Scottish 80/- help

Flywheel · 04-04-2011, 03:32 PM

First here's the recipe right now:

6lb 6oz Northern Brewer Pilsen LME
1lb British Crystal 50-60L
Batch size: 5.0 gallons

Original Gravity
1.048
Final Gravity
1.014

Color
9° SRM / 18° EBC

hops
boil 60 mins 1oz East Kent Goldings
Boil: 2.0 avg gallons for 60 minutes

Bitterness
10.1 IBU / 5 HBU
ƒ: Tinseth
BU:GU
0.21

yeast
Wyeast Scottish Ale (1728)

My questions:
I want to make this very traditional, are EKG a good choice? Would WL be a better yeast? How can I kettle caramelize it? Should I boil the wort after I take out the steeping grains for an extra 30m prior to adding LME? Or should I put in some of the LME and boil for 30m before I add the EKG? Should I not worry about the traditional channelization with a extract recipe?

Thanks!

Nateo · 04-04-2011, 04:25 PM

Kettle caramelization would be really easy to approximate with extract. Take maybe a pound of extract, mix with a cup or two of water, enough to dissolve the extract, and boil that separately from the main boil. It will reduce and start caramelizing. Be careful not to burn it. I usually boil it for as long as I can until it gets thick enough it might burn.

Flywheel · 04-04-2011, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateo

Kettle caramelization would be really easy to approximate with extract. Take maybe a pound of extract, mix with a cup or two of water, enough to dissolve the extract, and boil that separately from the main boil. It will reduce and start caramelizing. Be careful not to burn it. I usually boil it for as long as I can until it gets thick enough it might burn.

excellent.

When do I add it to the rest of the boil? beginning or end?

Nateo · 04-04-2011, 04:47 PM

Don't think it really matters. I usually boil them side-by-side and just add whenever the caramel is ready. It's usually about 20-40 minutes in, but I do 90 minute boils so they're mostly added in the middle. If you're doing a shorter boil and you add at the end I'm sure that'd be fine.

Flywheel · 04-04-2011, 04:49 PM

How do I know its caramelizing? The color?

Nateo · 04-04-2011, 04:56 PM

It'll get slightly darker in color, but it'll get really thick and the temp will rise past boiling. As sugar concentration increases, temp rises. As the temp rises, it will caramelize. But, as the temp rises, you're more likely to scorch the non-sugar part of your extract. Just plain sugar will get very hot without much color change or burning, but extract seems to burn at a much lower temp. IIRC, my caramelized wort usually only gets up to about boiling + 20* and anything over that it gets so thick it wants to scorch.

Flywheel · 04-04-2011, 04:59 PM

Thanks!

Any thoughts on the hops or yeast? Or the recipe in general?

**40watt** · 04-04-2011, 05:14 PM

Things I learned from Jamils podcast:

EKG is an excellent choice of hop.
The Scottish yeast is fine, bit Jamil prefers Cal Ale because it's so clean. You want some sweetness, so you don't want full attenuation, so don't make a starter and keep your temp below 70 degrees.
He also said the butterscotch flavor of carmelization can be mistaken for diacytl. So he uses specialty grains for his carmelization flavor.
He also was adamant that peat and smoked malt has no place in a "traditional" Scottish ale.

So, that is Jamil's opinion on the matter.

Nateo · 04-04-2011, 05:21 PM

I wouldn't worry too much about recipes. I think homebrewers put way too much importance on recipes. Pretty much any combination of "mostly base malt with some specialty grain" will make good beer. The difference between good beer and great beer, from my experience, is all about how you handle the yeast. Viability, health, fermentation temp are all critical to make great beer, but those are usually completely ignored by beginning brewers.

Flywheel · 04-05-2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateo

I wouldn't worry too much about recipes. I think homebrewers put way too much importance on recipes. Pretty much any combination of "mostly base malt with some specialty grain" will make good beer. The difference between good beer and great beer, from my experience, is all about how you handle the yeast. Viability, health, fermentation temp are all critical to make great beer, but those are usually completely ignored by beginning brewers.

True. And I have been brewing for a while, and do understand the importance of temp and yeast health. But I think the recipe does matter, alot.

If I used:
7# of Amber DME
.5# Choc Rye
.5# Caramel wheat
.5# Crystal 60L
2oz of Cascade @ 60m
1oz Simcoe @ 20m
1oz Warrior @ flameout
WL scottish ale yeast

That wouldn't be an 80/-, would it? I agree, it would be beer, but not an 80/-. I am trying to create a traditional (as close as I can get with extract) 80/-, not just a beer.