Scottish style ale

Hi there, I've been brewing for about 5 years, and have never tried this I currently have two 5 gallon Scottish style ales fermenting at 54°. I thought I would imitate the original climate where the beer was from, my question is how long would one recommended leaving it on the trub, the blow off hoses were galloping like horses for about 3-5 days and since have calmed down I figure 2-3 weeks primary and then 2-3 months cold conditioning. Any suggestions? Thanks take care p.s. there are in a dual stage temp control chest freezer so time and temp is not a concern. Cheers, Jeff

 

I pulled a scottish ale recipie of the internet last year and it is one of the most popular recipies I make. All I do is ferment in the primary for 7 days at 65 degrees and then transfer to the secondary for 4 weeks at 60 degrees then bottle. I bottle condition at 65 degrees and the beer gets better with every bottle.

 

I ferment mine at 54 for 4 weeks and then lager for 6 weeks. I don't really feel that it's entirely necessary but it is traditional. The lower fermentation temp with the Scottish yeast does make it a much better beer than the higher temps but I'm not really sure the lagering adds much in my opinion.

 

What type of yeast do you use? I use Wyeast Scottish Ale. Do you think the lower temp gives the beer a better taste?

 

Wyeast 1728, the same yeast you're talking about. At the lower temp you get an extremely malty beer with a hint of smokiness. I don't get that smokiness when I ferment at a higher temp. I find it to be lacking that clean malt flavor at a higher temp as well. In my opinion it just tastes better and as an added bonus, for a beer history dork such as myself, you get to do it the traditional way. You can make good beer at the higher temp but it's not the best it can be in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the info, looks like I need to do more research on the beers I brew. Now if your a lager expert I could pick your brain a little on that as well.

 

What temp do you lager the scottish ale. I forgot to ask on the last reply.

 

I do mine at 34F but as close to freezing as possible is ideal. I wouldn't go below 31F.