Just made a clone of Richard's Red Ale this Saturday. Any advice or opinions is appreciated.
May 27th 2006:
Took 10 lbs. 2 row pale malt & 1/2 cup roasted barley to mash in my cooler with 15 quarts H2O @ 168F. Initial temp only 147F had to add 5 more quarts to bring to 152F. Mashed for 1 hr, final temp. 149F.
Learning’s - My 54 quart cooler is way too big, too much surface area, need smaller cooler so I don't have to add so much water. 2:1 ratio should give me a highly fermentable wort, with a medium body.
Sparged with about 4 gallons H2O @ 173F, collected 21 quarts (I had 3 gallons in one pot and 2 1/4 gallons in another - had about 1 gallon more wort, but ran out of pots)
Learning - Buy bigger pots, why dump wort?
Initial pre-boil gravity 1.048
Boiled for 1 hr with 2 oz of Kent Goldings (4.1% AA).
3 gallon + 1 oz = 31.6
2.25 gal. + 1 oz = 42
So pro-rating that I get (31.6*3/5.25) + (42*2.25/5.25)=36 IBUs
I use this calc. for IBUs
www.strandbrewers.org/techinfo/hopcalc.htm
Cooled in tub with ice for 45 min. to 66F, pitched Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast.
OG (after boil) = 1.059
Yield to primary 15 quarts
Fermenting nicely...
June 3rd 2006:
Racked to secondary - looks good and red, smells great!
Some time between June 3rd and 21st - Whoops! The recipe called for 8lbs of 2 row, I bought 10 because it came in 5 lb bags - didn't mean to add it all - just realized this, but I added too much hop IBU's for the beer I was trying to replicate anyway, so the added malt sweetness should balance that bitterness.
June 21st, 2006: Bottled 13 quarts with approx. 2/3 cup of corn sugar. Nice and dark red, smells malty, tasted the hydrometer sample - nice and sweet, not overly hopped. I think I've achieved what I wanted! Can't wait to taste it!
F.G. 1.014 for an Alcohol level of 4.6 % by Weight (American calc. standard) or 5.9% by Volume (Canadian calc. standard).
75% Attenuation.
For next time:
-Use my new propane burner to boil full batch at once
-Collect full amount of wort for full 5 gallon (19 l) batch
-Use 8 lbs of 2 row? (I'll defer that decision until I taste this batch)
-Harvest yeast from existing batch for pitching
-Finally (after 19 years) buy a bench top capper - this hand held, 2 leaver type capper is for the birds and doesn't work well on bottles with "bulges" on the neck.
Cheers, Beers ... and Rick Mears! (these are a few of MY favorite things Julie Andrews!)
June 28th - Tried my first AG ‘Red Ale’ last night. It was good, although not enough CO2 after only 1 week bottle conditioning. …but it wasn’t Red, more brown – like a Newcastle Brown Ale.
Here’s my theory – because I didn’t have a big enough pot for the full 6 gallons, I threw out the last gallon or so of lautered wort. That last bit would have been the lightest wort and lightened my colour, so I collected only the darkest part of the wort. Probably also why my OG was 1.059.
Don’t get me wrong – probably the best beer I’ve made – but it’s not Red Ale.
July 3rd - Tried my 2nd today, bottled 12 days now. Awesome! Lushious, creamy head that stays with the beer and slides down the glass (like a Caffery's), definately a Brown Ale, bit of a nutty taste, similar to a Porter I once had. I think I'll re-name this batch, Nut Brown Ale. It's a keeper!
Kul
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