Hoppy Red

AsharaDayne

Active Member
Trial Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
143
Reaction score
74
Points
28
I'm looking forward to soon brewing a hoppy red ale, inspired by this recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...ginning-homebrewers-hoppy-red-ale-recipe.html
I'd welcome your thoughts. Here's where I am at present:

Fermentables:
(20L batch, boil size 12L)
3 kg Pale Ale DME (half as late addition)
0.2 kg Honey (late addition)

Steeping:
0.5 kg Carared
0.25 kg Caramunich III
0.056 kg Roasted Barley
(my supplier kindly prepared that mix for me)

Hops: I don't have the Centennial or Amarillo the recipe calls for, so I'm considering.
I have: Cascade, Comet and Perle (all from Germany); Hallertau Blanc, Glacier, Polaris, Sorachi Ace, Pilgrim and Magnum.
I'm thinking bitter (FWH, 40 mins) with Magnum + Comet (15g each), flavour with Cascade and Glacier at 5m. I thought about adding some Polaris, HB, or SA, but I feel like there's already enough stuff in there.
I don't plan on dry hopping, that should suffice.
For this, the calculator gives me OG 1.059, FG 1.014, IBU 43.24, BUGU 0.73. Seems a tad tame, maybe I should boil a bit longer or hop a bit harder?
Haven't decided on yeast yet, S-04 or Nottingham I assume.
 
Looks tempting this one all I've herd about red ales is the hops don't shine through too good. I hope you prove this wrong look good.

I see your recipe source uses Chico yeast.
 
Mind the roast...A red ale shouldn't give you burnt notes. I'd use one once instead of 2 of the Roasted Barley if you can get to the color you want.
Hops: I don't have the Centennial or Amarillo the recipe calls for, so I'm considering.
I have: Cascade, Comet and Perle (all from Germany); Hallertau Blanc, Glacier, Polaris, Sorachi Ace, Pilgrim and Magnum.
Cascade is the proper sub for either Amarillo or Centennial. The noble hops are all fine with the possible exception of Perle (minty?) Glacier is a nice, mellow hop and would fit with just about anything. Hallertau Blanc is a great flavor/aroma hop but it's pretty subtle. I'd save it for a Kolsch or lightly hopped Blonde. I think Polaris is one of the big danky fruity hops. Interesting to use inconjunction with Magnum/Cascade maybe. Probably stay away from Sorachi - very distinctive flavor with some lemon/floral a herbal/dill notes (way better than it sounds). Not familiar with Comet or Pilgrim.
I'd bitter with Magnum and load up on Cascade and Polaris toward the end or Glacier/Cascade and a pinch more Magnum.
 
Last edited:
Looks tempting this one all I've herd about red ales is the hops don't shine through too good. I hope you prove this wrong look good
Better pump in a bit more of the green stuff then.

bitter with Magnum and load up on Cascade and Polaris toward the end
Sounds like a plan!

Thanks Gentlemen
 
  • Like
Reactions: J A
Mind the roast...A red ale shouldn't give you burnt notes. I'd use one once instead of 2 of the Roasted Barley if you can get to the color you want.
Yeah... The mix is readymade by the supplier. I wasn't about to rummage through it and pick out the roast barley. Fingers crossed :) and noted for next time
 
  • Like
Reactions: J A
Comet is a very old American hop, which imparts grapefruit and wild, grassy american. Good for bittering ( mine have 10.5 AA , bought from TheMaltmiller UK ), but they are also nice for dry hopping.

I would definitely not skip dry hopping. Use Comet and Cascade for this.

You can boil for longer, if you want a higher OG.

As for the yeast, I would use US-05. S-04 might leave too much fruitty esters and will definitely not attenuate as good as the Chico strain.
 
Comet is a very old American hop, which imparts grapefruit and wild, grassy american. Good for bittering ( mine have 10.5 AA , bought from TheMaltmiller UK ), but they are also nice for dry hopping.

I would definitely not skip dry hopping. Use Comet and Cascade for this.

You can boil for longer, if you want a higher OG.

As for the yeast, I would use US-05. S-04 might leave too much fruitty esters and will definitely not attenuate as good as the Chico strain.

The brew's in the fermentor, gurgling away. I've opted for my go-to S-04. Since I'm just starting out, I'm trying to keep some constants in my brews, so I'm sticking mostly with the same yeasts. Also this one was always nice to me ^^

I'm familiar with Comet's description, but you know what, every single website has that "wild american" descriptor and I haven't the slightest clue what that might mean concretely. But I made a small "belgian" IPA batch with them and wheee! It tastes awesome. Very eager to let them shine in a proper brew.

I'm just really adverse to dry hopping... I have been known to change my mind, though.
 
To brew is to learn mr Dayne ;) only you know what you like eho_O? I'm looking forward to seeing how he/she turns out.​
The brew's in the fermentor, gurgling away. I've opted for my go-to S-04. Since I'm just starting out, I'm trying to keep some constants in my brews, so I'm sticking mostly with the same yeasts. Also this one was always nice to me ^^

I'm familiar with Comet's description, but you know what, every single website has that "wild american" descriptor and I haven't the slightest clue what that might mean concretely. But I made a small "belgian" IPA batch with them and wheee! It tastes awesome. Very eager to let them shine in a proper brew.

I'm just really adverse to dry hopping... I have been known to change my mind, though.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing how he/she turns out.​
Me too, my good man!

At 1.012 it appears to be close to FG and it tastes interesting. My palate wasn't clean enough for a decent tasting, but I definitely got Polaris' pine/eucalyptus, and with the grains, it does fill the mouth more than a plain extract brew. Naisu!
 
Well, it went into the bottle a little over a month ago and I have been tasting it a few times. At first I thought it was too bready. I guess I'm not used to that much malt presence. I still find it a little "chewy", but it's bearable :D I definitely get hops with Polaris clearly dominating. As I said, eucalyptus/pine/menthol. Not sure I get any fruitiness.
It's quite a refreshing drink, actually. The "cold" flavours nicely offset the maltiness.
As for color, it isn't really red, more of a copperish amber. Not bad-looking, but not quite what I was expecting.
All in all I'm quite happy with the recipe. If I brew it again, I might try to tweak the steeping malts, and to get a more differentiated hop profile.

I should note that I pressed and added some cherry juice into the priming water, on the off chance it would help me get a redder color, but I think the amount was negligible. Which reminds me, I recently tasted a cherry beer and the taste reminded me very strongly of Polaris hops. I wrote the brewers about it and they told me they don't use Polaris, just Brewer's Gold or whatever they have, and that taste is just fresh cherries. So maybe my cherry addition potentiated the Polaris feel
 

Back
Top