Share thoughts on this Scotch ale recipe

[cheech1006]

I am brewing a scotch ale this weekend and was hoping for some recipe comments/ideas so I don't blow it.

5.25 gallon batch
9.9 lbs. Munton's extra light LME
1/4 lbs C60
1/4 lbs C80
1/4 lbs C120
1/4 lbs special b
1/4 lbs carapils
1/4 lbs chocolate rye
1/4 lbs roasted barley
1-2 oz. Fuggles 60 minutes.
1-2 oz. Fuggles 10 minutes.
2 packs of wyeast 1728 Scottish ale

I know the BJCP says the style should not have a lot of crystal malt, but many recipes I've seen use 1-2 lbs. Has anybody done this? Went well or badly? Also unsure on the carapils- I want good body, but not sacharine sweet. Am I over-doing it there? Lastly, the late hops - good/bad idea? Town Hall's Hope and King won a gold this year at GABF, and it uses late hops, but I don't know if that makes it a good plan.

 

[cheech1006]

Am I in the wrong section or something? What's up?

 

[unionrdr]

A quarter pound of Carapils isn't a lot. The BB summer ale kit my wife did used 1/2lb of it. Late additions of hops are good for great flavor & some aroma. Just don't add a ton at the beginning,that's bittering territory.

 

[cheech1006]

Thanks for the comments on carapils and hops, unionrdr. Anyone got experience with a scotch ale and this much crystal? Too much? Thoughts on the chocolate rye?

 

[seabass07]

I haven't used chocolate rye, so I can't comment on how it will be in a scotch ale. But it sounds like it would be good. I made a scotch ale that had about 1.25 lbs of crystal in it. It was not too sweet for my taste.

The late hops will probably be ok. It all depends on how long you are planning on aging this. But I don't think that's enough hops to balance out all of the crystal. Your recipe looks like less than 10 ibus. I'd double the hops since you're only using 1oz of low AA hops.

*Edit...I read the hops as 1/2oz instead of 1-2. Disregard that. I think 2oz at 60 and 1-2 at 10 would be good. If you plan on aging this for more than 6 months, I wouldn't bother with the late additions. They will be mostly gone by then.

 

[cheech1006]

I haven't used chocolate rye, so I can't comment on how it will be in a scotch ale. But it sounds like it would be good. I made a scotch ale that had about 1.25 lbs of crystal in it. It was not too sweet for my taste.

The late hops will probably be ok. It all depends on how long you are planning on aging this. But I don't think that's enough hops to balance out all of the crystal. Your recipe looks like less than 10 ibus. I'd double the hops since you're only using 1oz of low AA hops.

*Edit...I read the hops as 1/2oz instead of 1-2. Disregard that. I think 2oz at 60 and 1-2 at 10 would be good. If you plan on aging this for more than 6 months, I wouldn't bother with the late additions. They will be mostly gone by then.

Thanks, Seabass. I'll probably go with those suggestions. As for how long I'm aging this, we'll see how long I can last. Patience is not my strong suit. That's one of the reasons I got into brewing. Trying to learn.