X-Rated Amber

[BlackDuck]

That's a purdy lookin' pour.


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[Kealia]

Red X is far and away my favorite malt now. It has all the complexities of an elaborately thought out grain bill all by itself.
And it does make one beautiful beer. I love the color of the foam it produces as well.

Yeah, what he said.

[Kealia]

I'm drinking one right now and I wish I had a palette like many of you do here so I could describe it to you. I'm just not that good at picking up nuances and flavors.

I'll just say that it's damn good and will try to drop a few in the mail for other opinions.

[mashani]

I don't know if the beer is too sexy for the glass, or the glass is too sexy for the beer, or if it's just plain sexy, but none the less, sexy is the word of the day.

[Beer-lord]

Since I keg hopped, I'm enjoying mine a bit more but I don't feel it good enough to share with anyone. But, I still have 10-12 lbs here for a future beer that will be all RedX (I think) and hops I'm more familiar with.

[Beer-lord]

Wow, almost 2 weeks later, this is turning out to be a pretty good brew. All the green pepper is gone, thanks to the keg hopping but I wonder what it would be like at this point without the citra and amarillo keg hops.
My friends love this beer. I like it though I doubt I'd brew it again exactly the same. I think this malt works with almost any hop variety so lots of experimentation is needed.

[Kealia]

Glad to hear yours is past the green pepper taste! I'm thinking this malt might be really good with some Mt Hood.

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[Beer-lord]

I happen to have Mt. Hood in my freezer (among other things). I still don't know what hops I'll use with my next Red X but I think I'll be using this malt a few times a year.
Think I'll do a rye beer next though.

[Kealia]

If only you had another Red X beer to try.....

[Beer-lord]

Hmmm, where might that be? Chillin bra! But not for long.

[Beer-lord]

I have 12 lbs of Red X and think I'll use all of it (or maybe 10 lbs and keep 2 to add to another beer later) and brew something up this Saturday.
My last beer was good but only because I saved the over use of Eureka with keg hopping with Amarillo.
I'm thinking of mostly Citra and Mosaic with a bit of Amarillo at the end or just in dry hop. I'm not sure if I will add a bit of Vienna or Aromatic to this or keep it all Red X but I'm hoping the Citra/Mosaic mix will work well with this malt. I feel the malt adds a slight dryness compared to 2 row but that might have been my water. I actually like that in many of my beers.

For those that have brewed with this, what's the final opinions on this malt and what works well with it? I have lots of other hops (surpise!) that I can use but after only 1 use of this malt, I think my suggestions should work pretty well.

[Kealia]

I loved it. I thought it was definitely 'maltier' than 2-row, without being sweet or caramel-like at all. I like the biscuity touch and you're right, I too thought it was a bit drier than standard 2-row. I loved it with the hops I used (Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin), but I could use those hops in any beer. I do think Mt Hood would make a nice Amber. Nothing hop-heavy, but an easy drinker.

[Beer-lord]

I realized I have 8 oz of Farmhouse hop blend so I think I'll use 4 oz of this plus some more citra and mosaic and see how it works out.
Though it'll be confusing to list the hops in the recipe. The package states 10% alpha.There is citra in the blend but no Mosaic so some of my late additions and dry hopping will include both.
Here's what they say is in their blend of hop parts:
We took all the small bags of leftover hops from the year and blended them together. The Farmhouse Blend has an intense fruity/citrus aroma with some hints of pine, should do well in a IPA.

There are at least 30 varieties of hops in this blend including:
Simcoe Citra Chinook Cascade Columbus
Galaxy Helga Pacific Gem Pacific Jade Crystal
Hersbrucker EKG Challenger EXP 1210 EXP 6300
Super Pride Nugget Magnum Horizon Apollo

Use in: IPA, IIPA, American ales

[mashani]

I used nothing but the Farmhouse blend in my Belgian Black IPA (8oz of it) and it gave me lots of tropical fruit and some noticeable, but mellow pine, very much like the description. It was very "Juicy"... like the difference between say if you used Cascade vs. Amarillo juicy if that makes any sense to you. Maybe I'll throw the trub bottle in the fridge, it is not quite 3 weeks but it's probably ready to sample.

I've got 8 more oz of that stuff to use in something else.

[Beer-lord]

I guess the thing that concerns me about these hops is each time you order them, they will be quite different. Do you really get ALL the hops listed in each pack? I doubt it. Do you get the same hops each time you order them? I doubt it. Will I buy these again in the future? Indeed! Juicy is what I want.