Please review a Scotch 60/- w. Peat Smoked Malt

[Ernie Diamond]

Looking to do a sessionable, low gravity Scotch Ale with a "suspicion" of smoke. Used BeerAlchemy to put a recipe together. Anyone have any comments? Done a similar version?

OG: 1.031
FG: 1.008
ABV: 3.2%

Volume: 5.02 Gal

Grain Bill:
6.25 lb Pale UK
5.68 oz White Sugar
3 oz UK Black
1.83 oz Crystal 120
1 oz peated

0.85 oz Fuggle @ 60
0.25 Golding @ 15

 

[Walker]

personally, i would ditch the white sugar and up the crystal.

scottish ales are supposed to be very malt forward. The sugar will thin and dry the beer out, and there isn't enough crystal in there to give it a big malty taste, IMO.

For the peat... you might have to experiment to get the right amount. In my own scottish 80/- recipe, I have messed with the amount of peat more than anything else. I did 2 oz and couldn't detect it, upped to 3 and decided I wanted more, went to 5 and that was too much. I settled at 4oz. You can taste it, but it doesn't overpower.

 

[Ernie Diamond]

with a lighter gravity 60/-, though would that peat come through more? I don't want the flavor to dominate but I want it to be present.

What is the aromatic effect of peat malt? Is it present on the nose or just in the mouth?

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

i agree with walker, swap the white sugar for a medium-dark crystal malt.

1.008 is too dry of a finish for this style. Even with an og of 1.031 I'd expect a finish over 1.010-12.

 

[Walker]

with a lighter gravity 60/-, though would that peat come through more? I don't want the flavor to dominate but I want it to be present.

What is the aromatic effect of peat malt? Is it present on the nose or just in the mouth?

the peat might come through more in a lighter scottish. like I said, you might have to start low and maybe brew it again later with a little more until you hone in on what you like.

as for aroma... yeah, you can smell the peat. When I brewed mine, even with only 4 oz, the smell of the peat smoke filled the garage.

In the glass, you can smell it before it touches your lips.

 

[Ernie Diamond]

So with the final gravity, how do I affect the attenuation so that I end up with something closer to 1.012? is that in the selection of malt? I adjusted my grain bill to lose the white sugar in favor of Crystal but I still have a FG of 1.008.

How do I move the needle?

 

[hamiltont]

Adding more crystal malt will move the needle as you say. Using a lower attenuating yeast can too. Cheers!!!

 

[New Brew]

Jamil Z had an episode of his podcast brewing on Scottish Ales, and his tips for keeping attenuation low were to mash high (158 F), pitch on the low end of the proper rate (~100 billion cells/5 gal - 1 SP/WL tube), and ferment at low temp (~65 F) with a clean-fermenting yeast (WLP001/WY1056).

He's also very opinionated on the (apparently) improper common use of peated/smoked malts in this style by American homebrewers. His Grain bill for 5 gal is:

4 lb (1.81 kg) English Pale Malt (Golden Promise or Crisp Maris Otter)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Munich Malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Honey Malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Crystal 40L
0.5 lb (0.23 kg) Crystal 120L
2 oz. (57 g) Pale Chocolate Malt 200L

0.53 oz. (15 g) East Kent Goldings hops,
5% alpha acid (60 min.)

Target Original Gravity: 1.034 (8.45 Plato)
Approximate Final Gravity: 1.012 (2.99 Plato)
Anticipated SRM: 15.4
Anticipated IBU: 13.1
Wort Boil Time: 90 minutes

His recipe has won a bunch of NHC medals, so he's doing something right.

 

[Ernie Diamond]

very helpful, thanks.

I realize that peated malt is totally out of keeping with tradition but I thought that it might keep things pretty interesting. I generally like to stay pretty traditional but in this case, thought it might be fun to deviate somewhat.