Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Recipe Attempt

I've been trying to put together a We Heavy Scotch Ale recipe, and this is what I have so far:

Grain/Extract Bill:

3.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract
3.00 lb Light Dry Extract
2.00 lb Maris Otter
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt
1 lb CaraPils
0.25 lbs Roast Barley
0.25 lbs Peated Malt

Other Ingredients:

1.00 lb Brown Sugar, Light
1.00 lb Honey

Hops:

1 oz Cascade hops @ 60 minutes
.5 oz Goldings hops @ 30 minutes

Yeast:

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale


This is for a 5 gallon batch, partial mash.

I haven't done one of these yet and have little consumption experience with this type as well (but from what I had, I liked!).

Any input/feedback would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks!
One Eyed Willie

How much are you trying to be "to style" and how much are you just brewing to taste?

Peated malt is an American addition to the style, take it out if you want to be authentic, leave it in if you want some smoke.

Wee heavy is supposed to be a full/thick/sweet style, so I'd remove the brown sugar and honey which are highly fermentable and will give you a drier beer. I’d swap them out for more pale extract.

What sort of cara/crystal malt are you using? I'd go with something darkish, or a blend of a medium and a dark to give some darker fruit/caramel flavors.

I'd probably back down on the roasted barley unless you want to go a bit darker/roastier than the style usually is. 2 oz is probably all you need.

Hops look fine (Cascade isn’t a classic choice, but for bittering it won’t matter). I really like 1728, keep it close to 60 F if you can.

Hope that helps, good luck.

Why the honey?

Cascade is American.

0.25 lbs peated malt may be too much. Knock it down to 2 ozs.

Gravity is way high at around 1.090.

Bittering is way low.

Calder said:

Gravity is way high at around 1.090.

Click to expand...

BJCP gives a range of OG: 1.070 – 1.130 for the style.

Thank you all for the replies!

I'm not looking to enter this into a competition, it is simply a beer that I have tried few times that I really liked and would like to have on a regular occasion when I see fit to make some.

The peated malt is somewhat of an ongoing debate. Some say that it has no place in Scotch Ale, others take a more historic approach due to kilning technologies in Scotland over the past few hundred years. I personally like a little smokey hint, hence the addition, but can back down if this looks too strong.

I thought to add the honey and brown sugar to create the sweetness, but will gladly take it out and add more pale extract based on the advice.

What would you recommend in leiu of Cascade? More Goldings?

Thanks again for the advice!
One Eyed Willie

That is one of the odd things about brew, sugar reduces sweetness. Yeast love simpler sugars and will eat them first, so all the sucrose/glucose/fructose will be consumed long before you get get to consume the beer. You can do your partial mash higher to add more sweetness, but the high OG, moderate attenuation yeast, and extract you have will leave plenty of sweetness.

Goldings would certainly work for bittering, but at the low level I doubt you'll notice a difference.

Enjoy!

I am apprehensive to using the peated stuff as it can take over very easily. A handful will work or 1lb of the german smoked malt might be safer. I have not used the peated stuff but I used 2lbs smoked malt in a jalepeno porter i made and after 1 month in bottles the smoke is pretty strong but the spice from the peppers helps cut it. The carapils looks a little goofy in that recipe. Not really needed with the amount of base malt and crystal. For the crystal i agree with oldsock in that a blend will work well here. Perhaps .5lb 120l and .5lb 40l? Use the sugar and honey for your next ipa or beligum.