My First 'Red Ale'

[beanstalk]

 

Tried to put together a brew yesterday. I called it #1 cus I know it will need a lot of attempts to get right.

I want a blood red ale, with toffee and caramel notes but hoppy on the nose.

Here's my recipe:



It went ok, i think I had the mash tun tap on full which drained it quite quickly and meant that I was getting down to 1.010 after about 23 litres so had to stop sparging then. I'm thinking if i had of drained the mash tun slower, then the gravity would have stayed up and i would have got more volume.

It also turned out  too brown, but thats because the crystal I ordered was way too dark as well!

This is the colour it was running from the mash tun, i think it might turn a little lighter.



I also tasted the wort and it was very treacely and a little bitter but I'm hoping this will change after conditioning.

I'm really just flying in the wind here trying to find my fight so any thoughts would be much appreciated!

[DEMPSEY]

A bit high with the mash temp I would have thought .  This is above the range so you will have a high finishing gravity. . The bitterness will mellow a bit after fermentation.

[beanstalk]

Yeah the temp flummoxed me cus I actually went for 69and that was the temp when I first mixed the mash but an hour later it was sitting at 71. Its a bit high but I'd like it a bit sweet.

The chocolate malt is pure black yeah!

Any thoughts on why I ended up with a low volume. Would it be because I drained the tun too quick hence the low gravity of the runnings.

[Qs]

Tell people it's a porter.

[beanstalk]

Hah this might have to happen. It's happily bubbling away now so fingers crossed! 

[DEMPSEY]

Yeah the temp flummoxed me cus I actually went for 69and that was the temp when I first mixed the mash but an hour later it was sitting at 71. Its a bit high but I'd like it a bit sweet.

The chocolate malt is pure black yeah!

Any thoughts on why I ended up with a low volume. Would it be because I drained the tun too quick hence the low gravity of the runnings.

You probably left some sugars behind when you sparged too fast. Did you do an iodine test to see if all your sugars were converted.

[beanstalk]

An iodine test? Didn't realise I could do that. Must check it out!

[DEMPSEY]

Get some from the chemist and use it  to test if you have fully converted the mash as in all the starch has being changed into fermentable sugars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQSbnjerKI

[beanstalk]

I was just wondering, if I were to do this again, colour wise, how would this recipe work out?

4kg pale
250g crystal 80
50g chocolate 1060
50g roasted barley
100g carafe special II (i don't have flaked barley or anything like that)

how would this work out colour wise?

is there anything I could leave out?

appreciate all your help folks!

ps i tasted the first batch there about four days into fermenting, and the bitterness has really melted away, there's a just a lovely aftertouch at the end but its very caramelly. really pleased so far!

[beanstalk]

hmm...the fermentation has stopped at 1.026. is this because of the high mash volume?

should i try adding more yeast to re--start it?

[Qs]

Give it a gentle shake to try and rouse the yeast, might finish out a bit lower.

[DEMPSEY]

High mash produces more Dextrins which are not fermentable sugars so it might mean that it finishes there. But try re rousing first and leave it another few days to see if it drops any lower.

[Bubbles]

hmm...the fermentation has stopped at 1.026. is this because of the high mash volume?

should i try adding more yeast to re--start it?

Might be due to the temperature you're fermenting at? Take a temp reading with a sanitised thermometer and check the optimum fermentation temperature of the S-04 yeast. If it looks low, then move your fermenter to a warmer spot, and rouse the yeast as suggested above.

Apart from temperature, the yeast floccing out too early usually suggests lack of oxygenation, or not pitching enough yeast. But that's unlikely to be the problem here.

As a matter of interest, how did you add your Whirlfloc? From your recipe, it looks like you added it along with the yeast..?

[beanstalk]

Ok thanks folks I'll give that a go! I the the whirlfloc in twenty mins before end of boil, just forgot to write it in so added it in after!

[Will_D]

Remember the acronym:

M.A.L.T

More Alcohol Lower Temperature

If you mash low you get more fermentable short chain sugars - so get a drier cleaner lighter beer.

Higher temp leave some longer chain and so unfermentable sugars - this gives sweetness,body and mouthfeel to the beer