Irish Red/smokey IPA hybrid?

A few points.

First, personally I would go with malt that is smoked but not peated. Weyermann makes a malt smoked over oak and another one smoked over beech. I would choose one of those. Peated malt is especially high in phenols that can give beer a very unpleasant character.

Second, I'm unaware of any smoked malts that do not need to be mashed. The good news here is that most (all?) smoked malts are diastatically active and can self-convert. So as long as your steeping temperature is within a typical mashing temperature range and water/malt ratio, you should be okay. But it's something to pay attention to. You will really be doing a mini-mash with the smoked malt.

Third, I would use a light touch on the smoked malt. If you use too little and you can barely detect it in the beer, your beer can still be good. If you use too much and it clashes with the other flavors, your beer will suffer.

 

If you don't have a mill, you'll need to get the malt crushed. Because you'll use such a small amount, I don't think it's critical to use it immediately after it is crushed, but you should try not to let it sit around too long before using it. Once grain is crushed it goes stale much faster.

 

You will need to crush your grains. I brew an old ale recipe where I use one pound of Wyermann beach wood smoked malt. Has just a slight hint that adds complexity to my brew. Have fun with your beer!

 

I would personally go with Beechwood (Weyermann) over any other wood as it seems to be the most forgiving. Alder is a good option if you can find it but I'm not aware of any commercial producer. You could always smoke your own. And please, as noted already, NEVER try to use peated malt, that's for making whiskey.

 

Firstly, I'll echo what others have said about the type of smoked malt that you should use.

Secondly, what varietals of hops are you planning on using? Smoked beers tend to do very well with Noble/German and English varietals. C-hops and newer tropical fruity hops . . . umm . . . not so much. If I were you, I'd think about what you want from this beer. Do you want a slightly smoky red ale or do you want a red IPA. IMO, you can't have both.

 

Obviously it's your beer and you can do whatever you want with it, but a dank, grapefruit pith forward beer with a subtle smokiness to it just doesn't sound appealing to me.

 

I'm inclined to agree, although when you put it that way, it makes me think of a cocktail with mezcal and grapefruit, which actually sounds pretty good.

But yeah, the hops the kit calls for are the kind that would typically work well with smokiness, so I would probably stick with those. Agree that it's your beer, though, and if you want a citrusy character, Columbus and Cascade will get you there.

 

What are the AA%s and when are you adding them?

 

If you go with smoked malt I'd add another ounce of willamette at fifteen minutes. Nice little hop.
If you make this a red IPA don't use the smoked malt or any of the hops and use the cascade and Columbus like you stated. Save the goldings and willamette for another beer cause they will be lost behind the c-hops.

 

What he said. Your idea is intriguing, mostly the Irish Red/Smoky part. I would try that first. Then leap into making it an IPA after you have brewed that one. Just my 2c.

 

I, personally, would use the Goldings as flame out hops and use the Willamette as bittering or FWH.

 

If I was going to dry hop a beer like this I would do it in primary.