American Red

I asked my wife what she wanted me to make. We like a lot of the same beers (in particular hoppy beers) but we also differ in a lot of respects (she likes reds a lot, I can't say I do - I love Belgians, she doesn't). She wanted a red, so I found a recipe for a hop-forward red that we both might like.

When I was searching for a recipe, I kept thinking about Red Dwarf from the Detroit Brewing Company. We're from Detroit originally, so we've spent a fair amount of time there. Their red is probably one of the best that I've had, probably becasue it's the closest to an IPA that I've ever had.

I ended with not a recipe, but the ingredients of a kit that I adapted. The kit is the American Amber Ale All Grain Kit from Northern Brewer:

American Amber Ale All Grain Kit

O.G: 1047 / Ready: 6 weeks
It's not quite an alt; it's not quite a pale ale. Our American Amber borrows from German and British brewing traditions to make a beer that's uniquely American, perhaps similar to the ales our forefathers brewed in the colonial days. Hearty and smooth, this beer improves greatly with a little extra aging, if you're patient enough.

Kit Inventory
Fermentables	8 lbs. Rahr 2-Row Pale 1 lbs. Munich 1 lbs. Caramel 60
Boil Additions	2 oz. Cascade (60 min) 1 oz. Cascade (15 min)
If you choose dry yeast	Safale US-05. Optimum temperature: 59-75° F.
If you choose liquid yeast	Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast. Optimum temperature: 60-72° F.

Mash Schedule

153° F for 60 minutes
170° F for 10 minutes

This one was really interesting. It started off as being very malty (which I don't love) and as it aged in the keg while drinking, the hops came much farther forward (which I do). It turned out really well and I would definitely make it again, since it was something really different.  I would recommend picking this one up from Northern Brewer.

Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.004

UPDATE: This beer was the beer that I shared with the Chicago food-blogger.  She described it as "a darker, richer Leinenkugal’s Red".

The picture from her site is the only one I have of this beer.  Linked from Elizabites.