Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: WL Scottish Ale
Yeast Starter: No
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: None
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 20.7
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: Yes :-)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 days @ 68
Additional Fermentation: None
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 days @ 68

I bought this kit from Northernbrewer.com. The purpose was to have a quick and easy recipe to drink as quickly as possible while I slowly plot and plan my way to All-Grain brewing. I cut my secondary fermentation short, just because I wanted to bottle and drink as quickly as I could.

Right now, the beer is about 2 weeks old. It's been bottle conditioning for only about 4 days now, so it's just got the tiniest hint of carbonation (my last batch was fully carbed in 5 days, and then stayed perfectly carbed for the 2 months it lasted without turning into a gusher. This however, is not typical for most homebrewers). Personally, I agitate my bottles a few times a week and it seems to speed up conditioning substantially.

As for this beer, I am also amazed at the clarity of it! It's sort of dark, but I can see straight through it! Very little cloudiness! And this is with only a 4 day secondary and 4 days after bottling! AWESOME!!


The downside of this recipe is that it is a little low on the alcohol (if you care about that). Also, it's not very hoppy at all (only 1oz at 60 mins). Actually, it would compare favorably to a lot of commercial Amber Lagers in terms of flavor and bitterness, with just a bit more fruitiness as you'd expect with Ales.

Last night, I had a couple of Founders' Brewery's "Dirty Bastard" scotch ales. Comparing the two (not side by side, mind you), is that their style and character is very much the same, except NB's scottish ale comes in an about half the ABV.

But if you need to brew something tasty, and it needs to be ready to drink in about two weeks, go ahead and do a 2 day secondary fermentation and bottle this puppy up. Keep it somewhere warm and it should be well carbed within a week!

Northernbrewer.com lists their recipes for anyone to copy. I bought my kit through them and was happy with the purchase.