just what it is most commonly used for. it doesn't mean it can't be used for other additions with good results. if the brewery says they use them for the dry hop, I see no reason for you not to.

Hogarthe said:

if a hop is referred to as a bittering hop, that is just what it is most commonly used for. it doesn't mean it can't be used for other additions with good results. if the brewery says they use them for the dry hop, I see no reason for you not to.

Click to expand...

True.

Anybody tried this beer or tried to clone it?

arringtonbp said:

Update from the bottle:
9% abv
20° Plato

2-row pale malt
Caramel malt
Chocolate malt

Kettle hops:
Hallertau magnum
Hallertau tradition

Dry hops:
Hallertau perle
Hallertau magnum


I was not aware of different hallertau varieties. Where can I find these?

Click to expand...

I think I have figured out what I want to do. I am thinking of taking the Northern Brewer Dead Ringer IPA recipe that I have brewed in the past and changing the hop bill to feature these hops (magnum, tradition, perle). Could this work? Should I make any other changes? Any recommendations?


This would have the following:
1 lbs Briess Caramel 40
9.15 lbs gold malt syrup

Whatever kind of hop bill I can come up with to fit this profile. The Dead ringer IPA is like this:
1 oz centennial (60 min)
1 oz centennial (20 min)
2 oz centennial (5 min)
1 oz centennial (dry hop)

I would replace these with Magnum, Tradition, and Perle hops (probably dry hop with magnum and perle).