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Eric's Red Ale

Brewed: 06/06/2021   Kegged: 06/16/2021

For my first birthday after beginning SheppyBrew, my beer model got me the Bewitched Red Ale w/Mellow Amber brew pack from Mr. Beer.  On the next Presidents' day, I used it to make Eric's Red Ale.

The beer has evolved over several batches, but has always been deep-redish amber in color with a heavenly malty flavor.  I have been moving it from almost no bitterness to a bit higher on the BU / GU ratio, but it is still more on the malty side of the ratio.  It has always run about 5.5 % Alcohol (by volume).

This was one of my favorite beers, and I had planned to make sure I had this "on tap" at all times.  Unfortunately, I let myself go quite a long time without brewing it.

Malty goodness.  Yummy beer.

I decided to retire Eric's Red with Mr. Beer ingredients, and make myself an all-grain recipe for this beer.  I already had Quarter Life Crisis, but Eric's Red AG is less hoppy.  This AG version is more of an Irish Red, although probably a bit more hop flavor and bitterness than you would usually associate with an Irish red (not by much).

Batch 7 was my first all-grain batch. It used Maris Otter, Carared , Chocolate Rye Malt, and Crystal and Columbus hops. Its yeast was US05.

Batch 8, was the same as 7 except is used London Ale Yeast.

Batch 9, I threw in Citra hops at the 5-minute flavor / aroma addition. Not very Irish, but pretty yummy nonetheless. I tried White Labs' WLP004 Irish Ale yeast for the first time. I also decided to add a bit of chalk to bring the water calcium up to help with clarity of the beer.

Batch 11 was brewed in my Anvil Foundry.

You can read about Eric's Red on my blog: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Eric%27s%20Red




Eric's Red --- Batch 11

Style American Amber Ale Batch Size 6.00 gal
Type All Grain Boil Size   6.94 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency   68.00   Boil Time   60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity 1.053 SG Estimated FG 1.014 SG
Recipe Bitterness 30.3 IBUs (Rager) Alcohol by Volume 5.1 %
BU : GU   0.576        
Recipe Color 14.1 SRM
Color
   
Measured OG:   1.051    Measured FG:   1.012 
ADF:   75.7    Measured ABV:   5.1 

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
11 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 88.9 % 0.86 gal
12.0 oz Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.1 % 0.06 gal
6.0 oz Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.0 % 0.03 gal
4.0 oz Crystal, Medium (Simpsons) (55.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.0 % 0.02 gal
0.500 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.60 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 5 15.5 IBUs -
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 - -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 7 - -
1.000 oz Centennial [11.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 7.2 IBUs -
1.000 oz Citra [11.70 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 7.6 IBUs -
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 10 - -

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 31.40 qt of water at 159.1 F 152.0 F 45 min
Heat Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min 158.0 F 15 min
Mash Out Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min 170.0 F 10 min


If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Make yeast starter few days ahead of time.
Pitch as close to 60 F as possible. Keep temp below 65 for 2 days, then let it warm up to room temp (but lower than 72)
Ferment about 2 weeks.
Force carbonate to 2.5 volumes. Condition to taste. 

Brewing Record

Brew Date:   Strike Temp:  
Mash Temps:  
Pre-boil OG   (1.048 SG)   Pre-boil Vol   (6.94 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency   Pitch Temp    
Fermentation            
Day 1: 
Day ... 
Day ... 

Click here to see previous recipes
 
Brewing Notes:
06/01/2021 esheppy
Bought ingredients. Brewing this weekend.
06/06/2021 esheppy
Brew day started a little before 5:30. Yeast starter today too. Also smoking a brisket. Pre boil right at 1.048.
06/06/2021 esheppy
Brew day done before 10. Apparently, my tilt battery is dead. I thought I had a few more, but can't find them. OG 1.051. Using temp control to keep around 60 for pitching.
06/07/2021 esheppy
Bubbling away this morning. Temp was set for 62. I raised it to 63 this morning. Still waiting on my Tilt battery to arrive (should come today)
06/07/2021 esheppy
The batteries arrived from Amazon today, so I added the Tilt to the fermentation. Tilt says 1.035 at 64 degrees. These batteries might be heavier than the last one I had in there, because calibrating had to be adjusted quite a bit in water.
06/08/2021 esheppy
Tilt says 1.006 at 64 degrees. Still bubbling pretty strong. Raised the set temp to 65. Will probably turn off temp control by end of day.
06/09/2021 esheppy
Tilts said 1.005 at 65 in the morning. Pretty much done bubbling. Set the temp to 69. Will turn off temp control soon.
06/10/2021 esheppy
Tilt says 1.005 at 67. Unplugged temperature control. Should keg in about a week.
06/14/2021 esheppy
Tilt says 1.005 at 68. Will probably keg when Hand Bock-sket kicks.
06/16/2021 esheppy
Had a keg open up, so kegged Eric's Red. Tilt still was at 1.005. Hydrometer read 1.012, which puts the ABV right at 1.051. Nice flavor. Great color, but not very clear yet.
06/21/2021 esheppy
Had a couple last night while celebrating Fathers day. Gave a huge shot of CO2, which resulted in a really great cascading affect. Probably means the carbonation isn't where I want it quite yet, but the beer was absolutely delicious.
06/24/2021 esheppy
Poured a pint. Carbonation getting close, but not quite there. Gave it a big shot of co2. Habs win! 🏒
07/07/2021 esheppy
Everything now perfect. Beautiful color and clarity. Great carbonation and head. Delicious malt backbone with the citrus hoppy finish.
07/12/2021 esheppy
Took growler to a BBQ party yesterday. This was a big hit.
07/30/2021 esheppy
Really a great beer. Hoppy enough but not too hoppy. Malty enough, but not to malty. Perfect.
08/07/2021 esheppy
Gorgeous red color. Great hop flavor. Pretty dry. Nice.
08/13/2021 esheppy
Perfect beer. So yummy. So beautiful. Not much left.
08/21/2021 esheppy
Killed the keg. Nice and hoppy. Crystal clear. Perfect beer.
Comments:
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