Farmhouse Style "Red Ale" - Recipe Feedback

[Dickster86]

Hi All.

I am looking for some feedback on an extract recipe i am looking to do. Am wanting something that is very malty, redish in colour, with complex hop notes, and a fairly high ABV. I will be putting it into kegs and bottles, and will be naturally carbonating the kegs not force carbonating.

1 x 1.5kg Tin Amber Malt Extract
2 x 1.5kg Tin Light Malt Extract
1 x 1.5kg Tin Wheat Malt Extract
500grams Caramunich III grains
4 x 5g Cascade Hops
4 x 5g Willamette Hops
4 x 5g Mosaic Hops
Ale Yeast (High Attenuation, High Sedimentation, High ABV Tolerance)

1) Place grains in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.
2) Steep Grains in 2L of hot not boiling water for 1 hour
3) Strain liquid into a large pot and discard the grains
4) Add an additional 3L of water to the pot as well as the Amber Malt
5) Bring to the boil. Once boiling add 5g of each three hop varieties
6) After 20 minutes add another 5g of each three hop varieties
7) After 20 minutes add another 5g of each three hop varieties
8) Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV)
9) Add the 3kg of Light Malt and 1.5kg of Wheat Malt to the FV
10) Top up the fermenter with cold and warm water to reach a total volume of 25L at approx. 22 degrees Celsius
11) Sprinkle the yeast onto the top of the FV then leave to ferment for at least 7 days
12) Halfway through the fermentation add a hop infuser bag to the fermenter filled with 5g of each three hop varieties
13) Once fermentation has completed and SG readings over two consecutive days stay constant bottle or keg, priming with appropriate level of dextrose or carbonation drops.

Also havent quite worked out the yeast yet. But seeing as i am in brisbane, and the weather could turn hot at the drop of a hat. I was seriously contemplating trying a saison yeast even. might give some nice fruity flavours that will go well with the hops. Also thinking i will likely go with a slightly larger boil as otherwise it will be a bit thick using a whole can, and also will probably use two packs of yeast

 

[Gigantorus]

[SIZE=12pt]Hi Dickster,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]My comments would be.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]What size batch is the recipe for? 23Litres? If so, then 6kg of malt extract could be over-doing it a touch. 1.5kg of each of the 3 types would be more inline with general brewing recipes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Red colour: Where do you anticipate the red colour to come from? CaraMunich3 won't give you that. You'll get a good red colour from: Red X, Redback, CaraAroma etc. Also CaraMunich 3 is a specialty malt and only needs a steep of around 30 mins (not 1 hour). I did an Irish red Ale recently (Partial-mash recipe) and used Red X Malt, which gave a nice red glow. See attached pic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The Boil. No real need to put the liquid malt into the boil at the start. Just put them all in together at the end of the boil (flameout) or into the fermenter after you strain the wort into the fementer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Yeast. Yeah a Belgium style yeast. i.e. Belle Saison (Danstar), Belgium Abby (Mangrove Jacks) etc. If you go a big malty brew then you will need 2 to 3 packets of yeast to ensure a good ferment. Also some of the recipes I've seen also suggest stepping up the fermentation temp - start at 22C, then slowly work the temp up to 30C etc. Having a brew fridge and temp controller helps to do this.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Good luck with it. Should be a hoot. I'm in Brisbane as well. Damn hot in Summer - you really need that brew fridge and temp controller.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Cheers,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Pete[/SIZE]

View attachment Irish-Red-Ale-Pic.pdf

 

[Dickster86]

Thanks for the feedback @Gigantorus.

The batch size i am going for is 25L in total. I added the wheat extract but think i might just go with the two lme and 1 ame. I will have to have a bit of a think about it. some wheat flavours would be good.

It was more of a copperish hue i suppose i was hoping from the Caramunich3. But i shall see what better options are at the brew shop because i do like the look of a dark red beer, something different for the mates when they come around.

Oh ok. Interesting. Most of the other recipes i had seen (which i semi based this on) all said about bringing the grain mash and malt extract mix to the boil together then add the hops at the different times. Your suggestion would definitely be much better in so much as it will stink the house out less which will keep the missus happy.

I do like the look of the belle saison and this is probably what i will go with. The brew fridge is definitely the next step. Luckily i have an under stairs room which stays fairly constant but would be great to be able to brew lower temp beers in summer.

 

[Dickster86]

I have made a few adjustments based on yours and some other advice....

1 x 1.5kg Tin Amber Malt Extract
2 1 x 1.5kg Tin Light Malt Extract
1 x 1.5kg Tin Wheat Malt Extract
500 Grams Caramunich III grains
500 Grams WY CARAAROMA MALT (for more of a reddish hue)
4 x 5g Cascade Hops
4 x 5g Willamette Hops
4 x 5g Mosaic Hops
3 x 10g Cascade Hops (for boil)
3 x 10g Willamette Hops (for boil)
3 x 10g Mosaic Hops (for boil)
1 x 5g Cascade Hops (for finishing)
1 x 5g Willamette Hops (for finishing)
1 x 5g Mosaic Hops (for finishing)
Ale Yeast (High Attenuation, High Sedimentation, High ABV Tolerance)
2 x 11g Danstar Belle Saison (rehydrated)

