Average Scottish Ale (60-, 70- 80- shilling-ish)

I've been wanting to make a scottish ale, so I looked around the recipe database, and even download a homebrew podcast that talked about scottish ales.

So this is the rough average of the various recipes and the podcast.

Not sure what the shilling count will be until I take a gravity reading, but given my system's efficiency, I expect a starting gravity of around 1.044 making it a 60- or 70-shilling.

8.0 lbs 2-Row pale malt
1.0 lb American Crystal 40L
0.5 lb American Crystal 120L
0.5 lb Honey malt
0.5 lb Munich malt
0.15 lb (~2.5 oz) roasted barley
0.05 lb (~0.8 oz) chocolate malt

1.0 oz, Kent Goldings, 60-min
Safale ale yeast 04

UPDATE: Brewing went went well. I took the middle 2-qts of wort and reduced it to one 1-qt (at least that what left after I managed to let it boil over in the kitchen while I was outside montoring the big-boil...ooops.)

I'm still amazed how little dark-malts (120L, chocolate and roasted malts) is take to really darken the color.

Starting OG (post-boil, pre-pitch) was 1.048, so I guess this is a 75/-ish shilling beer.

From what I've read on the Scottish ales they recommend a clean yeast to allow the malt profile to dominate. I've found S-04 to have a distinct English Ale flavor that I don't think fits the profile. Try US-05 instead, or ofcourse the Scottish Ale yeast from Wyeast and WhiteLabs.
Craig

CBBaron said:

From what I've read on the Scottish ales they recommend a clean yeast to allow the malt profile to dominate. I've found S-04 to have a distinct English Ale flavor that I don't think fits the profile. Try US-05 instead, or ofcourse the Scottish Ale yeast from Wyeast and WhiteLabs.
Craig

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Thanks for the tip; I'll definately try that next time! I'll have to ask my HBS to get some of the US-05 (I'm pretty sure I've seen it there, I'll have to look.) At $1.95 for the Fermentis and $6.95+ for the Wyeast, I've been sticking with the dry yeast, except for my belgian wits, I've been using the Wyeast.

biggerk said:

Thanks for the tip; I'll definately try that next time! I'll have to ask my HBS to get some of the US-05 (I'm pretty sure I've seen it there, I'll have to look.) At $1.95 for the Fermentis and $6.95+ for the Wyeast, I've been sticking with the dry yeast, except for my belgian wits, I've been using the Wyeast.

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IMHO, I think it's worth the extra $0.10 per bottle to go with the liquid yeast and make a better beer. Drying stresses the yeast cells and makes it more likely for them to produce some off flavors during fermentation. Liquid yeasts are also more specifically designes to brew specific types of beer, while there are only a few dry yeasts to cover all beer styles.

Not saying that dry isn't good, I have used a couple styles with good success, but for the relatively minimal cost of updgrading to liquid over dry yeast, I think it's worth it.

ilikestuff said:

IMHO, I think it's worth the extra $0.10 per bottle to go with the liquid yeast and make a better beer. Drying stresses the yeast cells and makes it more likely for them to produce some off flavors during fermentation. Liquid yeasts are also more specifically designes to brew specific types of beer, while there are only a few dry yeasts to cover all beer styles.

Not saying that dry isn't good, I have used a couple styles with good success, but for the relatively minimal cost of updgrading to liquid over dry yeast, I think it's worth it.

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I know you're right, but with the cost of grains and hops, I had to give the dry stuff a try. My general rule now is to use liquid for lighter beers (wheats, wits, cream ales, etc,) I'll use at least a Wyeast 1056 or the 1214 for my Belgian Wits.

(Hey, at least I'm not using the package under the lid of the extract kits. I had those fail several times!! Ack!)

Dry yeast is usually just as good as liquid, there's just not as many varieties, and to go back to the OP you can't make a Scottish beer without Scottish yeast. It will be a good beer with 04 but it won't have that smokey character that comes from the yeast and the mouthfeel will be a bit thinner, IMHO.

niquejim said:

Dry yeast is usually just as good as liquid, there's just not as many varieties, and to go back to the OP you can't make a Scottish beer without Scottish yeast. It will be a good beer with 04 but it won't have that smokey character that comes from the yeast and the mouthfeel will be a bit thinner, IMHO.

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This is what I love about Homebrewtalk...the love! In all seriousness, thanks for all the inputs; When I keg, I'm on the hook to bring a growlers-worth over to the brewer at Rock Bottom to compare the the Naughty Scot! I'll report the feedback.

I have this thing where I draw off an once of wort (any brew) and mix it with a 'wee dram' of scotch. mmmm, makes the boil worth the wait!

For those reading, yeast conversation aside, any issues with the grain bill?

are there any recommendations for priming sugar??? i had brewed this up for a buddy and need to bottle it for him being he lives in a different state. and if anyone has bulk aged it for period of time

I usually prime my Scottish Ales with DME rather than corn sugar - not that I can tell a difference, but psychologically it "feels" better. I have not bulk aged, but I have bottle-aged my batches with good results - it does seem to get much better with an extra month or two of conditioning time (if I can wait that long).

Cheers!