Belhaven wee heavy

[Rod Hobbs]

Does anyone have a recipe for a wee heavy that they have made that resembles the Belhaven 90? Delicious beer I would love to attempt.

 

[shetc]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K3MEQUE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[lumpher]

12 lbs Golden Promise
.75 lbs Crystal 55L
2 oz Toasted malt
2 Oz Peat smoked malt

East Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes (target about 31 IBU)

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale

 

[Rod Hobbs]

Thanks man. What OG/FG you expect with this? Whats the mash temp and duration? Do you do the 1 gal boil down to syrop and add back to kettle?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Nooo - to just about all of the above. Certainly not peat, that's a US fantasy that bears no relation to actual Scottish brewing.

Belkhaven give some pretty strong hints : https://www.belhaven.co.uk/our-beers/craft-beers

• A rich, strong beer showcasing our finest Scottish malted barley
• Roasted malt sweetness balanced by a spicy fruitiness
• Complex, full-bodied, sweet, rich, and strong – like Christmas Cake in a glass!

• ABV 7.4%
• IBU 26
• Malts Pale and Black
• Hops Challenger and Goldings
• Formats 330ml bottle, Keg (USA)

• Sight Mahogany
• Smell Biscuit and roast malt
• Taste Rich and full-bodied

It seems to have been influenced by Fowler's Strong Ale/Twelve Guinea Ale, which was the original Wee Heavy - before moving to Belhaven, George Howell worked at the Heriot brewery which contract-brewed Fowler's back in the day. Ron Pattinson describes how it started as a 12% beer that started at 1.159 and had a final gravity of 1.068! But by 1955 the OG was the same as the FG a century earlier. Supposedly at Heriot it was partigyled with the lower-strength Redcap.

People tend to overcomplicate recipes - in this case you just want to boil up a ton of "finest Scottish malted barley" (ie Golden Promise) with just a splash of black malt to an OG of ~1.075. Mash fairly high. There's almost certainly some invert sugar in there that they're not telling you about, so substitute some of the Golden Promise with a tin of golden syrup. It's hard to replicate the effect of extended copper boils at a homebrew scale, so maybe add a touch of melanoidin. You can do the syrup thing if you want, I'd always keep it simple to start with, and then only complicate it with things like that if the end result doesn't match your expectations.

An ounce of 7% Challenger at 90 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 10 minutes should be about right for the 26 IBU. Pitch WLP028 or 1728 at 58F and let it free rise if you can, otherwise ramp it up to say 68F. You want an FG in the mid 1.020s.

Jamil's article gives a reasonable background, although I disagree with some of the detail :
https://byo.com/article/strong-scotch-ale-style-profile/

 

[Rod Hobbs]

Nooo - to just about all of the above. Certainly not peat, that's a US fantasy that bears no relation to actual Scottish brewing.

Belkhaven give some pretty strong hints : https://www.belhaven.co.uk/our-beers/craft-beers


It seems to have been influenced by Fowler's Strong Ale/Twelve Guinea Ale, which was the original Wee Heavy - before moving to Belhaven, George Howell worked at the Heriot brewery which contract-brewed Fowler's back in the day. Ron Pattinson describes how it started as a 12% beer that started at 1.159 and had a final gravity of 1.068! But by 1955 the OG was the same as the FG a century earlier. Supposedly at Heriot it was partigyled with the lower-strength Redcap.

People tend to overcomplicate recipes - in this case you just want to boil up a ton of "finest Scottish malted barley" (ie Golden Promise) with just a splash of black malt to an OG of ~1.075. Mash fairly high. There's almost certainly some invert sugar in there that they're not telling you about, so substitute some of the Golden Promise with a tin of golden syrup. It's hard to replicate the effect of extended copper boils at a homebrew scale, so maybe add a touch of melanoidin. You can do the syrup thing if you want, I'd always keep it simple to start with, and then only complicate it with things like that if the end result doesn't match your expectations.

An ounce of 7% Challenger at 90 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 10 minutes should be about right for the 26 IBU. Pitch WLP028 or 1728 at 58F and let it free rise if you can, otherwise ramp it up to say 68F. You want an FG in the mid 1.020s.

Jamil's article gives a reasonable background, although I disagree with some of the detail :
https://byo.com/article/strong-scotch-ale-style-profile/

Wow...pretty great analysis. So how would this look to you:

16 lb GP
0.5 lb black malt
0.5 lb melanoidin

Not sure what the syrop is...I’ve seen amber candy syrop (beet sugar)...and ive seen brewers syrop (glucose) Either of these it? If so, how much would you add and in place of how much GP? What would this add to the beer, by the way?

