recipe critique - American Red IPA

I'm not sure you really need the C-60...but that's a personal preference.

Hope schedule looks good, but I've never used Citra for bittering...personally would use Simcoe for that.

Why did you choose the British strain?

 

Did you mean 1/2 cup or 1/2 lb of chocolate malt? Either way, chocolate malt will probably get you more of a Brown IPA instead of your desired red color. I would replace all your chocolate malt with 2 oz of roasted barley to get a better red color.

I also agree with JohnSnow's post above about your yeast strain selection, if you are wanting an American IPA. With the WLP005 British, 2 lbs of crystal malt (C-60 and carastan), and 1 lb honey malt, the finished beer will probably be relatively sweet. Personally, I would cut back a little on both the C-60 and carastan, and select a yeast with more attenuation such as the Chico strain, or even WLP007 if you want to keep English flavor. But that's just my opinion--I like IPAs that are more hop-forward with a cleaner malt and yeast presence. When I make red or black IPAs, I try to select malts with the biggest color impact in order to minimize the flavor of extra maltiness.

 

Cut that honey malt or this beer will come out weird (4 oz is more than enough), or if you want a deeper malt flavor without the weird sweetness swap it out for melanoiden malt.

 

Yeah...it's just too much crystal for my taste. I'm a big fan of honey malt, but I'd probably put close to 1/2 lb, even after cutting the two crystals in half. But like I said, that's a personal choice on your behalf.

If you were waiting a little longer I have a Rye IPA that I'm fermenting with Wyeast 1450...that's supposed to give a similar profile to what you're shooting for. That said, I brewed an ESB with WLP002, using Simcoe and Citra, that emphasized the malt well, but also has a nice hop character...though I would call it more citrusy than tropical...but I didn't dry hop.

 

Bitter with a high alpha hop and throw the citra into your dryhop, IMHO.

 

Nix the chocolate, swap in some roasted malt instead, swap the citra from 60 to flameout, and bitter mith magnum. I used chinook citra and amarillo in a red that I'm having mixed feelings about. I think I am burned out on these hop varieties though more than anything.

 

Chocolate malt is roasted malt, or at least a roasted malt. Did you mean roasted barley? Roasted barley isn't malt.

 

Well you are getting alot of different oppinions so here is mine. WLP 005 is an excellent yeast for ESB's but I would not use this in a American Red. WLP 001,007,or 029 would be my yeast's of choice. I would not use the 60L,Caristan,or the honey malt. I would use 1lb 80L crystal because in my oppinion it does belong in your beer style. Cluster would be a good bittering hop for you. (And cheap) Depending on your effeciency you will have a strong hoppy beer. Good luck.

 

2 oz of roasted barley should not introduce any roasted flavor to the finished beer, especially with IPA-level hopping. It will give a shot of deep, ruby red to push the color past the golden-orange-ish spectrum resulting from the crystal and honey malts.