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Irish Red Ale v1.0


I ran across a recipe online for Raging Red Irish Red Ale and it seemed that people who had made it really enjoyed it. I've wanted to brew an Irish Red Ale for a while, so I ordered the ingredients. After they arrived, I realized I had mis-read the honey in the ingredient list as Gambrinus Honey Malt, so my version will be a little different from the original. I'm also swapping the California Ale yeast for Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast, which has a similar attenuation and might be slightly more authentic.

I also decided to use some Brewtan B in this recipe since I had it on-hand and wanted to see how it might help this beer's flavor hold up over time.

Ingredients

4 pounds Two-row Pale Ale Malt
8 ounces Caraaroma Malt
8 ounces Gambrinus Honey Malt
4 ounces Carafoam Malt
4 ounces Melanoidin Malt
1/4 tsp. Brewtan B in the mash
0.5 ounces Crystal hops pellets @ 3.5% AA (60 min.)
0.5 ounces Cascade hops pellets @ 6.9% AA (30 min.)
1/2 tsp. Brewtan B (15 min.)
1/4 tsp. Super Irish Moss (10 min.)
1 packet Lallemand Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
1/2 vial White Labs Clarity Ferm
3 gallons plus 16 ounces starting water in keg

The PicoBrew recipe crafter estimates that the beer should have these characteristics:
  • Original Gravity: 1.062 SG (1.050 SG actual)
    It's worth noting that the BJCP guidelines for the Irish Red Ale range from 1.036 to 1.046.
  • Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.008 SG actual)
  • IBUs: 29
  • SRM: 16
  • ABV: 6.1% (5.5% actual)
  • Batch Size: 2.5 gallons (2.4 actual)
  • BJCP Style: 15A Irish Red Ale
The High-Efficiency Mash Profile was used, unmodified.

The Zymatic step filter's hop basket 1 was loaded with the Crystal hops, basket 2 with the Cascade hops, basket 3 with Brewtan B, and basket 4 with Super Irish Moss.

Post-Brew Notes

07/08/2018: The grain was crushed and added to the Zymatic step filter.  Hops and other ingredients were also loaded. Brewtan B was sprinkled over the grain bed. The water was measured and added to the keg, and the Zymatic told to begin brewing. The brew went pretty much perfectly through the first stage of the mash. Part-way through the second step of the mash, the wort temperature began to fluctuate up and down. This continued throughout the boil. When the brew was finished, and I attempted to pump the wort into a kettle for chilling, it barely came out. I resigned myself to risking a burn by dumping out the contents of the keg. When I removed the black ball lock connector, it made a vacuum style hiss. That sound made me realize that most likely the problem was a blockage in the keg post or tube. I removed the post and found the spring inside to be full of gunk. I cleaned it and made sure that water would flow through the dip tube. After reattaching the dip tube and ball lock post, the Zymatic was able to pump out the wort without a problem. Unfortunately, the flow problems seemed to negatively affect the gravity, with the beer turning out 1.050 SG instead of 1.062 SG.

07/09/2018: Today the gravity is down to 1.035 SG and the temperature has risen from its low of 64F overnight to 69F today. That's 30.1% attenuation and just a hair under 2% ABV.

07/10/2018: I strapped two large ice packs to the fermenter last night, which got the temperature down to 59F around midnight. Today, the temperature is back up to 68F and the gravity has dropped to 1.011 SG. This represents 80% attenuation and an ABV of 5,25%. This is four points lower than I expected to get, and fermentation may not be finished yet. We'll see.

07/11/2018: The gravity has dropped to 1.008 SG now (in fact, since about 7am today), well below the 1.015 SG I expected. This gravity represents 84.24% attenuation and 5.53% ABV. I'll probably cold crash it tomorrow and bottle it over the weekend.

07/12/2018: The gravity is still holding at 1.008 SG.

07/15/2018:  I treated the beer with a half-teaspoon of gelatin and placed the fermenter into the mini-fridge to clarify.

07/22/2018: The beer was bottled with 1 large or 3 small carbonation drops per bottle. Yield was 23 bottles.

07/27/2018: A bottle was placed in the freezer to chill quickly for a taste test.

07/30/2018: Another bottle was chilled in order to taste and photograph. The beer pours a deep red with thin beige head that lingers briefly before reincorporating into the glass. Aroma is malty, with caramel and a little butter (which is in line with BJCP criteria). If hop aroma is getting through, it manifests as a floral hint. Flavor is malty wit hints of caramel, balanced against a light roasty note. Hop bitterness balances nicely against the malt. Mouthfeel is medium. Finish is malty, dry, and mildly bitter. Smooth and easy to drink.
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