12-12-12 Wee Heavy Recipe Formulation

In the spirit of past years recipes I propose to keep the recipe simple. Just look at the BGS and the Old Ale recipes. They are simple grain bills that allow the process and yeast to provide all the character.

I propose a long boil for plenty of kettle carmelization along with a satellite boil to boil down 2 gal of runnings down to a syrup that is added back to the boil.

I will be brewing a 7.5gal batch up for myself but the recipe I'm posting here is for a 6 gal batch. Due to the proposed three hour boil you would need a larger than 10gal pot for a brew of this boil volume. However you can do a satellite boil and add volume as the primary boil kettle loses water.

I think mashing at 152-154 would be right with this being an all malt beer. I've used WLP028 for a number of beers at this point so I am familiar with the yeast's performance in a wort of this gravity. When it comes to hops I am thinking about the upper end so I'm looking at between 20-30ibus. As for hop variety I plan on using Nugget because that's what I have on hand. For a traditional hop we could go with EKGs or Target.

The malt I plan on using is Maris Otter because I have a full bag to use. The roasted malt is about double what I see some recipes use but again I envision some character fading over the year before the swap.


12-12-12 Wee Heavy 6gal
Strong Scotch Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 8/27/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal Brewer: Adam Cole
Boil Size: 10.62 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 180 min Equipment: Penrose Kettle (18Gal) and Cooler (13Gal)
End of Boil Volume 7.02 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal Est Mash Efficiency 87.8 %
Fermentation: Wee Heavy Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
21 lbs 8.0 oz Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 96.6 %
12.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.4 %
0.75 oz Nugget [11.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 20.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Nugget [11.30 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 4 8.4 IBUs
1 pkg Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [35.49 ml] Yeast 5 -



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.103 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 10.5 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 29.1 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 19.7 SRM
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 22 lbs 4.0 oz
Sparge Water: 2.44 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 31.01 qt of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 15.57 qt of water at 204.0 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 2.44 gal water at 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).



Let's hear all your ideas!

Recent Brew Recipe:

13# Maris Otter
.5# Weyermann Melanoidin
.5# Crystal 60, British
.25# Crystal 120, British
.25# Weyermann Cara-Aroma
2 oz. Roasted Barley, British

1 oz. Fuggle- pellet, 4.9%AA, 60m
.5 oz. Golding- plug, 4.5%AA, 60m
.5 oz. Golding- plug, 4.5%AA, 30m

Wyeast 1728 in 1.5l starter

OG: 1.091, FG 1.020, 5.25g post-boil volume, 87% efficiency

I believe that I would go for first wort carmelization next time, reducing or omitting the dark crystal and cara-aroma (substituting with additional MO in equal measure). Hops are right. Nice beer though.

Been working with this formulation for a bit and I think this would be a nice, complex scotch ale. Have a thought about using the cherry wood smoked malt in it.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: McKracken Scottish Ale v2
Brewer: DVD
Asst Brewer:
Style: Strong Scotch Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 14.64 gal
Post Boil Volume: 10.40 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.124 SG
Estimated Color: 18.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 180 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
40 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 93.0 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 2.9 %
8.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.2 %
4.0 oz Wheat Malt, Midnight - Briess (550.0 SRM Grain 4 0.6 %
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 90.0 Hop 6 14.9 IBUs
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 7 10.7 IBUs
2.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 8 -
1 lbs Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 5 2.3 %
2.0 pkg Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [8000ml Yeast starter] 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 43 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 52.50 qt of water at 170.5 F 156.0 F 45 min
Mash Out Add 22.30 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F 10 min

Notes:
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Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
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I have been planning on brewing the Traquair house ale for a while now, here is the recipe I pulled up.

Brewing Method: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale
Yeast Starter: 1/2 US gallon at High Krausen
Batch Size: 11 US Gallons
Original Gravity: 1.085
Final Gravity: 1.020
Alcohol Content: 8.64 %
Total Grains: 32.79 US Pounds
Color: 12-22 (depending on carmelization)
Extract Efficiency: 75 %
Hop IBU's: 28.6
Boiling Time: 2 hours
Primary Fermentation: 10 days @ 62f
Secondary Fermentation: 10 days @ 58f
Additional Fermentation: 2 months in brite tanks @ 45f

Grain Bill:

32.48 lb. Scottish Malting GOLDEN PROMISE PALE ALE 2 ROW (99%)
.31 lb. Roast Barley (1%)

Hop Bill:

1.57 oz. N. BREWER 6.9% 45 min
1.57 oz. N. BREWER 6.9% 35 min

Mash Schedule:

Single Step Mash:

90 minutes @ 154
10 minutes @ 168

Brewers Notes:

Yeast: WYEAST Scottish Ale

1728 Scottish Ale
Rich, smokey, peaty character ideally suited
for scottish style ales, smoked beers and
high gravity ales. Flocculation - high;
apparent attenuation - 69-73%. (55-70°F)

Notes:

Remove two gallons of first runnings and Carmelize it (boil down to about 1 pint and add back to boil).