Is 160 too high to mash for this?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

That 16lb of GP is assuming a brewhouse efficiency of 70% - only you can tell if that's likely with your equipment for a 1.075 beer, but note that efficiency tends to drop off above 1.060.

Lyle's Golden Syrup is a cane syrup that's a common approximation to invert sugar for British homebrewers, it's available in any supermarket here. You don't say what country you're in, but it seems to be reasonably available in the former colonies. There's plenty of instructions for making invert sugar kicking around the place if you can't get it readily. Golden syrup isn't as fermentable as other sugars, so as a first approximation you can sub it 1:1 for GP.

Follow Jamil for details like mash temperature - 160F is probably a touch high.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

King Arthur's Flour carries Lyles's in the US. I suspect that there are very close equivalents available domestically.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/lyles-golden-syrup

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Ouch - here a 454g tin is about US$1.50, it doesn't cost much more than the same weight of granulated sugar. The expat shops may be a better bet - a random Google shows these guys have 3x454g tins for under $7, although you can add the same again in shipping.

My understanding is that it's something that doesn't really have a US equivalent, because the US doesn't have the same history of Caribbean colonies and tends to use corn syrup instead, which isn't the same.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Ouch - here a 454g tin is about US$1.50, it doesn't cost much more than the same weight of granulated sugar. The expat shops may be a better bet - a random Google shows these guys have 3x454g tins for under $7, although you can add the same again in shipping.

My understanding is that it's something that doesn't really have a US equivalent, because the US doesn't have the same history of Caribbean colonies and tends to use corn syrup instead, which isn't the same.

I think that is about right, at least in terms of mass market. Molasses is also a lot more common in North American markets.

Roger's is very similar, but I think that is a Canada-only brand, and for whatever reason a lot easier to find in Western Canada. In the US, King syrup is the closest I can think of, but it is partly corn syrup, partly an inverted syrup like Lyle's.

 

[Rod Hobbs]

Update:brewed this on the 24th

10# GP
7# 2 row
1# Munich
0.5# crystal 140
0.25# black
0.5# melanoidin

Mash 1 hr @ 167. Boil 1:45. Recipe was for 60% but I actually got about 73% so OG was 1088.

Pitched one pack safale s04 (rehydrated). Although yeast guarantees about 70 billion cells, most things I’ve read say more like 200 for dry packs.

Anyhow, it fermented like mad for 3 days (needed blow off tube) and now it has slowed to a bubble every 5 sec or so. I’ve read some wee heavies ferment for 2-3 weeks (mine is at 4days now and I doubt will go over a week at this rate) so now I’m wondering if I underpitched and if this will negatively affect the beer. If so, can I shake up the fermentor to aerate and pitch another pack of s04? Is there any benefit to this?

 

[snowtiger1987]

Nooo - to just about all of the above. Certainly not peat, that's a US fantasy that bears no relation to actual Scottish brewing.

Belkhaven give some pretty strong hints : https://www.belhaven.co.uk/our-beers/craft-beers


It seems to have been influenced by Fowler's Strong Ale/Twelve Guinea Ale, which was the original Wee Heavy - before moving to Belhaven, George Howell worked at the Heriot brewery which contract-brewed Fowler's back in the day. Ron Pattinson describes how it started as a 12% beer that started at 1.159 and had a final gravity of 1.068! But by 1955 the OG was the same as the FG a century earlier. Supposedly at Heriot it was partigyled with the lower-strength Redcap.

People tend to overcomplicate recipes - in this case you just want to boil up a ton of "finest Scottish malted barley" (ie Golden Promise) with just a splash of black malt to an OG of ~1.075. Mash fairly high. There's almost certainly some invert sugar in there that they're not telling you about, so substitute some of the Golden Promise with a tin of golden syrup. It's hard to replicate the effect of extended copper boils at a homebrew scale, so maybe add a touch of melanoidin. You can do the syrup thing if you want, I'd always keep it simple to start with, and then only complicate it with things like that if the end result doesn't match your expectations.

An ounce of 7% Challenger at 90 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 10 minutes should be about right for the 26 IBU. Pitch WLP028 or 1728 at 58F and let it free rise if you can, otherwise ramp it up to say 68F. You want an FG in the mid 1.020s.

Jamil's article gives a reasonable background, although I disagree with some of the detail :
https://byo.com/article/strong-scotch-ale-style-profile/

Bravo. Golden Promise, Roasted Barley, and a long boil are all that is required.

 

[dmtaylor]

You didn't underpitch. Relax.

 

[Rod Hobbs]

Nooo - to just about all of the above. Certainly not peat, that's a US fantasy that bears no relation to actual Scottish brewing.

