Brew ingredients from More Beer Irish Red Ale Extract Kit
Brew Date: April 12, 2022
Original Gravity: 1.054
Fermentation Time: 14 days
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV: 4.6%
Bottle Conditioning Time: 2 weeks
Notes:
A full 5 gallon boil. The wort needed a total of 3 hours in order to cool to 75 F using a cold water bath. I was worried because fermentation was slow to take off, but actually a good “lag time” gives the yeast a chance to multiply and then begin its conversion process. I got vigorous fermentation over the next three days, finally coming to a halt on 4/16 in the AM. I also used a whisk to introduce (I hope) more air into the wort as I was pitching the yeast. It will be interesting to see how well this batch turns out.
The OG was on the high side at 1.054, and there was more trub in the wort than I would have liked, but that may be due to the addition of 2 ounces of Willamette hops added during the last minute of the boil. Two weeks of settling time should help the final clarity. We shall see.
Bottling was completed on April 27th. Yield was 24 bottles (22 ounces). I used 4 ounces of corn sugar to induce carbonation in the bottle. I am not sure about the color – for a so-called Red Ale it wasn’t very red. The taste was OK, there might be some off-flavors on this batch, but the real taste test will need to wait for two weeks of bottle conditioning.