Wee Heavy Strong Scotch Ale

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

permo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
2,979
Reaction score
76
Location
North Dakota
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Nottingham
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
Yeast Cake
Batch Size (Gallons)
6
Original Gravity
1.074
Final Gravity
1.018
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
27
Color
17.8
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
9 days at 62 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
60 days at 55
Tasting Notes
Slightly sweet, malt, toffee, roasted nuts, coffee....super complex after primary.
14.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 81.16 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.80 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5.80 %
1.00 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5.80 %
0.15 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 0.87 %
0.10 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 0.58 %
0.50 oz Chinook [11.80 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 15.2 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (30 min) Hops 11.7 IBU




Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.074 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.074 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.019 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.39 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.19 %
Bitterness: 27.0 IBU Calories: 338 cal/pint
Est Color: 17.8 SRM Color:

mashed for 45 minutes at 149 and decocted 45 minutes at 157



I just racked this hog to secondary, I filled my 5 gallon carboy up to the brim....I had about 16 oz left over so I filled a glass....this was SOOO good. Mildly sweet, not bitter at all, toffee, roasted nuts, coffee and a light bit of smokiness from the chocolate malt......this is going to a one good beer. I think the marris otter and the caramel malt are the key players here. Marris otter makes a huge difference over standard two row

When a beer is delicious and perfectly enjoyable after primary with no carbonation..you know you are in for something good.
 
So how did this actually turn out...since you only gave us the tastings of from the primary? I'm a huge fan of scotch ales and always looking at different recipes!!!
 
This beer is REALLY good. I just bottled a week ago, after 2 month secondary. I had to try one tonight, and it is carbing up nicely, but is so malty, delicious and smooth. I think the chinook hops are perfect for it. I will brew this beer again for sure.

Definetly don't hesitate to try this recipe, or a similar one..it sure turned out nice.
 
Well, I shared this beer with my friends last night and the consensus is that this beer is worthy of competition entry. I will enter it in a local competition in april after it has had 2 months in the bottle.

This beer turned out fantastic!

You get big notes of toffee, bread, malt with small background notes of coffee and nutty roasty goodness. The 7.2% ABV does not make itself known until you get a slight tingle going down the back of your throat. The aroma is all malt with a little alcholol detectable. The bubbles/head is very fine and sticks to the side of the glass as you drink it down. I think that is one of my favorite parts of the beer...the carbonation is so fine and foam is so thick...

I think my extended secondary fermentation in the mid fifty degree range gives it a lager like smoothness...that is right on for the style.

It turned out crystal clear and a very dark amber/brown color. Not black or dark as a porter, but a very nice dark roased brown color.



If you like strong scotch ale, or malt forward beers in general this is beer is a big winner.
 
I'm curious what would be the effect if you secondary at 68-70deg instead of 55. My fridge is a keggerator and I don't think I would want to drink my beer at 55deg for two months while this secondaries but I'm really interested to try the recipe. I would normally secondary at room temp and have never tried a cooler secondary fermentation.
 
I'm curious what would be the effect if you secondary at 68-70deg instead of 55. My fridge is a keggerator and I don't think I would want to drink my beer at 55deg for two months while this secondaries but I'm really interested to try the recipe. I would normally secondary at room temp and have never tried a cooler secondary fermentation.


I think if you are using Nottingham, as long as you always keep it under 70 degrees you should be fine. Be sure the make sure you don't mash too low either, or Nottingham will dry your beer right out. I was trying to described what it tasted like to somebody recently, it is almost like Imperial Munich Dunkel....just super malty with just enough alcohol and hops to balance it out. One of my favorite parts of this beer is the dense carbonation and head from the bottle conditioning.

That reminds, me...I need to stick a few in the fridge for the weekend!
 
Let us know how you did in the contest!

Will do! I am going to submit my scotch ale and my american wheat beer on April 11th. I think the scotch ale has a good chance. I think what sets it apart from the usual scotch ale is the mildly assertive chinook hops in the background. Unusual for a scotch ale, and certainly a result of the FWH.
 
Didnt place well...all judges agreed that the beer was great, but should have been entered in different category. Fwh chinook made pnw hops, which are not appropriate for style, too evident. Malt,.head, carbo..etc all good.
 
I brewed a similar Scotch Ale to this recipe, My OG was 1074 and it seems to have finished fermenting at 1030. I checked 3 days apart and no further drop. This puts th ABV just under 6% - Should I attempt anything to get this to ferment a little more or will it be fine as is .... I am OK with the ABV (would have liked closer to 7%) but 'm worried this might be sweeter than I had hoped.... any comments? (I used a Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale.)
 
I brewed a similar Scotch Ale to this recipe, My OG was 1074 and it seems to have finished fermenting at 1030. I checked 3 days apart and no further drop. This puts th ABV just under 6% - Should I attempt anything to get this to ferment a little more or will it be fine as is .... I am OK with the ABV (would have liked closer to 7%) but 'm worried this might be sweeter than I had hoped.... any comments? (I used a Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale.)

I guess i should add that it has been at 65F for 15 days ... it took about 2 days for it to start bubbling.
 
If it were me, I would first warm the fermenter up to about 74 degrees and then I would rock and swirl the fermenter to get the yeast back into suspension. At 1.030 IMO, this will be far to sweet. 1.020 I consider the minimum finishing gravity for most styles that I brew......
 
is 1.030 a problem? If it tastes ok, bottle it a drink it. I wouldn't raise it to 74* as scottish ales should be cold fermented to keep them clean and malty.

You could (keep it cool) and throw some sugar in to up the ABV and lower the FG.

