Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Alroy Irish Red

I've never brewed a Irish Red before.  I feel better already with that off my chest.  Normally I brew hop forward, Belgian style or a stout.  I am brewing this Irish Red (Style 9D) for a friendly brew off with 7 other home brewers.  With a malt forward classical beer like this, the recipes grain bill and yeast choice are my primary focus. Right now I have the recipe in its basic outline using Marris Otter and Belgian Munich as the base grains.  Getting the deep red color will be from a dab of Roasted Barley, Crystal 20 and Crystal 120 additions.  The hops will be Williamette and Northern Brewer.  For the yeast I am creating a huge starter of WLP028, Edinburgh Scottish Ale.  To recreate some of the carmelization that is noted in most of the commercial styles I pre-heated my boil kettle with water. During my sparge (I sparge VERY slow BTW) I turned the burner on full force. 


I am hypothesizing that the heat, sugar and air will create some Melanoidin flavors without the addition of Melanoidin malt.  Since I will not have a side by side comparison at the end I will have to go by feel on this one. 



We are getting together to sample each others beer in May sometime so I might take 2 swings at this beer.  Or do a one and done brew with a longer than normal cold storage.  

I have settled in on a name for this beer.  It will be called Alroy, which is the Irish name for "Strong willed Irish boy, traditionally with brite red hair." 

Alroy Irish Red
Irish Red Ale

 

Type: All Grain
Date: 3/4/2012
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Brewer: Chris Lewis
Boil Size: 6.87 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 68.63 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 19.61 %
6.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
6.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
6.4 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.9 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 8.3 IBU
0.20 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 0.7 IBU
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [Starter] Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.047 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.80 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.95 %
Bitterness: 24.5 IBU Calories: 206 cal/pint
Est Color: 16 SRM Color:
Color

Mash Profile
Mash Name: My Mash Total Grain Weight: 10.20 lb
Sparge Water: 4.27 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 15.30 qt of water at 166.2 F 153.0 F

Mash Notes:
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Notes
Alroy: The meaning in Irish is a Powerfull Irish boy. This is brewed for the 2012 Brew-Off. Planning to "Warm" the kettle to create a melanoidin effect in the biscuit malts.
Created with BeerSmith

Fermentation Notes:  Pitch @ 63 for 4 days.  Free rise to 68 for 7 days.  Put into keg #6 with Co2 Purged.  Put back into chamber until I have the space in the keggor.  (At 67 )

Attempt #2:

My 1st batch of Alroy is still sitting in the fermentation chamber waiting the #IrishRedOFF at the end of May.  Since then I have used the WLP028 yeast on 2 other beers, my Old Glory and my 4th Fargo Lane Session ale.  This yeast is still rocking on.  With the weather being so nice and my yeast still hungry, I thought I would rebrew my Irish Red with a couple tweaks to the recipe.

Alroy Irish Red #2
Irish Red Ale

 

Type: All Grain
Date: 3/4/2012
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Brewer: Chris Lewis
Boil Size: 6.87 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 53.57 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 17.86 %
2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 17.86 %
6.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.57 %
6.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.57 %
6.4 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3.57 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 12.4 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 8.0 IBU
0.20 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 0.6 IBU
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.045 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: TBA SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.24 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: TBA %
Bitterness: 23.6 IBU Calories: 206 cal/pint
Est Color: 17.6 SRM Color:
Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: My Mash Total Grain Weight: 11.20 lb
Sparge Water: 4.01 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 16.80 qt of water at 167.3 F 159.0 F
Mash Notes:
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes

Created with BeerSmith





5 comments:

  1. Hey- this is remarkably similar to an Irish Red I was thinking of brewing. I've had two commercial versions (Harpoon's Celtic Ale, Sound's O'Reagan's Revenge) that I liked much better than Smithwick's or other more traditional takes, mainly because they seemed much more like an Oktoberfest ale-hybrid with a touch of caramel and a roasted finish. How'd it turn out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It turned out great. Spot on with a very traditional example of the style. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete
  2. Hi-
    Which batch turned out better in your opinion? the first or second?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for Commenting, Prost!