Irish Red

Steeping the roasted barley and crystal

I brewed an Irish Red extract recipe that included specialty grains last night. It was the first time I brewed using any kind of grains and it was actually very simple. Using specialty grains adds certain flavors and/or color to the beer that you cannot get from using extracts. The only downside, which is true with steeping any grains, is that the entire brew process takes longer. I purchased a 20 Quart Pot because I was tired of boil overs! If I ever decide to start brewing 5 gallon batches, this pot is big enough to handle it. I bought the pot for $59 on Friday and the price already rose to $67! The pot is perfect for pouring the wort into the fermenter as well. Here is the Irish Red recipe:

3 lbs. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
2 oz. Light Roasted Barley (30 minutes)
8 oz. Crystal 60L (C-60) (30 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (60 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (60 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (15 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (15 minutes)
1/8 tsp. Irish Moss (15 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (5 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (5 minutes)
Safale US-05 dry yeast

The recipe might look complex, but the bulk of it is 1 oz. of Fuggles and Willamette hops each broken down into thirds. I put the specialty grains in a ziplock bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. This method worked fine, but

2 of the 3 hops bags that I used

I will have to come up with something better if I ever use larger amounts. I started brewing with 2 gallons of water. I could have used 1 gallon, but some people recommend an "as close to full volume boil as possible" so I gave it a shot. I added the C-60 and light roasted barley for 30 minutes while maintaining a temperature between 150°-160°. After 30 minutes, I removed the specialty grains, added the 3 lbs. of DME, and brought the wort to a boil. Once boiling, I restarted my timer for 60 minutes and added the first hops bag containing 1/3 oz. Fuggles and 1/3 oz. Willamette. I added the second hops bag and irish moss at 15 minutes, and the third hops bag at 5 minutes. The original gravity was 1.056. Even though it didn't look red at this stage it still smelled great!

Witty Ging bottles

I bottled the Witty Ging on Monday night, which free'd up the fermenter for this Irish Red recipe. The final gravity settled at 1.014, meaning the beer has an ABV of 6.2%. I'm very excited to see how this one turns out because it was my first brew that was not based from a Mr. Beer kit!