Irish Red recipe help?

[DonMagee]

I've decided I'm going to do a Irish red after some begging from my friends. The only problem is, I've never made a red before and I'm also fairly new to recipe creation. So I'm looking for some feedback on this recipe. I'm hoping for a medium to deep red color and just slightly dry.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.04 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.10 gal
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 13.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
9 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0
London Ale (White Labs #WLP013)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 13.50 qt of water at 161.7 F 151.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.47gal, 3.65gal) of 168.0 F water


Thank you in advance!

 

[beeber]

I would reduce the crystal 60 to 4 oz and add 4 oz of CaraRed. You want the final product to be on the dry side. And you may want to consider using an Irish Ale yeast like wyeast 1084 which will give you the dryness, fruit and esters you're looking for. I like hops so I would also add another addition of 1/4 oz goldings at 10 min, but that is optional.

 

[DonMagee]

The local shop didn't' have carared, so I just reduced the crystal 60 slightly. I'm still undecided on the yeast, but I'll be brewing this saturday, so I have a little time yet.

 

[solbes]

I might drop your Roasted Barley to 3 oz. Minor change I know, but RB can have a pronounced effect. I used 2 oz in 5 gallons and thought it was perfect.

 

[SkiNuke]

Shoot for an SRM of about 15-16. My Irish Reds have been on the 13 SRM side and I have been disappointed. Maybe do 8 oz 80L and 4 oz 60L or boost the Roasted Barley an ounce or 2. The rest looks great.

 

[bchurch]

I've been working on one myself and I agree to aim for 15 to 18 srm if you like the deep color. My last batch is at 14 and not deep red enough yet, that was with 3 ounces RB. Also I would up the last hop addition to .5 oz. I used wyeast Irish ale. Good stuff. Let us know what you end up with and how it turns out.

 

[DonMagee]

I brewed this last weekend and so far so good. Gravity is stable I'm just giving it a bit more time to clear then I'll rack to the keg. The color looks pretty good so far.

 

[DonMagee]

*Edit: I just tasted this tonight, it is much better in terms of flavor and clarity. I think what we were drinking last night still had a lot of trub in the glass. Even though we threw out the first 2 pints it was very murky. Tonights pint however was much clearer (still not perfectly clear) and has a much better flavor. It's dry with a strong biscuit/grain flavor and almost no noticeable hop flavors.

So just a few tasting notes. I ran out of CO2 because of a leak I didn't detect when I first hooked up the keg. So it isn't as carbed as it should be (but still drinkable). There is a very strong biscuit flavor and some roasted notes in the background. It hasn't really cleared much in the keg (this is my first time legging) and is actually much more cloudy than any batch of beer I have ever brewed in the past. My friend who tasted it with me thought it had a bit of yeast bite as well. It has a smell that is exactly like killians (not sure if that's a good thing). The color is a dark red, almost a brown. I missed my FG and ended up high around 1.014 instead of 1.010.

Overall it is a drinkable beer, but not nearly my best. I think a lot of the off flavors are due to just a lot of bad luck with this beer. First, I missed my mash temps and had to use infusions to get to the temp. Then I missed my OG and FG, and finally the beer sat without CO2 for who knows how long because the tank had ran out (not sure if this would affect the taste).

I'll probably need to brew this again to see how to really tune this recipe. I might look at cutting down on the maris and adding in some 2-row to cut down some of the biscuit taste, everyone said it's a bit over powering. But it's still a pretty green brew, so maybe my opinion will change in a few weeks.

 

[MDVDuber]

Beers like this with roasted grains often benefit from extended aging. If you can, let it sit in the Keggerator for 4 weeks or so before drinking it again. The flavors tend to round out very nicely in that time.

 

[solbes]

It's only been 3 weeks since it was brewed, right? Too early to say on this one I think. I would give it at least a week or two before really judging this one.

Another reason why I naturally prime my kegs. The additional 2-3 weeks of bulk aging in the keg helps me keep my hands off the tap handle. Then they get 4-7 days of fridge time and they are usually good to go.

 

[DonMagee]

I had high compliments tonight. My friend asked me if I really brewed this beer because he likes it that much. I do agree it needs more time aging however. But besides clarity, it's turning out to be pretty good.

 

[MDVDuber]

My first try at an Irish Red was using this recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/irish-red-1st-place-hbt-comp-141086/. I brewed it and a Stout on Jan 8th for a St. Patrick's Day party. It was by far the most popular of the beers I had on tap that night (Dry Stout, 70/- also). But when I finally kicked the keg 3 weeks later - it was an even better beer!

I just rebrewed this weekend and now have to sit and wait MONTHS to drink it....... Good thing I have an Evil Twin and an English IPA carbing up!

 

[DonMagee]

MDVDuber, I'll give that one a try the next time I brew a red.

My final conclusion is this is a good beer. Everyone who drinks it enjoys it and besides a few errors in the execution I'm not sure I'd change it.

 

[billf2112]

I like to use only a primary on my irish reds, but they sit for atleast a month to 6 weeks. They end up so smooth.

 

[DonMagee]

Had a party last weekend and everyone was raving about this beer. The time in the keg has caused it to a crystal clear into a deep dark ruby red. Overall I'm much more impressed with this beer now that is has sat around for a bit. I'd brew it again in a heart beat.