Cold Conditioning

I was looking at a recipe in brewing Classic Styles, A Scottish 80/- and all seemed well until the very last sentence stating that

Allowing the beer to cold condition for several months at 40C will improve the beer

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Can I cold condition IN THE BOTTLE?

How will cold conditioning improve the beer anyway (flavor, clarity?) IS this not a lager or is he just stating that it will improve but is not necessary.

You mean the Strong Scotch ale (AKA Wee Heavy), not the 80/-.

A Wee Heavy is a BIG beer. According to the recipe in BCS, the OG is calculated to be 1.099. The extended conditioning (in the bottle is fine) is necessary to age the beer and let the big brassy flavors mellow out into something pleasantly drinkable.

Stole this from NB:Scottish 80/- - Extract Kit

OG: 1047 / Ready: 6 weeks

Scotland's answer to the English ESB, but with emphasis on malt instead of hops. Satisfying without being too rich, a Scottish 80/- is still potent enough to make you hear bagpipes if you overindulge. Even though it's not a bitter beer, the use of quality hops is key; our kit uses a judicious dose of Target hops. British Crystal lends a caramelly and slightly fruity edge to the clean maltiness of this dark-amber ale. Enjoy at cellar temperature in a pint glass.

-----------------------------------------But even after reading all the directions, They say to cold condition for 14 days. Just trying to offer another perspective.

Slow typist.

Cold conditioning will help clarity. It should be 40F and not C. It's an Ale. Bottle conditioning should be fine.

You mean the Strong Scotch ale (AKA Wee Heavy), not the 80/-.

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40F LOL sorry.

No a Scottish Export 80/- about a 1.050 from what I'm reading. And yea - it's an ALE but I read that and a big "WHAT?" appeared above my head (hope coworkers did not see it).

My Mini Mash Partial Boil version. Note - Partial Boils REALLY cut into Hop utilization doesn't it.

Amount Item Type % or IBU
1 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 12.34 %
3 lbs 4.8 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 40.72 %
1 lbs 1.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 13.56 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 12.34 %
12.5 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 9.66 %
8.8 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6.78 %
4.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.39 %
1.6 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.22 %
1.47 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 15.8 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

No a Scottish Export n 80/- about a 1.050

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Oh. In that case, I suspect the heavy kettle caramelization with that recipe (p.127-128) needs some extended aging.

heavy kettle caramelization

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THAT just has me intrigued - I love that word caramelization. Like the Dogfish Head Brown Yummo!!

The Scottish ales are high maintenance to do classically. They generally call for a lot of hybrid ale/lager maintenance. From what I can tell, much of it stems from the idea of highlighting the malt and subduing, but not obliterating, the yeast's contribution. Designing Great Beers has a rather thorough examination of the style and the process. Basically, you're lagering your ale and I'd do it in a secondary.

Also, part of the style includes some residual sweetness so you may want to look at different yeast. The Am. Ale yeast you listed has an attenuation of 73-77%, you may want to be under 70% down to about 65%, and fermentation temps for the style are recommended to be around 55-60 deg and Am. Ale would probably shut down at that low a temp.

I've been trying to get my head around this style for a few months. My sister married a Scot and I've got to get some righteous 80 shilling together...

Gordie.

Also, part of the style includes some residual sweetness so you may want to look at different yeast. The Am. Ale yeast you listed has an attenuation of 73-77%, you may want to be under 70% down to about 65%, and fermentation temps for the style are recommended to be around 55-60 deg and Am. Ale would probably shut down at that low a temp.

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Gordie,

I agree with you about the residual sweetness that I find so damn tasty in an 80/- (especially if it is served off cask through an Angram beer engine...HEAVENLY). But I respectfully disagree about dismissing 1056 as an appropriate yeast IF you are brewing this all-grain. I think you can off-set the higher attenuation with 1056/WLP001/US-05 by mashing slightly higher to get a less fermentable wort. Of course, I'd use either the Scottish Ale or Edinburgh Ale yeast personally.

flyangler18 said:

Gordie,

I agree with you about the residual sweetness that I find so damn tasty in an 80/- (especially if it is served off cask through an Angram beer engine...HEAVENLY). But I respectfully disagree about dismissing 1056 as an appropriate yeast IF you are brewing this all-grain. I think you can off-set the higher attenuation with 1056/WLP001/US-05 by mashing slightly higher to get a less fermentable wort. Of course, I'd use either the Scottish Ale or Edinburgh Ale yeast personally.

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Word. Good point.