RecipeDB - Better Red Than Dead

[Fatgodzilla]

Still a house favourite at Chappo Manor. FatzG thought I might tweak a little bit more from the original?

Like the look of it TC. Throw a few into bottles and keep aside for November .. reckon a few months rest will be good for that critter !

 

[chappo1970]

I'll save 3 from this latest batch and 3 three from batch #3 for ya Fatz!

I found she takes a bit of conditioning to come good. The problem usually is that's about 5 pints away from the keg blowing.

Still loving this recipe FatzG it's a cracker!

Cheers

Chappo

 

[manticle]

Soon to place a grain/yeast/hops order with this recipe in mind. Tried the monteith's celtic the other day and it reminded me of the time I tried this. My lady love was also impressed with the Monteith's so I suggested I could make something for her in the same ballpark.

 

[manticle]

Just pitched my yeast. Date was August 09 so the swelling was almost immediate and I had krausen on my starter within hours.

Wort tastes lovely. I had to replace the marris otter pale ale with JW ale malt so I hope that doesn't make a msasive difference. I also got a touch more wort than expected (pots are tiny so I often do a second boil) and mashed one degree hotter (still working out heat loss in my tun). I may have to wing adding slightly more hops in the second boil (recipe additions done in the first lot) but otherwise the recipe was followed very closely.

 

[manticle]

Probably needs another week of conditioning but damn this is a lovely beer.

Malty and rich, nice creamy, lasting head, slight hint of bitter at the back of the palate.

 

[chappo1970]

Probably needs another week of conditioning but damn this is a lovely beer.

Malty and rich, nice creamy, lasting head, slight hint of bitter at the back of the palate.

It's a cracker huh? Knew this recipe would be right up your alley! Glad to here it was a success. Can't wait to see what you think of it after it done some time in the bottle.

Chap Chap

 

[manticle]

Definitely on the 'will be brewed again' list.

 

[lespaul]

Soon to place a grain/yeast/hops order with this recipe in mind. Tried the monteith's celtic the other day and it reminded me of the time I tried this. My lady love was also impressed with the Monteith's so I suggested I could make something for her in the same ballpark.

Just about to get into drinking this, but i was wondering if anyone else can recommend a beer that i can buy to compare it to?
Cheers

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Just about to get into drinking this, but i was wondering if anyone else can recommend a beer that i can buy to compare it to?
Cheers

No, found nothing commercial that is easily available. I was looking for a good red ale after expressing my disappointment in Kilkenny - found the cans with the widgets looked good in the glass and loved the creamy head, but otherwise was a flat tasting brew (does the same to Guinness - love that stuff without the nitrogen)

Buy a Kilkenny can. In my side by side comparisons, I could tell these brews were distant cousins but the HB was clearly a better drinking brew. More body and the mild carbonation added to the mouth. If your Kilkenny tastes better than your HB, you haven't brewed it right !

 

[manticle]

Monteith's celtic red is the closest but this recipe stands above it by head and shoulders.

I like kilkenny but way less dimension than this brew (or the monteith's)

 

[MeLoveBeer]

No Irish Red I've found has the complexity of this brew... if anything its managed to turn me off Kilkenny and other beers brewed to style (they're very bland and boring compared to this).

 

[Lecterfan]

Hia ll,

I've got my first version of this on the go at the moment, I am going to rack later this week and pitch some slurry into another brew of this type.

I was thinking for the next one:

3kgs ale malt (JWM)
1.5kg Munich
250gms Melanoiden
250gms crystal
60gms roast

Fuggles for 45, Goldings for 15 all to total 26IBU.

Whaddayazrekonabout melanoiden in there?

Ta.

 

[manticle]

I've not used melanoiden in anything (if needed I decoct for that characteristic) but if you look back a page or so, you'll see Fatz has used it in some of his versions.

 

[Lecterfan]

Well spotted...thanks Manticle. I have read the topic, but only skimmed it again today. Should have used the search function I guess. Interesting to see that he has also swapped the munich for vienna. I was keen to try some melanoiden as the LHBS has got some in and I thought I'd grab some to see how it goes. I have neither the spare stovetop space or patience for a decoction attempt at my infantile AG stages. Mostly I like to say the word melanoiden. It sounds like something that you have removed in a day procedure.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Well spotted...thanks Manticle. I have read the topic, but only skimmed it again today. Should have used the search function I guess. Interesting to see that he has also swapped the munich for vienna. I was keen to try some melanoiden as the LHBS has got some in and I thought I'd grab some to see how it goes. I have neither the spare stovetop space or patience for a decoction attempt at my infantile AG stages. Mostly I like to say the word melanoiden. It sounds like something that you have removed in a day procedure.

The original recipe for this beer was lifted from Zymurgy and a number of blokes have brewed it with some success. Various experimentations with the recipe has seen people make good variations of the original. It seems that the basic (original) recipe is quite simple and relatively bulletproof, but by tweaking with different special malts the brewer can achieve outcomes that suits their particular palate.

250g of melanoidan is not excessive - I've used 400g. But I also had about 7kg of melanoidan on hand back then so I was happy to chuck it in a lot of brews I was making then. It does add some red hues and I like a strong malty dominance in this style of beer. But I will say again, use an appropriate yeast. The US-05 was not the best choice. I'll get a scottish / irish liquid yeast soon as I want to make a few of these red ales this year for case swaps and competition.

 

[Lecterfan]

Well I've tasted both versions (the first being true to the recipe, the second using melanoiden)...

...and I can't really comment yet! The first is 4 weeks in the bottle, very nice initial taste, slightly too much alc warmth and I think in part this is due to me fermenting it out a bit too warm (wyeast 1084 is the only yeast I've ever had stall on me so maybe I was a touch over-cautious when using it again). Also I used beersmith at %65 to formulate the recipe but failed to take into account that I am gaining a bit of experience and my OG (in the fermenter) for this one was 1.059...finished at 1.014.

The second version tastes much cleaner but it is only 2 weeks in the bottle so is still a bit undercarbed...it went from 1.052 - 1.012.

Guess I'll just have to keep brewing!!!

(there is a photo of the first version in the "what's in the glass" thread).

Cheers!

 

[big78sam]

I will be brewing this soon and am debating a yeast selection. I don't have Irish Ale yeast but I do have 1187 Ringwood and 1469 west Yorkshire. My LHBS also has most dried yeasts but not liquid yeasts. There have been some less than glowing reports about us05. My options are

1 - use 1187 or 1469 and ferment low as I'd image fruity esters aren't what you want with this beer.
2 - use a dry yeast (maybe Nottingham?).
3 - make a special trip to G&G for WY1084 (I plan to get 1084 at some point and if options 1 and 2 above won't do the job I could just leave it in the cube until I get the chance to go to G&G.)

Any thoughts?

 

[big78sam]

Bump...

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Any english ale yeast should be okay, but definately stick with the 1084 if you can get your hands on it (its worth it).

 

[Lecterfan]

A little update on this recipe as I've had quite a lot of it sitting around since being bottled in December. I've mostly been drinking APA's and as such this has had time to mellow right out.

I enjoyed both versions of the recipe, but the second version (with melanoiden etc) served at a close-to-ambient temp through a hand pump/beer engine was beautiful. The fuggles and EKG floral/herby spicness was coming through nicely.

In future I will carb this a bit lower and use the "pocket sparkler" trick (until I can pick up a hand pump of my own). My only feedback is that the colour of the original recipe is a touch too dark for my liking...I'll probably drop the roast and carared back a touch and increase the bitterness to maybe 32ish IBUs.

Cheers.