1) The night before chill 10L of water in the fridge
2) Place grains in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.
3) Steep Grains in 2L 5L of hot not boiling water for 1 Hour 30 Minutes
4) Strain liquid into a large pot and discard the grains
5) Add an additional 3L of water to the pot as well as the Amber Malt
6) Bring Wort to the boil. Once boiling add 10g of each three hop varieties
7) After 20 minutes add another 10g of each three hop varieties
8) After 20 minutes add another 10g of each three hop varieties
9) Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV)
10) Add the 3kg 1.5kg of Amber Malt, 1.5kg of Light Malt and 1.5kg of Wheat Malt extract into the FV
a. Soak the tins in hot water prior to opening, and rinse the tins with some boiling water to get all of the extract out
11) Top up the fermenter with cold and warm water to reach a total volume of 25L at approx. 22 degrees celcius
12) Sprinkle Gently pour the rehydrated yeast onto the top of the FV then leave to ferment for at least 7 days
13) Halfway through the fermentation add a hop infuser bag to the fermenter filled with 5g of each three hop varieties
14) Once fermentation has completed and SG readings over two consecutive days stay constant bottle or keg, priming with appropriate level of dextrose or carbonation drops.

 

[Gigantorus]

[SIZE=medium]Dickster,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]25L is good. I've started doing 24L batches - 23L for bottling and 1L for sampling while bottling. [/SIZE]J

[SIZE=medium]No worries. Have enjoyed using CaraMunich3. Also enjoy Shepherds Delight Malt as well.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Don't get me wrong - you can throw a little malt extract in at the beginning of the boil - I've also seen recipes for pale ales. Most tend to throw in at flameout or just add to fermenter, as you get a cleaner flavour out of it. There is not real requirement to put malt in the boil early. Whereas the steep/mash liquid does need to be pasteurised to kill any unwanted bacteria. Yeah the malty aroma does fill the house a bit - I'm usually smell malt for 2 days after brew day.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Re the yeasts. Do a little research and maybe have a chat to your local home brew shop person. The saison/Belgium yeasts all have slightly different characteristics. Yeah my old brew room is also under the internal stairs and was fairly constant temp in Summer - it did get up to 29C a couple of years back. 29C is good for saisons etc. but not for light pale ales though. The brew fridge and temp controller are a blessing - also go for cold crashing the brew, which really cleans it up. Fridge also go for doing lagers, which need 12C to ferment etc.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]In terms of the dry-hop. I generally dry-hop the last 4 days before bottling in a 14-day fermentation - this ensures the majority of the fermentation process has been completed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Hey have you played with the IanH brewing spreadsheet yet? It's in the Kits & Extract Page at he top. Well worth it for working out your recipes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Look forward to hearing how it all goes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Cheers,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Pete[/SIZE]

 

[Wolfman1]

You might want to do a little sparge of the grains at step 5. You can use about another 3 litres of water (2 Litres just boiled, 1 lites cold puts you at about 70C)
If you can get a grain bag, or even through a strainer and pour the hot water through the grains to get the last of the goodness out of them. Certainly the first couple of litres will get a lot more colour.

That then becomes your 8-10L for your boil, if you have a pot big enough.

If not, then figure out how much you can get into a pot and work out a similar ratio.
I think you do want to have some of the malt in the boil volume to get better results from the hops.
As gigantorus recommends, pick up the spreadsheet and it will tell you how much to add to get to about 1.040 gravity for your boil. Without the malt you are likely to not reach the IBU and it'll end up quite sweet.

The hops are going to pong the house out, irrespective of the malt. I can only recommend a thorough clean of the kitchen and floors, doing all the laundry, vacuum and dust as penance.

 

[Dickster86]

Thanks wolfman and gigantorus. I had a look at the spreadsheet (that ian fellow is a champ). and yeah i will add about 400 grams (1/3 of a tin) of one of the malt extracts to the boil. And definitely agree that a sparge is a good idea too. I might just reduce the initial steeping volume depending on the size of the pot (might need to measure that tonight)

Yeah i think i'll just be on cleaning duty for a while. In fairness though she does drink the beer too, and im the only one who buys the equipment and materials, so i feel its a fair deal.

 

[LAGERFRENZY]

What is the size of your fermentation vessel mate? Reason I ask is most threecan brews make for one hell of amount of krausen so if the vessel is anything less than 40 litres I would either be filling to 19 litres then topping water up on second or third day of the ferment or be fitting a blow-off tube.

 

[Gigantorus]

What is the size of your fermentation vessel mate? Reason I ask is most threecan brews make for one hell of amount of krausen so if the vessel is anything less than 40 litres I would either be filling to 19 litres then topping water up on second or third day of the ferment or be fitting a blow-off tube.

Yeah good point this.

 

[Dickster86]

What is the size of your fermentation vessel mate? Reason I ask is most threecan brews make for one hell of amount of krausen so if the vessel is anything less than 40 litres I would either be filling to 19 litres then topping water up on second or third day of the ferment or be fitting a blow-off tube.

hmmm. Thanks Lagerfrenzy. That is a really good point actually. Mine is just a standard 30L plastic carboy like what you get in the kits. Perhaps i might drop it down to a 22L or something like that. I have done some pretty heavy brews before that had a higher volume. That said i also just realised that the last two brews i did i made up to 28 instead of 23 litres (way to not be able to count, go me).