[euge]

Sorry to hear about Scarlet. Dogs can be such an important member of the family that losing one is devastating.

I never understand how my brother does it. He always has at least one dog named Molly. Then one day there'll be a different dog. When asked what happened he'll just shrug and not answer. We got a new one...

Good luck with the Red ale. I know it'll be special. 

[Hokerer]

Sorry to hear about Scarlet

[deepsouth]

i love simoce.  how would those go with centennial and chinook?  should i use any amarillo?

i'm thinking a beer about 8% - 10% (ageable), how much rye should i use?  i love hop rod rye and the other couple rye beers i've had.  how much of what grains should i use to get the red color?  does denny sell his yeast?
how long do uncrushed grains in sealed bags stored in plastic containers last?  how many pounds of grains total should i be using?

sorry for all the questions.  i'd rather get this right the first time than have it be a trial run.  

update on my girl....  she is still getting up and down good, barking and wagging her tail.  she is still eating and drinking and going to the bathroom regularly.  i know where all this is going, but if i could baby her a couple more weeks and her not suffer, i would really love it.

cheers.

[redbeerman]

Sorry to here about Scarlet.  I have three geriatric pups myself.  One's deaf, one's blind, the other seems to be OK for now.  I know how it goes, always sad,  Had to go through this a few times myself.  I would follow Paul's advice on the recipe.  I usually go with C60, C80 and Carared for my red beers.  They are a style that I enjoy, in case you couldn't tell.

[bluesman]

This hits home for me.  I have two dogs and two cats.  My dogs are my best freinds.  I had a mini shcnauzer for 15 years that was there with me through thick and thin. Unfortunately it came time to put him down.  It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.  I will never forget him. 

As far as the red ale goes, I like the input so far.  I would go with some carared and some C80.  Probably some 1056, WLP001 or S05. I would shoot for the hop profile in Red Rocket Ale...Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial. Mash at 154 for some decent body. Dry hop with Simcoe and Amarillo.

[bluedog]

I am sorry to hear about your dog. I've had dogs my entire life and have had to make that tough call myself. People who do not own pets have no idea how they manage to become part of your life. You have my sympathies. My contribution to your recipe would be 2 -3 ozs of roasted malt for that red color. I use 3 oz in my Irish Red to give it color without much flavor. In a hoppy American red you probably wouldn't notice any roast character.

[deepsouth]

so, how does this sound....

10 lbs marris otter
2 lbs rye
1 lb crystal 60
1 lb crystal 80
1.5 lbs carared (what's another name for this?)
6 oz chocolate malt
8 oz caraf 1

hop with simcoe, centennial, chinook, cascade & columbus and dry hop with simcoe and amarillo.

denny's yeast?  (is this sold places?)
safale us-05?

[tschmidlin]

I think that's way too much crystal for my tastes.  I'd cut the crystal 60, 80, and carared at least in half, probably use even less.  Maybe even 1/4 of that.  And I think it's too much dark malt too, if you're going for a reddish color.  I'd simplify it a bit . . .

I'd go with more like this:
12 lbs Maris Otter
2.5 lbs Rye malt
12 oz carared
4 oz crystal 60
4 oz crystal 80
4 oz chocolate malt

I'd probably even pick one or the other of the crystals and use 8 oz.  I adjusted the base malt and rye upwards to more or less keep with the OG and proportions you had . . .

I think the hops and yeast you've selected will work well too.

<edit to add recipe>

[blatz]

I'd go with more like this:
12 lbs Maris Otter
2.5 lbs Rye malt
12 oz carared
4 oz crystal 60
4 oz crystal 80
4 oz chocolate malt

I like this, though I'm not a rye guy so I'd leave that part out.

20oz of xtal is good - I certainly wouldn't go lower with an amber, I might keep it at 24oz, but now we're splitting hairs.

While I do like to use different xtals for complexity, I agree with Tom here that I'd probably either go 40/80 or just use all 80. Not a great distinction between 60 and 80 IMO.

"Denny's yeast" is sold by Wyeast: WY1450.  If you can only get White Labs, try Cali V (WL051) - I'm a big US-05 fan, but Amber?Red is not one I have ever enjoyed with that yeast.

oh - and I've found that unless you're using english chocolate malt (400-450L) you might be better off using the carafa at a lesser amount to get a deep red color.  that american chocolate (Briess, etc.) is lighter and will make it more coppery IMO.

[deepsouth]

ok, i'll go with denny's yeast and cut the crystal amounts down.  i've never had a rye beer that aged well, so maybe i won't use the rye.

i'm going to try to get this recipe right, but this will be only my second all grain batch.

[bluesman]

If you want some roastiness in the beer keep the chocolate and carafa to the level you currently have it, but I prefer less roastiness so I would reduce the dark malts by at least 50%.

[blatz]

If you want some roastiness in the beer keep the chocolate and carafa to the level you currently have it,

6oz of chocolate and 8oz of carafa in that grist = American Brown Ale.

if that's what he wants, cool, but that's way, way too high for an Amber/Red Ale.

I'll run that through Beersmith tonight - I gotta think the SRM is >16 with what he originally had.

[dak0415]

Ok, I'm going to put my $.02 for the crystal and color malts.  Use whatever base malt you want.  MO is good.

5. lb Crystal 120
6oz Carared
3oz Carafa Special II (450L)

For a 5 gallon Batch

Chocolate malt is going to give you brown, not red.

I use this in my Irish Red.  It should give you a deep garnet color about 15.5 SRM (Beersmith).

REAL good with Denny's Favorite 50.  Mash @152
US-05 and the Chico liquid yeast are going to dry it out too much.

[bluesman]

If you want some roastiness in the beer keep the chocolate and carafa to the level you currently have it,

6oz of chocolate and 8oz of carafa in that grist = American Brown Ale.

This is my thought too.

Irish Red's have a light roastiness in the finish.  If you want to achieve that I would leave a very small addition of carafa or chocolate malt in the grist.

[tschmidlin]

Ok, I'm going to put my $.02 for the crystal and color malts.  Use whatever base malt you want.  MO is good.

5. lb Crystal 120

I'm assuming this is a typo?

Yeast and crystal choices really depend on what you're going for, are you look for an imperial amber type beer, or more like a big IPA with a reddish color?  The variations people are posting are all good, it just depends on what character you want in the finished beer.