Red Ale Recipe

[Will]

I'm putting together a basic Red Ale and would appreciate some advice / critique on the following. Using two different crystals to use up leftover grains.

22 Litre Batch

Maris Otter - 4.5kg (89.1%)
Crystal 340 EBC - 0.16kg (3.2%)
Crystal 113 EBC - 0.29kg (5.7%)
Roasted Barley - 0.1kg (2%)

Fuggles - 40gram - 60 minutes

Rehydrated Safale 04

Est OG:　1.051

IBU: 21.4

Cheers

[Parky]

Hi Will, my two cents ...

Any time I've brewed a red ale I've added a flavour hop addition. If you had some more fuggles, or even east kent goldings, you might consider throwing in 10g at 20 minutes, but it's not necessary.

Also, when mashing I tend to keep the temp on the high side to promote a lot of body - say 153-154F (67.7C) for 60 minutes, but it's a matter of personal taste what kind of body you like in a brew.

Choice of yeast, IBUs, and %s on grain bill look spot on. The two different crystal malts will add a bit of complexity too, especially with the 340EBC in there, you'll have a nice rich flavour - should be a nice drop! 

[Will]

Cheers Parky.

I'll add 10g fuggles at 20mins and play with the IBU to ensure it balances out at 21 IBU ish.

I was aiming to mash high to promote body. I'm a big fan of smoothness - what do you think of adding wheat/oats?

[Parky]

I'll add 10g fuggles at 20mins and play with the IBU to ensure it balances out at 21 IBU ish.

In my experience it will give the beer a bit more of a hop character, which suits my own taste, although some prefer a cleaner, maltier profile.

Love a smooth brew too, but haven't used wheat or oats in an Irish red before (would this make it hazy???). Flaked barley might be more appropriate for this style (if you can lay your hands on some), as it can certainly improve body, head retention, and give a creamy smoothness.

I've found that aging helps quite a lot in giving a nice round smoothness to malt forward ales.

Personally I'd keep it simple though, as the recipe you have looks like a good one, Hope that helps!

Edit - Just saw this article that might be of interest - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/carapils-vs-flaked-barley-vs-flaked-oats-vs-wheat-218130/

[Will]

Thanks Parky.

I'll keep it simple and post up the results. I've a 'red ale' conditioning at the moment which has turned into more of a brown ale / stout due to the amount of chocolate and brown malt I bunged in. So hopefully this time round I'll nail it.

[Will]

Brewed this yesterday and it was my first time re hydrating yeast. Good krausen and lots of activity within 5 hours!

I made a slight error and forgot to calibrate the yeast mixture to pitching temp before putting it in. Therefore it went in slightly warm to the touch but this has cooled.hopefully I won't have caused much harm.

[Parky]

Well done Will, sounds like the yeast is making short work of all those fermentables!

Let us know how it all turns out in a few weeks 

[beerfly]

similar to my red, still dialing it in but last one was

82% pale malt
11% crystal
5% carapils
2% chocolate

about 28 ibu's northern brewer

wlp005

might swap the carapils for flaked barley next time see what kind of change that has