Beer #6: OBK Irish Red Ale

Ah, another brew day! This time around it’s a simple Irish Red Ale on deck.

Beautiful red colour

A quick pictorial recap of the brew day:

Beer Specifications

Beer Name: OBK Irish Red Ale
Beer Style: Red Ale
Recipe Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.25 gallons / 19.9 litres
Estimated SRM: 12°
Estimated IBU: 23
Estimated OG: 1.051
Estimated FG: 1.012
Estimated ABV: 5%

Grain Bill/Fermentables

LBS FERMENTABLES
8 2-Row Malt
1 Brown Malt
1 Crystal 40L

Hops

OZ MIN HOPS
1 60 Hallertau

Yeast

# YEAST
1 SafAle S-04

Fermentation Schedule

21 days Primary
7-14 days Bottle Conditioning
Optimal Fermentation Temperature: 53.6-77°F / 12-25°C
Place fermenter in stable temperature, out of the light.

Directions

Mash Temperature: 152°F / 67°C
Mash Time: 60 min
Strike Water Volume: 3.5 gallons / 15.9 litres
Sparge Water Volume: 2.75 gallons / 10.4 litres
Boil Duration: 60 min

After another (thankfully!) uneventful brew day I racked the wort to the fermenter and pitched the yeast around 75°F / 23.9°C before moving it to my cool basement for the long journey to beerland. It was only after I moved it that I realized I had forgotten to take an original gravity (OG) reading. Woops! I did end up with a final gravity (FG) of 1.012 which is dead on what the recipe was calling for so I’m just guessing I ended up at roughly the recipe’s target of 5% ABV but I honestly have no idea.

A thin head on this red

The final, fermented and carbonated product is interesting. In general it’s a pretty standard red ale, with little head on top, but an almost roasty ending taste that’s quite pleasant. The colour when looked through light is very red but under normal light almost looks light brown to my eye.

Overall I wouldn’t say this is my favourite red ale but it’s certainly drinkable and with a recipe so straight forward one that would be pretty hard to screw up for beginner brewers. Cheers!

P.S. – we called this brew “Crimson & Clover”

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