Brewing an Irish red ale at home

Red, malty and dry

Irish red ale is an easy drinking amber to red beer. Typical numbers: original gravity 1.036 to 1.046, final gravity 1.010 to 1.014, about 3.8 to 5% ABV, 18 to 28 IBU and colour around 9 to 14 SRM. The flavour is caramel and toasted malt, with a dry, slightly roasty finish. Hops stay in the background.

The style should feel light enough for a second pint. Sweetness and heaviness are faults, not features.

That makes it a good beer to brew for a group. At around 4.5% ABV it is moderate in strength. Its colour makes people curious enough to try it. It is also forgiving of a small home set-up: there is no long lagering, no complicated mash and no expensive hop schedule. What it does demand is restraint with the specialty malts.

Roasted barley for colour

Roasted barley is unmalted barley roasted very dark. In a stout it dominates. In an Irish red, 2 to 3% of the grist adds a deep red colour and a dry edge without obvious roast. Our guide to amber ale with crystal malt shows how crystal alone gives a more orange colour and a sweeter beer.

A 20 litre recipe

For 20 litres at about 1.044:

• 3.4 kg pale ale malt (87%)
• 0.2 kg medium crystal malt, around 120 EBC (5%)
• 0.12 kg dark crystal malt, around 240 EBC (3%)
• 0.1 kg roasted barley (3%)
• 0.08 kg biscuit malt (2%)
• Mash at 65 to 66 °C for 60 minutes

Some brewers add the roasted barley at the end of the mash, during recirculation. That gives colour with less roast flavour. For bitterness, aim for about 22 IBU, roughly 35 g of a 5% alpha English hop such as Fuggle or Goldings at 60 minutes. A small late addition of 10 g at 15 minutes is optional.

Water and pH

Irish red works with moderate minerals. With RO or soft water, add about 2 g of calcium chloride and 2 g of gypsum to the 20 litres. If your water is hard, the roasted barley and crystal will balance some alkalinity, but check mash pH and aim for 5.3 to 5.5. Too much sulphate makes the roast taste sharp.

Clean, steady fermentation

Use a clean English or Irish ale strain. Pitch at 17 to 18 °C and hold there for the first four days, then let it rise to 20 °C. Warm fermentation adds fruitiness that blurs the malt. In an Indian kitchen at 30 °C, a water bath with frozen bottles or a fridge with a controller keeps things in range.

Final gravity should land around 1.010 to 1.012. If it finishes higher, the beer will taste sweet. A cooler mash and a healthy pitch fix that next time.

Once gravity has been stable for three days, cold crash for two or three days to drop yeast and brighten the colour. A bright red beer looks far more appealing than a hazy brown one. Gelatin finings during the cold crash help if your yeast strain is slow to settle.

Serving and food

Carbonate to about 2.2 to 2.4 volumes and serve at 8 to 10 °C. The colour looks best in a clear glass with light behind it. Irish red suits roast chicken, mutton curry, shepherd's pie and spicy chicken tikka. The dry finish handles fat and spice well.

Store finished beer cool. Malt flavour dulls with heat and age, so drink it within two to three months.

What separates a good red from a brown

A good Irish red is clean, dry and red. A brown or muddy colour means too much dark crystal or roasted barley. Sweetness means too much crystal or a hot mash. Roast that tastes like coffee means the roasted barley is above about 4%. Learning to read balance and colour together is a core style skill.

A one litre steep shows how little roast you need

Next time you brew a pale ale, set aside one litre of wort and add a teaspoon of finely crushed roasted barley during a short steep. Compare the colour and taste with the plain wort. That simple test shows how little roasted barley you need.

Common questions

How much roasted barley goes into an Irish red?

About 2 to 3% of the grist, enough for colour and dryness without obvious roast.

Is Irish red sweet?

It should not be. A good Irish red finishes dry, with caramel and toasted malt flavours.

What hops suit Irish red ale?

Low alpha English hops such as Fuggle or Goldings, used mainly for bitterness.