This is the wee heavy (my Wee Honey MkII) that I'm already planning on brewing.

Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1768
Starter: 2.75L on stir plate
Batch Size: 6 gallons
Estimated OG: 1.110
Estimated FG: 1.028
Estimated ABV: 11.0%
Expected efficiency: 70%
Color: 19.7
IBUs: 31.6
Boil Time: 60-90 minutes (depends on the volume collected and how the new burner performs with the coming brew/batch).

Grain Bill:
21# Pale Malt, Maris Otter
1.5# Honey Malt
1# British Crystal Malt II (65 SRM)
1# British Dark Crystal Malt II (120 SRM)

Hop Bill:
1.25oz Goldings, East Kent (7.20% AA) 60 minutes
1.500oz Goldings, East Kent (7.20% AA) 15 minutes

Mash:
Temperature Mash, 1 step
90 minutes at 152F
15 minutes at 168F

Notes:
Infuse with pure O2 prior to pitching yeast, then again 12-24 hours post pitch.
Leave on yeast for 4-8 weeks total (let the brew decide when it's done). Then rack into second sanke keg and age on 3oz medium toast Hungarian oak cubes for 4-8 weeks. Sample and decide if more time is needed on oak, or if it's ready for additional aging time (off the oak). Allow to age until it's ready for carbonating. Carbonate with CO2 (gas) to desired volumes level. Either keg brew in 2.5/3 gallon kegs, or bottle and keg.
Perform all rackings pushing with CO2 into vessels purged of air with CO2.

Optional: local honey post boil, either during chilling phase (once the wort is at/below 100F) or once fermentation has slowed.

This looks fun...I'm new to the swap, do I get to create my own recipe? or is there a mutual one to follow?

Instead of everyone just throwing out a full recipe, how about we start by discussing what we want in the beer, how much alcohol it should have, what flavors we are going for, what techniques we would like to use.... Then we can start discussing the actual recipe. I think that would be much more helpful than having dozens of recipes posted with each person campaigning for their own version. Just a thought.

I am thinking it should be somewhere around 10% with a simple grain bill. I'm going for rich clean malt flavors with possible slight smokey flavors from the yeast. I don't see a need for smoked malt in this recipe as some of the scottish strains can do that on their own. I think there are a couple looking to boil down like 2 gal of mash runnings to syrup for adding back to the boil. The long boil I feel is necessary to provide some color and the sweet caramel flavors associated with this beer. Since this is a year long aging (or close to) beer before swap I think a couple of the aspects should be slightly bumped up so they can level out and mellow through the year to a normal level.

What's everyone else's vision for this brew? I like simple grains bills that make me and others go "wow what's in this recipe". If you ask me this beer is about process. Boiled down runnings, fermentation temp, yeast selection, and proper pitching rate are what will make this a great beer.

I agree with the concept of a wee heavy for the style. I would however caution that people in my situation with smaller mashing equipment might be a bit left out. Granted, we could do 2 mashes, but it would be a pain. I have a 10 gallon mash tun and a 5 gallon HLT. Doing over 20lbs of grain is going to be sticky. Could we do maybe a 1.100-ish recipe with maris otter and a bit of caramel for color? Boiled down for 120 mins. I agree with the nugget hops, maybe liberty might be an option as well. Low AA, and medium IBU. Using Wyeast 1728 sounds about right. I think any English, Irish or Scottish yeast might do the job. Maybe even 1056.

Since this is a 12-12-12 beer we should do something along that line in ABV at about 12%. Scotch ales are well suited for a higher ABV as the sweetness of the malt should offset any alcohol.

I do believe smoke malt is part of the style and you just can't get the same result from the yeast. Especially if this is to get an oak treatment. The smokiness from the malt mixed with the flavors of the hardwood are a great combination. Right now I have a 15% Scotch ale that has been aged for 3 months on oak and going on 2 years in the bottle. It is a very rich and complex beer with little carbonation.

I could not agree more with smokinghole that process is key to this.