Belkhaven give some pretty strong hints : https://www.belhaven.co.uk/our-beers/craft-beers


It seems to have been influenced by Fowler's Strong Ale/Twelve Guinea Ale, which was the original Wee Heavy - before moving to Belhaven, George Howell worked at the Heriot brewery which contract-brewed Fowler's back in the day. Ron Pattinson describes how it started as a 12% beer that started at 1.159 and had a final gravity of 1.068! But by 1955 the OG was the same as the FG a century earlier. Supposedly at Heriot it was partigyled with the lower-strength Redcap.

People tend to overcomplicate recipes - in this case you just want to boil up a ton of "finest Scottish malted barley" (ie Golden Promise) with just a splash of black malt to an OG of ~1.075. Mash fairly high. There's almost certainly some invert sugar in there that they're not telling you about, so substitute some of the Golden Promise with a tin of golden syrup. It's hard to replicate the effect of extended copper boils at a homebrew scale, so maybe add a touch of melanoidin. You can do the syrup thing if you want, I'd always keep it simple to start with, and then only complicate it with things like that if the end result doesn't match your expectations.

An ounce of 7% Challenger at 90 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 10 minutes should be about right for the 26 IBU. Pitch WLP028 or 1728 at 58F and let it free rise if you can, otherwise ramp it up to say 68F. You want an FG in the mid 1.020s.

Jamil's article gives a reasonable background, although I disagree with some of the detail :
https://byo.com/article/strong-scotch-ale-style-profile/

So

Update:brewed this on the 24th

10# GP
7# 2 row
1# Munich
0.5# crystal 140
0.25# black
0.5# melanoidin

Mash 1 hr @ 167. Boil 1:45. Recipe was for 60% but I actually got about 73% so OG was 1088.

Pitched one pack safale s04 (rehydrated). Although yeast guarantees about 70 billion cells, most things I’ve read say more like 200 for dry packs.

Anyhow, it fermented like mad for 3 days (needed blow off tube) and now it has slowed to a bubble every 5 sec or so. I’ve read some wee heavies ferment for 2-3 weeks (mine is at 4days now and I doubt will go over a week at this rate) so now I’m wondering if I underpitched and if this will negatively affect the beer. If so, can I shake up the fermentor to aerate and pitch another pack of s04? Is there any benefit to this?

Update- this actually did continue to bubble away slowly for 15 days.

 

[Rod Hobbs]

Nooo - to just about all of the above. Certainly not peat, that's a US fantasy that bears no relation to actual Scottish brewing.

Belkhaven give some pretty strong hints : https://www.belhaven.co.uk/our-beers/craft-beers


It seems to have been influenced by Fowler's Strong Ale/Twelve Guinea Ale, which was the original Wee Heavy - before moving to Belhaven, George Howell worked at the Heriot brewery which contract-brewed Fowler's back in the day. Ron Pattinson describes how it started as a 12% beer that started at 1.159 and had a final gravity of 1.068! But by 1955 the OG was the same as the FG a century earlier. Supposedly at Heriot it was partigyled with the lower-strength Redcap.

People tend to overcomplicate recipes - in this case you just want to boil up a ton of "finest Scottish malted barley" (ie Golden Promise) with just a splash of black malt to an OG of ~1.075. Mash fairly high. There's almost certainly some invert sugar in there that they're not telling you about, so substitute some of the Golden Promise with a tin of golden syrup. It's hard to replicate the effect of extended copper boils at a homebrew scale, so maybe add a touch of melanoidin. You can do the syrup thing if you want, I'd always keep it simple to start with, and then only complicate it with things like that if the end result doesn't match your expectations.

An ounce of 7% Challenger at 90 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 10 minutes should be about right for the 26 IBU. Pitch WLP028 or 1728 at 58F and let it free rise if you can, otherwise ramp it up to say 68F. You want an FG in the mid 1.020s.

Jamil's article gives a reasonable background, although I disagree with some of the detail :
https://byo.com/article/strong-scotch-ale-style-profile/

After almost three weeks, I have consecutive readings of 1.03 (AA = 63%). A bit higher than expected. Should I be concerned about this?

 

[Rod Hobbs]

That 16lb of GP is assuming a brewhouse efficiency of 70% - only you can tell if that's likely with your equipment for a 1.075 beer, but note that efficiency tends to drop off above 1.060.

Lyle's Golden Syrup is a cane syrup that's a common approximation to invert sugar for British homebrewers, it's available in any supermarket here. You don't say what country you're in, but it seems to be reasonably available in the former colonies. There's plenty of instructions for making invert sugar kicking around the place if you can't get it readily. Golden syrup isn't as fermentable as other sugars, so as a first approximation you can sub it 1:1 for GP.

Follow Jamil for details like mash temperature - 160F is probably a touch high.

I went with 155 for the mash. FG is 1.03. You think this is because that mash temp was still too high? How do you think this will effect the final product?