I don't know if 1030 is a problem, that was my question .... will it be too sweet? I have already moved the fermenter to an area that is 74F - I hope it does not affect the malty-ness. If this fails, how much corn sugar is enough to get this thing chugging again? Also - any ideas on how may days to leave it at 74 before checking the gravity again? I hate pulling the lid off more than I need to.
 
I don't know if 1030 is a problem, that was my question .... will it be too sweet? I have already moved the fermenter to an area that is 74F - I hope it does not affect the malty-ness. If this fails, how much corn sugar is enough to get this thing chugging again? Also - any ideas on how may days to leave it at 74 before checking the gravity again? I hate pulling the lid off more than I need to.

Moving it to 74 at this point will not cause off flavors or cause your beer to somehow lose it's maltiness. Off flavors or excessive esters are primarily produced if the temperature is too high during the propogation phase and you are well beyond that.....you are just trying to coax a little more attenuation out of the yeast.........IMO 1030 will be a little syrupy sweet but if it tastes good, serve it as a nice after dinner treat......I have a feeling it is going to drop a few more points at 74 degrees.
 
How do you think this would work with Munich as the base? Say use 12lbs Munich and 2lbs Marris Otter (leaving some in because MO has more diastic power for the specialty grains).
 
How do you think this would work with Munich as the base? Say use 12lbs Munich and 2lbs Marris Otter (leaving some in because MO has more diastic power for the specialty grains).

That could be a little heavy on the Munich, but I was recently thinking since malty is the name of the game with this ale, that a pilsen and munich base would be really nice...split 50/50...I have no doubt that MO and Munich split 50/50 would be a nice base too.
 
Moving it to 74 at this point will not cause off flavors or cause your beer to somehow lose it's maltiness. Off flavors or excessive esters are primarily produced if the temperature is too high during the propogation phase and you are well beyond that.....you are just trying to coax a little more attenuation out of the yeast.........IMO 1030 will be a little syrupy sweet but if it tastes good, serve it as a nice after dinner treat......I have a feeling it is going to drop a few more points at 74 degrees.

a little warm up, no higher than 70. and a good gentle swirl to re-suspend yeast.
 
I did brew this as advertised. Amazing! I hardly have any left at all. Its going to have to be brewed again soon, as I really want more. Had it vs. a Three Floyds Robert the Bruce and it as a lot more flavor, and a wonderfully dense, creamy head. Aromas of nuts, toffee, and malt, very worth the effort!
 
I did brew this as advertised. Amazing! I hardly have any left at all. Its going to have to be brewed again soon, as I really want more. Had it vs. a Three Floyds Robert the Bruce and it as a lot more flavor, and a wonderfully dense, creamy head. Aromas of nuts, toffee, and malt, very worth the effort!

Yeah, mine is long gone, time for another batch of deliciousness. I am not sure, and I know it is not to style, but I think I might use WLP007 isntead of nottingham this time around.

I am glad you liked it.
 
I looked at the specs of the WLP007 and I have that one earmarked for an imperial smoked and oaked stout. Seems like a well attenuated and reasonably high flocculation too. Tomorrow is brew day, and Febrewary continues!
 
Nottingham, WLP001 and Pacman just seem to suck the body right out of my beers, regardless of mash temp. My experience with WLP007 shows that it does attenuate well, but leaves more body and maltiness apparent in the finished product.
 
Has anyone brewed this with a single infusion mash? If so, at what temp and how did it turn out?
 
Has anyone brewed this with a single infusion mash? If so, at what temp and how did it turn out?

I have not, but I have no doubt that the beer would still be good. When I brew this again I will be making the following changes...

Yeast = WLP007
Hops = 25 IBU of willamette at 90
Single Infusion Mash at 155 for 90 minutes
 
Any thoughts on using Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast for this one? I just made a porter with it and will be washing some of the yeast.
 
Any thoughts on using Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast for this one? I just made a porter with it and will be washing some of the yeast.

Awesome choice. Be sure and keep the mash temp nice and high so the 1028doesn't dry it out and remove all that delicious body we are building.

I had a thought with this recipe the other day.....adding about %5 oats would be really nice....out of line for the style I think, but I bet it would really tasty.
 
I was going to brew another Scottish recipe, but saw someone compared this favorably with Robert The Bruce, which I had for the first time last week and loved, so I'm thinking I might go this way instead. A couple questions/thoughts:

I've got Columbus and Centennial in the freezer, do you think those (probably Columbus) would be an acceptable sub?

I've got washed 1084. Acceptable?

The recipe that I was originally going with called for 4oz Peated. Do you think the smoke would go well with this? I'll probably be hitting the LHBS tomorrow! Thanks!
 
I was going to brew another Scottish recipe, but saw someone compared this favorably with Robert The Bruce, which I had for the first time last week and loved, so I'm thinking I might go this way instead. A couple questions/thoughts:

I've got Columbus and Centennial in the freezer, do you think those (probably Columbus) would be an acceptable sub?

I've got washed 1084. Acceptable?

The recipe that I was originally going with called for 4oz Peated. Do you think the smoke would go well with this? I'll probably be hitting the LHBS tomorrow! Thanks!


1084 (irish ale) is a great yeast for this. Just adjust your mash temp down accordingly. I would use the columbus to bitter and do not FWH. I will tell you straight up that you get hop flavor and aroma from FWH. Throw columbus in at the beginning of the boil and call it good.

Personally, smoked malt isn't for me so I would ommit it.
 
First Wort Hops

Adding hops to BK prior to achieving boil, usually as the Wort is drained from the MLT.
 
Hello,
I am still fairly new at all grain brewing and am not entirely clear on what this means:

"decocted 45 minutes at 157"

i was under the impression decoction is to remove some of the mash and boil it. Can someone lay out the process for me? other than that i am clear on everything else in this recipe.
Thanks!
 
Back
Top