First 2 gallon runoff boiled down to almost syrup for kettle caramelization and the remaining at least a 2 hour boil.
At least a good 2 gallon starter to get this thing off the ground.

But I also believe the ingredients play a large role. Do we use Golden Promise or Maris Otter for the base malt. I only put Maris in mine because I have 2 bags. I would definitely not be against buying a bag of Golden Promise if that is agreed upon.

I have to agree on the simple grain bill, Golden Promise or Maris Otter with some roasted barley or dark crystal

10% would be a good ABV to shoot for, and would hold up well to some aging.

Hop-wise I think it should be EKG or similar, perhaps Phoenix for the bittering addition.

Kettle caramelization should be a must for the correct depth of flavor and complexity along with a long boil.

Are we still thinking of barrel aging or oaking this? I have my whiskey barrel at the ready.

I wouldnt be opposed to adding some peated or smoked malt to this one either.

Concur with previous statements regarding simple grain bill.

I only have capacity for a 5.5 gallon batch so I will need to scale down a bit once finished.

I like the light peat/smoke flavor in many of the Scottish ales I've had and would most certainly want to get that flavor in my beer. I'm a big fan of the complexity that these beers can develop - but have had some that are almost cloyingly sweet a would like to avoid that at all costs.

I've really been enjoying Oskar Blues Old Chub lately - in between my normal searingly hopped fare.

That said - this will be my first Scottish style beer - so I will yield to the expertise of others

I love using smoked malts in beers. I haven't read the style book from Brewers Association on Scotch ales but I do not think smoked malts are traditionally used. From what I have read though the smoke character comes from the yeast strain. I do realize smoked malts are now widely accepted in the production of this beer. I am unsure if WLP028 would give the smoke character. If that's what everyone is looking for that is....

We can certainly go non-traditional. Hell I do a hybrid English Barleywine/Scotch ale using lots of peat smoked malt. I hit 11.5% on my most recent permutation with 2lbs of peat smoked malt. I'm not saying to go that route on this recipe but I could certainly go non-traditional.

As to the oak I love it especially on these maltier higher gravity brews. I have a 6 month oak aged RIS in bottles now. The hybrid barleywine/scotch was also aged for 5 months with hungarian oak (maybe french I forget at this point). I love the oak balance with these maltier brews.

If people don't have a large enough mash tun you can supplement the last few points with DME. That is if you are unwilling to do two mashes. I know that makes for a long day, but I've done two mashes for my RIS before.

smokinghole said:

If people don't have a large enough mash tun you can supplement the last few points with DME. That is if you are unwilling to do two mashes. I know that makes for a long day, but I've done two mashes for my RIS before.

Click to expand...

Or they could just do a 4 gallon batch or scale it down to whatever it needs to be to accomodate the malt bill.

Do you think I would get some smokiness if I caramelize the 2 gallons over a fire pit? I have wanted to do that for some time now, just never done it yet.

I think the WPL0013 will give you some smokey flavor. I have to check my notes but I think that London ale strain was responsible for a slight smokeyness in a stout I made a few months back.

I like simple grain bills for larger beer and I also boil down wort when making barleywine so I think it would work great in this. If you boil long enough (and careful enought) you may coax some smoke flavor out of the syrup you produce by boiling down wort.

Cheers.

Not sure how feasible this is, but using hot stones like in steinbier might be cool

I used 1.5oz of the medium toast Hungarian cubes in my first wee honey. I want a bit more oak character in the re-brew. I have some cherry wood smoked mqlt on hand that I couod use too (2 pounds in inventory).

I like what Wyeast 1728 brought to the brew last time. It can go to about 12% so I could increase the grist to get closer to that. Or add some honey to it to get there (considering it at least).

I'm going to be brewing my recipe either way (pretty much locked in). If the group brew recipe is very different, then I probably won't do that. I could send some bottles out to the group, depending on how many are involved. I'm even considering ramping it up to a 10 gallon batch (I'll need tp either get a 15 gallon kettle or make a boil keggle). I could then uwe my 50L fermenter for the first time. :rockin:

I have to pick up a couple examples to refresh my memory. I want to pick up some Skullsplitter if I can get it along with Traquair House. Only bad thing is I'm in PA and finding single bottles is a pain and I pay a premium for singles of most anything.

