Scotch Ale Brewing Question

[seatazzz]

You caramelized a lot more than I did. My recipe called for 24 oz., which I caramelized down to raw syrup, reconstituted with hot water back up to the original quantity, then tossed it back into the main wort.

When you caramelized, how do you treat the reduction? I tried to use a thermometer to see what the hottest temp I was able to hit was. I wanted to get upwards of 350f, having read that conversion occurs in caramelization at around 350f. I think I need a candy thermometer... mine weren't able to report that high. So I brought it to a good boil. The rich syrup developed very fine bubbles, then I took it off, fearing I'd burn it. It didn't appear or smell burned.

Just curious how you approach caramelizing and how you know when you've hit your target in terms of knowing when to pull it off the heat.

There wasn't a target temperature, the recipe I used (Boundary Bay Scotch clone) only called for boiling down at least a gallon of the first runnings then adding them back 10 minutes before end of boil. Just need to make sure it doesn't scorch. I used a relatively shallow pan so it would cook down faster. Getting it to come up at least to 1.2 seems to be about right.

If you don't have a refractometer, use your taste buds before and after; it doesn't need to be a syrup.

 

[premington]

There wasn't a target temperature, the recipe I used (Boundary Bay Scotch clone) only called for boiling down at least a gallon of the first runnings then adding them back 10 minutes before end of boil. Just need to make sure it doesn't scorch. I used a relatively shallow pan so it would cook down faster. Getting it to come up at least to 1.2 seems to be about right.

If you don't have a refractometer, use your taste buds before and after; it doesn't need to be a syrup.

Very good... I had little to go by, other than the few things I was able to pull up on the web. Always a little cautious on getting info from one source, so I spread it out, then took a guess on an approach.

I should have tasted the reconstituted wort before transferring it to the main boil. Didn't think of it at the time. The final boil tasted quite nice!

 

[seatazzz]

I just reread your post...I wouldn't reconstitute it. That is just taking it pretty much back to where you started and not adding a lot to the flavor/gravity. Since you are doing extract, what you might want to try is increasing your extract quantity slightly, and also your water volume. You would need to do some math, but with 24oz you would maybe lose 5-6 Oz in the boiloff. That isn't a huge loss. Reconstituting may have also contributed to the lower than expected SG. But it does sound like it will turn out great...I love me some Scotch ale!!

 

[premington]

I just reread your post...I wouldn't reconstitute it. That is just taking it pretty much back to where you started and not adding a lot to the flavor/gravity. Since you are doing extract, what you might want to try is increasing your extract quantity slightly, and also your water volume. You would need to do some math, but with 24oz you would maybe lose 5-6 Oz in the boiloff. That isn't a huge loss. Reconstituting may have also contributed to the lower than expected SG. But it does sound like it will turn out great...I love me some Scotch ale!!

I'm always interested in trying new and different methods and modifying the process. With this, I was just following the recipe to see what I get, then I'll make adjustments moving forward.

As for reconstituting, I think they're just having me add back the original water lost during caramelizing. Either way, when the caramelizing is added back to the main worth, it gets reconstituted. Also, the process of caramelizing changes the character of the reduced wort, which imparts that character on the rest of the beer.

At least that's what I've been told. I've never done this recipe, so I'll refrain from passing complete judgement until tasting day.