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5 gal all grain red

Rjezowski75

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I've been trying to obtain a ruby red color in my beer while maintaining great taste to no avail. This is roughly my tenth attempt at a red. They all have finished either amber or brown. Not a lick of red. The following recipe was brown out of the kettle. Any ideas?

My last 5 gal attempt included:

9.25 lbs two row pale
8oz Crystal 60
4oz Melanoidin
2.3oz Roasted Barley
OG: 1.053
12.8 SRM
Single Infusion at 150F


 
Try substituting Red X malt for the two row pale malt.  I've tried substituting part of the base grain, but it didn't come out the fiery red that I was looking for.  However, when used for 100% of the base grain, it is definitely RED. It gives a full bodied flavor that you usually want in a red ale too. 

Here is a description of the malt.

Red X malt is specially created for brewing red-tinted beers. You can use Red X for up to 100% of your grain bill – no other malt is required. Offering exceptional reliability and optimal processability, Red X can be employed to brew consistently fiery (colored) beers with intense reddish hues. It has full-bodied flavor and attractive, unique color coupled with easy handling in the brewery.

Members of my homebrew club have used it with success in creating fiery red beer.

It's made by Best Malz.

Good luck.
 
I have good luck  using some munich malt in the grain bill to achieve a nice red along with crystal 40, 80 and a pinch of black. I forget the percentages but the beersmith color indicator shows a nice red when you tinker with the amounts and the red color was bang on in the finished beer.
 
I used pale 2 row half and half with munich malt. And about 2 ounces of black malt brings out the red from the orange hued Munich malt. The other fancy malts were small percentages about 5% . It seems I deleted that recipe as I can only hold so many in my beersmith folder.
 
I'm working on this too, and my last batch came out more brown, using Roasted Barley... anyone think this might be the culprit?
 
Where do you find Red X malt in the US? I checked my usual suppliers and they don't have it.
 
I found my Irish Red recipe it cam eout very nicely red and malty
Hops Used
Hops Used
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1.00 oz Hallertau tradition [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 minHop 7
24.1
IBUs
Grains Used
Fermentables
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 64.9 %
1 lbs Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.1 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.1 %
10.6 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.4 %
10.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 6 5.4 %
 
I get my Red X malt at Baders in Vancouver, WA.

Here is my Red IPA with grapefruit. I get an intense red color with this recipe.  When I use all Red X, instead of using some of the American two row, I go beyond the red I'm after.  I use the specialty malts for fine tuning of the red color and adding some malty flavor depth to support the intense flavor and aroma hops.

This is one of my favorite recipes.  The hops aren't resiny or pine tree like.  The hops add a nice grapefruit flavor, with just a hint of sweet orange to it.

 

Attachments

  • Red IPA with grapefruit.bsmx
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Thank you all for your input. I will give your suggestions a whirl.
 
If you can take the effort to track down an online supplier for Best Malz Red X, you will be amply rewarded. There has been a lot of interest in it here, and great results too, if you follow this advice:
http://nationalhomebrew.com.au/beergrains-and-maltsbest-malz-red-x-malt

Cheers
 
Again gents. Thank you for the input. I probably know the answer to this, but would temp have any influence on the color?
 
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