Erik Drews

Week 6 Beer

SOS ComAlt

The beer that I made for week 6 is a smoked raspberry red ale. After selecting the grains for my spiced vanilla stout based off of how I wanted them to affect different characteristics of the finished beer I decided to choose grains in a similar way but with the intention of creating a red ale. I have heard that red ales are somewhat difficult to create because the red color is sometimes difficult to achieve. Another reason why i wanted to make a red ale is because I am quite fond of the flavors that red ales have but I have noticed that a lot of red ales are hopped so heavily that their malty flavors are sometimes hidden. I wanted to make a red ale that has a strong flavor that is not overly hoppy. My brother recently spent some time in germany and when I went back home during winter break he introduced me to smoked german beers. I am also very fond of belgian style beer making that utilizes different flavoring agents other than just malts and hops. This is why I decided to mix all three concepts and make a smoked raspberry red ale.

MashIMG_0352

  • 4 lbs American 2-row malted barley (for high amount of fermentable sugars-standard base malt)
  • 4 lbs Maris Otter Malt (kilned longer t
    han most other base malts, this malt brings a nutty, malty flavor to the beer)
  • 2 lbs Caramel 60 Malt (specialty malt that adds caramel or honey flavors to beer)
  • 1 lb Rye Malt (adds a spicy rye flavor and orange hues to beer)
  • 1 lb Biscuit Malt (adds bready somewhat pastry like flavor to beer while imparting reddish orange hues)
  • 2 lbs Beech Smoked Malt (to add a dry smoky aroma)
  • .5 lb Cherry Smoked Malt (sweet and smooth smoky flavor)
  • .5 lbs Melanoidin (imparts orange hues)
  • 1 tsp Gypsum in water

Boil

  • ½ oz Golding hops at heatbreak
  • ½ oz golding hops at 30 minute mark
  • ¾ oz belma hops at 45 minute mark
  • 1 tsp Irish moss at 55 minute mark
  • Raspberry Mixture at 60 minute mark (4 cups raspberries and 1 cup sugar heated and mixed over low heat.)

Ferment

  • IMG_03542 Packets Safale US-05
  1. Heatstrike 4 gallons of water to 165°F for resting mash temperature of 150°F.
  2. Mash grains for 60 minutes while stirring and checking temp every 20 minutes.
  3. Sparge into kettle with sparge water between 165-170°F to avoid the extraction of tannins in the barley.
  4. Return kettle to higIMG_0357h heat.
  5. At heatbreak start timer and add ½ oz golding hops.
  6. At 30 minutes add ½ oz golding hops.
  7. At 45 minutes add ¾ oz belma hops and irish moss.
  8. At 55 minutes add Immersion chiller.
  9. At 60 minutes add raspberry mixture.
  10. Cool wort to 70°F, Oxygenate and pitch yeast.

IMG_0360Original gravity 1.052