Beer Forum

Tell me what you guys think of this recipe:

Briess Pilsen Extra Light Liquid Extract 6 lbs, 9.6 oz
Briess Victory 0 lbs, 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 120 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 40 8 oz
*Gambrinus Honey Malt 0 lbs, 4 oz
*Briess 2 Row Carapils 0 lbs, 4 oz
Crisp Chocolate Malt 0 lbs, 2 oz
Amarillo Pellets 1 oz @ 60 mins
Cascade Pellets 1 oz @ 10 mins
*Cascade Pellets, 1.5 oz Dry Hop
SAFALE S-04

It's a straight up red type beer kit, but I added in a little bit of malts and the dry hops. I want to brew a really hoppy red something between Stone Levitation and Green Flash Hop Head Red, but with about 6.5% ABV. I haven't ordered yet and I can order anything I want in one ounce increments.

* ingredients I added to the base kit

Looks pretty good overall.

4 oz of carapils and honey malt aren't very significant. I'd bump them up to a half pound apiece and deduct from the base malt. Or, you probably don't even need the carapils, all that crystal will provide plenty of head.

Also, Amarillo is a great flavor/aroma hop. Using it as a bittering hop is almost a sin.
I'd consider swapping the 10 minute cascade with the amarillo, or splitting them and going 1/2 oz of each at both times for a more complex hop profile.

I'd also probably go with US-05. Cleaner yeast will allow the malt to shine through. There will be a ton of citrus, and adding an estery yeast will make it seem sweet, IMO.

My .02

Based on your and other feedback, I've altered it to this possibility...

Briess Pilsen Extra Light Liquid Extract 6 lbs, 9.6 oz
Briess Victory 4 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 120 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 40 8 oz
Gambrinus Honey Malt 6 oz
Briess 2 Row Carapils 6 oz
Crisp chocolate malt, 2oz
Weyerman Cara Amber, 4oz
Crisp Chocolate Pale Malt 2 oz
Cascade Pellets 1 oz @ 60 mins
Amarillo Pellets 1 oz @ 10 mins
Cascade Pellets, 1.5 oz Dry Hop
SAFALE S-05

Still considering the final blend. I won't be brewing this one for at least two weeks, maybe longer, so I have time to think about it! Also I realized the original recipe was only 5.0% ABV, so it needed a little extra malts in there somewhere.

And yeah, I have 14oz of cascade, but only two oz of Amarillo, so I should probably bitter with cascade and flavor (and perhaps dry hop?) with some Amarillo. I know I like cascade but don't have that much experience with Amarillo.

I'm going to take your suggestion and switch yeasts to the 05.

Also, do I need any clarifiers? I was going to order some irish moss just for stock, should I add some?

Thanks for the feedback! Let me know what you guys think of this!

al

Yes, but I suggest whirlfloc tablets as they are pulverized irish moss and a hell of a lot easier to use. Just toss in
1 tablet at 10 mins in the boil at 10 mins left and you are good to go.

Here's my (yet again) tweaked recipe:

Briess Pilsen Extra Light Liquid Extract 6 lbs, 9.6 oz
Briess Golden Light Dry Extract 1 lbs
Briess Victory 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 40 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 120 8 oz
Weyermann Cara Amber ® 6 oz
Briess Pilsen (Extra) Light Dry Extract 4 oz
Briess 2 Row Carapils 4 oz
Crisp Pale Chocolate Malt 2 oz
Crisp Chocolate Malt 2 oz
Cascade Pellets 1 oz @ 60 mins
Amarillo Pellets 1 oz @ 10 mins
Cascade Pellets 2 oz @ Dry
Irish Moss powder
SAFALE US-05 American Ale

Website calculates:
IBU 24.4
SRM 17.86
ABV 6.03

This is fun! I wish I knew more about how these ingredients work, but over time I'm sure I will learn a lot. How about this version?

I'd add some saaz hops at the end. I know it's a sin to put aromatic hops at the beginning but it worth the try.
Check out my first recipie:
7# Alexanders pale malt extract
1# Victory malt
1# Aromatic malt
1/2# English crystal 40 L
1/2# Castlefords Extra Dark 150L
2 tbsp wildflower honey
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 oz UK E Kent Golding 60 min
1 oz Galena 35 min
1 oz Saaz 20 min
1 oz Saaz 0 min

That looks great, will be saving a link to this thread for a future brewing!

In the meantime, I am taking input from three sources here, this is my latest edition, still subject to change! I simplified the grain bill, changed the hops around a little bit, and changed the extracts too.

Briess Pilsen Extra Light Liquid Extract 4 lbs, 8 oz
Briess Golden Light Dry Extract 3 lbs
Weyermann Cara Munich II ® 1 lbs
Briess 2 Row Caramel 120 8 oz
Briess 2 Row Carapils 8 oz
Magnum Pellets, GR 1 oz @ 60 mins
Cascade Pellets 1 oz @ 10 mins
Amarillo Pellets 1 oz @ 0 mins
Cascade Pellets 2 oz Dry hopped
Whirlfloc Tablets 1 ea
SAFALE US-05 American Ale 1 ea

IBU: 45.5
SRM: 12.92
ABV: 6.03

When I did one like this recently, I looked up the clone recipe for Oscar Blues Gordon on the forum and used it a a base reference, then tweaked it from there. I was shooting for something like that or Big Hoppy Monster. I went with 76% Marris Otter, 6% Brittish Caramel 15, 6% Munich 10, 6% Victory and 6% cane sugar. Since I could'nt find any CaraRed, I used 1oz of English Choc. Malt which was plenty and put it just on the red side of brown in color and added a slight hint of choc nose. These are pretty hoppy beers so I went to 65 IBU with Warrior and Columbus in the boil and 2oz Amarrillo and 1oz Simcoe dry hop. WLP002 gave me 69% att. This 5 gal batch turned out great. Been in the keg 2 weeks and still getting better each pour. Hope you might find any of this helpful and good luck with yours.