MacBruver
Well-Known Member
I'm not quite jiving with some of you on the terminology; according to the BJCP a strong scotch ale = wee heavy and there is no "regular/traditional" scotch ale, people just drop the word strong because it is assumed. McEwan's, Bellhaven, and Alesmith are all listed as examples of the style. I don't know if some people are getting confused with scottish ales.
Maybe the BJCP isn't giving me the whole story.
Labeling is somewhat inconsistent. Even though McEwans has a "wee heavy" they just call it "Scotch Ale". The rest of their beers- 60, 70, export- are all ales, too... confusing to say the least. The only people who really use the wee heavy designation seem to be craft brewers in the states.
Guidelines: BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 09
Explanation of "shilling":
Light (60/-) was under 3.5% abv
Heavy (70/-) was between 3.5% and 4.0% abv
Export (80/-) was between 4.0% and 5.5% abv
Wee heavy (90/-) was over 6.0% abv
(/- is read as "shilling" or "bob" as in "a pint of eighty-bob, please")
Beer in Scotland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kilt lifter is 6% ABV, McEwan's scotch ale is 8% ABV, AleSmith Wee Heavy is 10%. While kilt lifter and mcewan's scotch ale by definition are wee heavy due to 6%+ ABV, the type of brew I think people are referring to is something more like alesmith's. At least, that's what I'm thinking...