One of my wife’s favorite things about St. Patrick’s Day is that each year she gets to play the song “You’re Not Irish,” mocking my German heritage (she’s about one-quarter Irish, which is apparently “good enough”). But even if you’re not Irish, you can make a great Irish Red Ale. Mine, fittingly, goes by the name “You’re Not Irish Red,” and the key to it is in one specific malt addition and the yeast.
Style
Irish Red shares a lot of terrain with its cousins, Scottish ales, across the Irish Sea: both are malt-oriented, both are easy-drinking, both are low-alcohol and low-bittering, and both feature some solid (but not overwhelming) caramel notes. Irish Red, though, flirts with the higher end of all these characteristics, and as a result the key feature is balance. We want to ensure that all the flavors (base malt, caramel, roast, bitterness, and even alcohol) are felt, but not pushing to the fore. It can be a tough needle to thread, and I’ve drunk (and made, as I was working toward my recipe) more than my fair share of watery or heavy or roasty Irish Reds.
Ingredients
There are two key elements to my recipe, but the rest you can play with a bit. In many ways it’s a straight-up British Isles grist: a good Maris Otter base to whatever OG you like (I go to about 5.5 percent potential ABV, though anything from 4.5–6 percent is fine). Then use about 5 percent of that weight in equal parts light and dark crystal malt (I like Fawcett 45L and Crystal 120). Choose any hops variety to achieve about 23 IBUs in a 60-minute addition. Tinker away.