I guess I'll go ahead and weigh in on the subject. Like azscoob and others have mentioned, keeping the grainbill simple is also my suggestion. I'd really like a Golden Promise base with a touch of roasted or black barley for color. I'm even thinking about a little british crystal malt to help fill out the flavors even more. Definitely a big kettle caramelization, though I may do more than 2 gallons of the first runnings, and I'll try to reduce it down to a thick syrup. I'd also not want to go crazy with the ABV. An OG somewhere between 1.100 and 1.110 should get around 10% ABV depending upon FG. For hops I'd want to go with something Britishy, Northern Brewer, Northdown, Target, EKG, etc. I'd definitely go with either the wyeast or white labs scottish ale yeasts. As for smoked malt, I think I would leave it out. And barrel or oak aging would be good. It's been a while since I researched Traquair House Ale, but I believe they mash or ferment in a wooden vessel. The oak definitely makes itself apparent in that beer. And since I think that beer is sublime, I wouldn't be against aging on oak or barrels for the 12/12/12.

Wow, that was a disjointed post. Anyway, those are my preliminary thoughts.

Brian,
Would you take the first runnings gallons down to about 1/2-3/4 of a gallon? I've done that in the past with great success and think it would be great in this beer.

I made a big red a while back, on a 10 gallon batch I caramelized just under 2 gallons down to just over 1 pint.

It turned out really well, good depth and complexity that I attribute to the caramelization.

Steelers77 said:

Brian,
Would you take the first runnings gallons down to about 1/2-3/4 of a gallon? I've done that in the past with great success and think it would be great in this beer.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't go by volume but by consistency. I've done kettle caramelization several times in the past and I've found it very hard to estimate what the volume of the molten hot syrup is at the end of the caramelization. I just take it to the thick syrupy consistency I'm shooting for. I have found that when it isn't boiled down enough, the flavors and color from it arent nearly as strong as when it is boiled down really thick.

I like boiling until the spoon I'm using to stir has drops drying on it before they can fall off. Then I take the pot back to my main boil and dissolve it with hot wort back into the main kettle. If it doesn't drip off the spoon I figure I'm pretty much there. It is very close to burning at that point though so you have to be careful.

I think this one is going to be a sort of "your mileage may vary" type of brew for most of us. As long as we can agree on the base type, the hop type, the gravity and the process, I think we're pretty much there.

Base, let's mostly agree, Maris Otter.

Hops, British. Target, NB, EKG.

Yeast: English or Scotch (whichever the brewer wants, from US-04 to White Labs British to Wyeast 1724)

OG: 1.090 - 1.110

Process: Caramelize 2 gallons first runnings. Boil 2-ish hours. Hop addition times are brewers choice.

Can we agree on that?

I do believe smoke malt is part of the style and you just can't get the same result from the yeast.

Click to expand...

The slight smoke that a lot of people experience while drinking this beer does not come from smoke malt. Strong Scottish Ale is typically fermented on the cool end (60-62F) because of the originating country (think about how warm Scotland gets). The smokiness that people taste is actually phenols that the yeast produce at those low temps. Yeast selection is key to an excellent strong scotch ale.

I want in on this, but I've never done a swap before. What's involved? I like all the ideas going out so far. I would probably opt for at least 4-8 ounces of cherry smoked malt but I guess we can hash that out later.

If someone wants to use Traquair House's ale as a template, the recipe is basically 99% Pale, 1% Roasted Barley, EKG or NB hops, and some kettle carmelization that occurs over the course of their two-hour boil. They ferment in oak barrels for 3-5 days and the oak they use is very old memel (prussia/lithuania). Therefore, any oak character you may perceive is not from wood itself. Aside, the jacobite ale has coriander in it.

Smoked malt is not something I like in my Scottish ales and I will be keeping it out. Same with 'oak' in the sense of aging. Mashing, boiling, and fermentation should give us all the intricate flavors we are looking for.

bierhaus15 said:

If someone wants to use Traquair House's ale as a template, the recipe is basically 99% Pale, 1% Roasted Barley, EKG or NB hops, and some kettle carmelization that occurs over the course of their two-hour boil. They ferment in oak barrels for 3-5 days and the oak they use is very old memel (prussia/lithuania). Therefore, any oak character you may perceive is not from wood itself. Aside, the jacobite ale has coriander in it.

Smoked malt is not something I like in my Scottish ales and I will be keeping it out. Same with 'oak' in the sense of aging. Mashing, boiling, and fermentation should give us all the intricate flavors we are looking for.

Click to expand...

