stuff that's bothering me about my fourteenth brew so far

[Buzzing]

I brewed an Irish Red Ale recently.

Used some carared 60L and some caragold with a good pale malt base.

Some fuggles and goldings hops was used.

BIAG style brew, 90 min at 66`C and a 15 min mashout to 75`C followed by a 90min boil.

Brew had a SG of 1.055, corrected for temp.

Fermented with SA04.

MY main concern is that I pitched the yeast starter a bit early (about 25`C) and the fermentation kicked in very quickly.

It went for the first 12 hrs at 25`C
The next 12 hrs at 24`C
The next 24 hrs at 20`C
the next 12 hrs at 18`C

And then the krausen fell back in and active fermentation stopped. Its still fermenting, as the bubbler still builds pressure after the lid is squeezed to bubble some CO2 out, but the bulk is done it seems. So quickly.

I am hoping that the first 24h at higher temps don't cause unwanted fruity / estery flavours, as I want the Red to be as clean as possible. What are my chances of getting away with this one, taste wise ? Would a slightly fruity Red really be a no-no ?

The colour on my sample ferment looks a rich, deep brilliant red. Just beautiful.

Will leave up until 14 days, then bottle.

What CO2 % should I aim for on an Irish Red Ale ?

 

[PD]

Your brew shouldn't have any problems with those temperatures and should be ok.
Add half a cooks tsp per 500ml bottle of ordinary household sugar when you bottle to prime ( or the equivalent multiple if your batch priming ) your beer. Thats the normal amount for beers and ales, unless you like it different. Lagers need a little more.
Although I haven't done this particular brew I do like the red ales/porters around 5%, they always seem to have a good mouthfeel and taste.

 

[Buzzing]

This brew came out much better taste-wise, than what the colour did.

The colour ended up a copper-red-type colour as opposed to red-red.

Well worth it still. Had to change the name to Irish Copper Red Ale.

:rofl: