Red Ale - what do you think

[Goose]

Howdy

Tasted a red Ale by Thornbridge the other day and it ticked a lot of boxes and thought I'd give something similar a whirl but using more aromatic hops to try and give it a bit more nose.

What you reckon on this recipe ?



Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

7.00 kg

Pilsner Malt (3.9 EBC)

Grain

1

60.9 %



2.50 kg

Caramel/Crystal Malt - 150 (150.0 EBC)

Grain

2

21.7 %



1.50 kg

Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC)

Grain

3

13.0 %



0.50 kg

Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC)

Grain

4

4.3 %



28.00 g

Ella (aka Stella) [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min

Hop

5

21.9 IBUs



10.00 g

Ella (aka Stella) [15.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min

Hop

6

6.0 IBUs



50.00 g

Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min

Hop

7

7.3 IBUs



100.00 g

Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min

Hop

8

0.0 IBUs



2.0 pkg

Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml]

Yeast

9

-




Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 35.1 IBUs
Est Color: 35.9 EBC

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

There is a lot of xtal in there

 

[Danwood]

I'd agree, and I love a bit of crystal...

Maybe swap the Munich and crystal quantities around.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I dont think it will be all that red either. Most of those grains are fairly pale

 

[Goose]

cheers fellas.... that's why I threw in that qty of crystal.... mainly for the colour... however its 150 EBC crystal remember

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I would throw a bit of roast barley in it to bring out the red

 

[Goose]

cheers mate.

though I came across this on the beer I am basing it on, which makes the mind boggle...

In terms of malt... At the Birmingham Beer Bash event at the weekend, Dominic Driscoll from Thornbridge gave a talk on speciality malt and by handy coincidence, he talked through the malt grist for Thornbridge's Colorado Red. I've reproduced it below:

"The red ale is one which can be dificult to get right - often brewers produce a brown mess of a beer in a desperate attempt to get the perfect red hue. One of the main secrets is to forego chocolate and roasted malts, sticking with a combination of munich and a variety of crystal malts. Perfect ruby red every time.

58% Maris Otter
27% Munich
7% Crystal
3% Caramalt
3% Dark Crystal
2% Wheat (just a touch for head retention)"

 

[Goose]

this would be the objective:

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Sounds good. :chug:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

82.1 4.00 kg. BB Ale Malt
13.3 0.65 kg. Weyermann Carared
4.1 0.20 kg. Weyermann Caraaroma
0.5 0.02 kg. JWM Roast Barley

 

[Rocker1986]

A dark grain like roast barley or black patent helps bring out that red hue without having to use shitloads of crystal.

My regular red ale recipe contains 300g Caraaroma and 70g Black Patent. It's more of a darker ruby red color than the beer in that photo though, so if you want it lighter then obviously reduce the amount of dark grains.

Just for the hell of it, this is what it looks like:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Please note that Carared does not make your beer red either

 

[MastersBrewery]

I find a small addition of carrafa spec III really brings through I nice deep red.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

A dark grain like roast barley or black patent helps bring out that red hue without having to use shitloads of crystal.

My regular red ale recipe contains 300g Caraaroma and 70g Black Patent. It's more of a darker ruby red color than the beer in that photo though, so if you want it lighter then obviously reduce the amount of dark grains.

Just for the hell of it, this is what it looks like:

Can you post up the full recipi

 

[Goose]

that is almost purple... amazing....

 

[Cervantes]

Please note that Carared does not make your beer red either

I've never used it but was thinking of getting some to make a red ale.

This is what it says on Weyermann's web site

CARARED® 40 - 60 16 - 23

• Red Ale
• Red Lager
• Scottish Ale
• Amber Wheat
• Bock Beer
• Brown Ale
• Alt Beer up to 25 %
• fuller body
• improved malt aroma
• deep saturated color
• red color

Are they over stating the reddening effect?

Edit: Formatting

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Are they over stating the reddening effect?

Yes.

It adds a little bit of red....and by little i mean not very much

Your dark grains like Caraoma, RB, Caraf are your best source of redness.

Many brewers have been caught thinking Carared makes your beer red

 

[Cervantes]

Can you post up the full recipi

+1

 

[Rocker1986]

Can you post up the full recipi

Sure

I have slightly altered parts of it on account of lack of certain ingredients; this is the original incarnation of it, and the one that I think is the best one. It's quite a nice session ale I find, and a nice change up from the usual pale ales and lagers I brew.

4kg Maris Otter Pale Malt
300g Caraaroma
200g Carapils
75g Black Patent
Mashed for 90 mins @ 66C; Mash out @ 78 - 10 mins
80 min boil
20.00 g Cascade - First Wort 80.0 min
9.00 g Magnum - Boil 60.0 min
20.00 g Centennial - Boil 20.0 min
30g Cascade dry-hopped
Brewbrite at 10mins
US-05 yeast fermented at 18C

Est Original Gravity: 1.043 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.4 % (4.7% bottled)
Bitterness: 35.9 IBUs
Est Color: 33.9 EBC

These numbers are for a 25 litre batch. I change the amount of Magnum depending on its AA% but leave the other two additions at 20g always.

This is a BIAB no-chill recipe.

 

[Goose]

thanks for that Rocker

can anyone comment on the difference between black patent and roasted barley ? struggling to find black patent in this neck of the woods....