Cara Red vs Roasted Barley vs Rye Malt for Redness...

[barneey]

The brew day (use up recipe) is here

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=61983&hilit=green

[RobWalker]

nice! i think that's about as red as any of us can hope to get...

here's where I got to in the end. It's not a bad colour and my photo isn't too accurate because my camera is shitty.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 18.00 L
Boil Size: 20.60 L
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 33.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 92.6 %
0.25 kg Caramunich Malt (160.0 EBC) Grain 5.8 %
0.07 kg Roasted Barley (1220.0 EBC) Grain 1.6 %
10.00 gm Topaz [13.70%] (30 min) Hops 12.5 IBU
20.00 gm Topaz [13.70%] (5 min) Hops 6.5 IBU
10.00 gm Topaz [13.70%] (10 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
10.00 gm Topaz [13.70%] (0 min) Hops -

it might interest you to know that topaz arn't great on their own.

[barneey]

Believe me its taken a fair while to get a red, easy to go too blond or dark very much trial and error, just hope I can repeat the colour again - something about "red" pints is more appealing to drink IMHO.

The cara3 + wheat combo also give a nice foam/head to the beer, just wish I had added more hops to the brew.

It will be good to see other examples with the C3.

[Clibit]

Had a pint of Thornbridge Colorado Red tonight, very nice beer, and have discovered this whcih reveals the Thornbridge thinking on red coloured ales...

"In terms of malt... At the Birmingham Beer Bash event at the weekend, Dominic Driscoll from Thornbridge gave a talk on speciality malt and by handy coincidence, he talked through the malt grist for Thornbridge's Colorado Red. I've reproduced it below:

"The red ale is one which can be difficult to get right - often brewers produce a brown mess of a beer in a desperate attempt to get the perfect red hue. One of the main secrets is to forego chocolate and roasted malts, sticking with a combination of Munich and a variety of crystal malts. Perfect ruby red every time.

58% Maris Otter
27% Munich
7% Crystal
3% Caramalt
3% Dark Crystal
2% Wheat (just a touch for head retention)"

Another interesting thing about this beer is that, although it was created by an American brewer for Thornbridge, it uses English hops, and I was surprised to find that out, as it had a typically lush American hop feel. Ratebeer tells us that it "has been hopped instead with a massive amount of oil-rich English hops including Admiral, Bramling Cross, Phoenix, Pilgrim and First Gold".

Might have a go at making a beer based on this malt and hop info.

[sllimeel]

Very interesting and added to the "to do" list, thank you.

Had a pint of Thornbridge Colorado Red tonight, very nice beer, and have discovered this whcih reveals the Thornbridge thinking on red coloured ales...

"In terms of malt... At the Birmingham Beer Bash event at the weekend, Dominic Driscoll from Thornbridge gave a talk on speciality malt and by handy coincidence, he talked through the malt grist for Thornbridge's Colorado Red. I've reproduced it below:

"The red ale is one which can be difficult to get right - often brewers produce a brown mess of a beer in a desperate attempt to get the perfect red hue. One of the main secrets is to forego chocolate and roasted malts, sticking with a combination of Munich and a variety of crystal malts. Perfect ruby red every time.

58% Maris Otter
27% Munich
7% Crystal
3% Caramalt
3% Dark Crystal
2% Wheat (just a touch for head retention)"

Another interesting thing about this beer is that, although it was created by an American brewer for Thornbridge, it uses English hops, and I was surprised to find that out, as it had a typically lush American hop feel. Ratebeer tells us that it "has been hopped instead with a massive amount of oil-rich English hops including Admiral, Bramling Cross, Phoenix, Pilgrim and First Gold".

Might have a go at making a beer based on this malt and hop info.

[leedsbrew]

If it's good enough for Thornbridge then I'm all in on that one!!

[leedsbrew]

That's quite red!

Although their website stated the following

Colorado Red
Hopped Red Ale

Has hints of subtle toffee malt, complemented by a mix of dried fruit, candied peel and fragrant hops. A great balance of citrus and roasted malt characteristics
ABV 5.9%

Guess the marketing dept didn't talk to the brewers! lol

[Clibit]

Good spot. And, in the cold light of day, the morning after the 5.9%, that grist above could never produce such a dark red colour, surely? What's going on?!

Edit: On reflection though, i have a beer I'm about to bottle that is just MO and Crystal 40 and it's not a million miles away from that colour. I was surprised. Chuck some dark crystal in and perhaps. And crystal malts are roasted. I'm going to try this Thornbridge grist soon, I have all the malts, but I have none of the hops listed above so I will probably check out some other recipes and concoct something, for now. Try to do the English hop blend described at a later date, hopefully with some hop schedule info.

Any suggestions for now? I have: EKG, Fuggles, Aurora, Bobek, Willamette, Green Bullet, Columbus, Chinook, Citra, Cascade, Centennial. I've got Columbus and Willamette in the one I'm about to bottle, all added last 20 mins and steep.

[Clibit]

This is Randy Mosher's India Red Ale grist, similar to the Thornbridge, but different.

Pale Ale Malt (50.03%)
Munich UK (39.16%)
Crystal 40 (5.87%)
Crystal 120 (3.92%)
Black Malt (1.04%)