It's been a while since I had the Traquair House Ale but I definitely remember tasting character from the wood. It wasn't so much that tannic/oaky flavor you get from new wood, but more a kind of musty/cellar type of complexity. Without having access to any really old well-used oak, I'm not sure how to replicate that complexity, or if it's even possible. Maybe take some oak and let it soak in some sacrificial beer for several months before boiling it and adding it to the aging 12/12/12? It's crazy, but I'm kind of wondering too whether I could take some oak and put it in a bucket or bag or something with some peat, and leave it to sit outside in the elements for a few months. I'd of course boil it before adding it to the beer, but that might leach out the tannins while picking up some earthy/musty/peaty flavors. I've got a big chunk of seasoned american white oak I use for "another" hobby that I could cut a piece off of to experiment with.

KingBrianI said:

It's been a while since I had the Traquair House Ale but I definitely remember tasting character from the wood. It wasn't so much that tannic/oaky flavor you get from new wood, but more a kind of musty/cellar type of complexity. Without having access to any really old well-used oak, I'm not sure how to replicate that complexity, or if it's even possible. Maybe take some oak and let it soak in some sacrificial beer for several months before boiling it and adding it to the aging 12/12/12? It's crazy, but I'm kind of wondering too whether I could take some oak and put it in a bucket or bag or something with some peat, and leave it to sit outside in the elements for a few months. I'd of course boil it before adding it to the beer, but that might leach out the tannins while picking up some earthy/musty/peaty flavors. I've got a big chunk of seasoned american white oak I use for "another" hobby that I could cut a piece off of to experiment with.

Click to expand...

This makes me wonder if you could smoke the oak? Just like you would meat. I sometimes use cedar planks for my salmon on the grill. The cedar plank always ends up nice and charred.

When my oak barrel is not filled with beer it is filled with water to keep it from drying out. the water is treated with citric acid and sodium metabisulphite to keep it critter free. this has greatly mellowed the barrel, and there is very little whiskey flavor left at this point. I hope to make use of it for this beer.

Yeah, I didn't mean to say the beer was devoid of wood flavor, just not the oak type one gets from adding chips or cubes. I always associated the oak character with, as you said, old wood. Like a really old canoe paddle or pair of snowshoes, if that makes any sense. I also have access to a ton (literally) of all sorts of white oak from all over the place. We have a wooden-boat builder in the family and I'm sure I could get some for experimentation. I was originally thinking of adding some aged oak over the course of a few days of fermentation... though how feasible is it to replicate the flavors derived from 200 year old brewing vats?

Where would someone get traquair house ale yeast?

BenS said:

Where would someone get traquair house ale yeast?

Click to expand...

My recipe I found calls for Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast

My recipe I found calls for Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast

Click to expand...

Ok. I thought that someone was implying that traquair yeast was sold by wyeast or white labs under a different name.

statseeker said:

I think this one is going to be a sort of "your mileage may vary" type of brew for most of us. As long as we can agree on the base type, the hop type, the gravity and the process, I think we're pretty much there.

Base, let's mostly agree, Maris Otter.

Hops, British. Target, NB, EKG.

Yeast: English or Scotch (whichever the brewer wants, from US-04 to White Labs British to Wyeast 1724)

OG: 1.090 - 1.110

Process: Caramelize 2 gallons first runnings. Boil 2-ish hours. Hop addition times are brewers choice.

Can we agree on that?

Click to expand...

I can dig it.

It should keep us all on the same track, but allows enough freedom that they'll all turn out different. I'll be doing a really small recipe, probably 2.5 gallons, unless I happen to get different equipment by the time this starts.

I'm thinking about going the opposite direction and seeing how much grain I can cram into my keggle mash tun. The other 'issue' is I'll probably need to get either a 15 or 20 gallon kettle to boil this batch. It really depends on how large I make the batch, or what I want my post boil volume to be. Factoring in loss to yeast trub and such, I figure I'd lose a gallon, from a ~10 gallon batch. Which means I need 11 gallons post boil in order to hit the volume to bottle/keg I want. Besides the bottle swap amount needed, I have a friend that loved my first batch, and wants some when I brew it again.

Trying to figure this out is starting to make my head hurt... I think I'll see if one of the brews on tap will help with that. :rockin:

I'd like to join in on this, but I'm a nub and don't really know how it works. A year from now those of us who are still around, and still have some of this left can exchange? What if mine sucks because I'm pretty new? What if I say I want to do it, but a year from now I'm moved into a small apartment and can't store the beer?
Also, is it ok to wait a couple of months to do this, when the ambient temperatures will be lower so I can ferment down around 60, since I don't have a beer fridge?
And our recipes can be slightly different? Like, I'd prefer Golden Promise to Maris Otter?