Wee Heavy Strong Scotch Ale

[MrBlackrock]

Looks excellent. For a single infusion I would mash around 152-153 as you don't want this beer to dry out too much.

Thanks !

Ended up with:

7.75 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 79.6 %
0.52 kg Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.4 %
0.51 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L(Fawcett Crystal 2) (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.3 %
0.45 kg Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.6 %
0.27 kg Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.8 %
0.11 kg Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6 1.2 %
0.11 kg Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 1.2 %
32.58 g Fuggle, U.S. [4.75 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 12.2 IBUs
28.35 g Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 9 15.7 IBUs
1.1 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 10 -


Cant wait to brew this. Had it crushed today.

Going to wait for my Fast Ferment to be ready and use this for the long term fermenting period, makes it so much easier.

 

[dirkjk]

I thought this was good at 3 months, but had some left over in keg at 6 months and this stuff is amazing. Next time I brew this I won't even touch it for 6 months.

 

[MrBlackrock]

I thought this was good at 3 months, but had some left over in keg at 6 months and this stuff is amazing. Next time I brew this I won't even touch it for 6 months.

How long did you ferment?

I am currently at 26 days. Added oak cubes 7 days ago. Smells heavenly

 

[dirkjk]

How long did you ferment?

I am currently at 26 days. Added oak cubes 7 days ago. Smells heavenly

Primary only for 30 days. Obviously needs a longer secondary next time.

 

[MrBlackrock]

Yeah. Aiming for a 2 months. Might have to shorten it since the cubes are floating freely in there. Managed to get 9.5% . Had a bad OG need to tweak my setup. Cant wait to bottle this

 

[MrBlackrock]

Primary only for 30 days. Obviously needs a longer secondary next time.

Yeah. Aiming for a 2 months. Might have to shorten it since the cubes are floating freely in there. Managed to get 9.5% . Had a bad OG need to tweak my setup. Cant wait to bottle this

 

[dirkjk]

Yeah. Aiming for a 2 months. Might have to shorten it since the cubes are floating freely in there. Managed to get 9.5% . Had a bad OG need to tweak my setup. Cant wait to bottle this

You dont have to shorten the secondary time due to the oak cubes. The longer the better actually. I haven't had much luck with those imparting much flavor, but ymmv. Good luck

 

[JDXX1971]

I brewed this two weeks ago, took a sample Thursday and it was at 1.015 from 1.077. Yeah its a wee heavier at 8.2% but the sample tasted amazing. This stuff was nice and clear already so I think I am going to put it in a keg to secondary, being as I only have 3 gallons and don't have a small enough fermenter. Does anyone see any problem with this? I don't plan to carb it yet just store it in the sealed keg. Though I want to drink it all now.

 

[dirkjk]

I brewed this two weeks ago, took a sample Thursday and it was at 1.015 from 1.077. Yeah its a wee heavier at 8.2% but the sample tasted amazing. This stuff was nice and clear already so I think I am going to put it in a keg to secondary, being as I only have 3 gallons and don't have a small enough fermenter. Does anyone see any problem with this? I don't plan to carb it yet just store it in the sealed keg. Though I want to drink it all now.

This beer gets better with age so let it age several months if you can. This will tie up your keg though. Is this a 5 gallon or 3 gallon keg? I would purge the headspace with co2 if you go that route. Wouldnt hurt to carb it some, or even naturally carb it with some priming sugar while you wait.

 

[cmac62]

I love me some Scotch ale, I usually do a longer boil and no decoction. Is there a difference in flavor imparted? Also, I usually mash at around 156-7 for 60 and batch sparge with about 5 gals, of course my Wee is Heavy at about 10%. My question for the day, is there a significant difference between Decoction and extended boil. Okay, second question: with 45 min at 149, how much is a 45 min at 157 do, most of the sugars are already converted within 30 mins and at 149 it is significantly more fermentable than a scotch ale is supposed to be. My next scotch is going to be a smash (all MO and EKG or Fuggles), with a loooong boil. Say 20 lb MO with 2 oz Fuggles at 60. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[JDXX1971]

This beer gets better with age so let it age several months if you can. This will tie up your keg though. Is this a 5 gallon or 3 gallon keg? I would purge the headspace with co2 if you go that route. Wouldnt hurt to carb it some, or even naturally carb it with some priming sugar while you wait.

I plan on waiting a couple months but it is gonna be tough. I used a 5 gallon corny that was full of Star San and closed transfer purged, then I put 12 pounds on top of it and pulled the prv a few times. Now it is sitting in a cool corner biding it's time. I may open it and prime with sugar like you suggest soon though.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I'm going to get the grains for this tomorrow. Any idea what the best yeast is to use? OP mentions Notty, but says US-05 is superior, WY1728 has been mentioned, WY1028 has been used but suggested to mash higher for this style (solid advice for that strain). Any consensus? I'm tempted to use US-05 so I don't have to make a starter but WY1728 is calling out to me and I'm considering WLP002&005. Thanks for any and all help!

 

[andrewmaixner]

any neutralish yeast should be fine. a friend did an excellent wee heavy with german bock lager yeast even.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Thanks for the response @andrewmaixner I actually found an old packet of WY1084 (Irish Ale) in my fridge that needs to get used up so that's what I'm goin with. I'll probably ferment pretty cool to try and keep it as clean as possible. Cheers!

 

[PersonalBrewer]

Bought the grains, ekg and wlp028 for this scaled up to 10.3 gallon batch. I keg and do BIAB.
Going to make a starter (first time ever.) Also, I secondary in the keg.

(no decoction - I'm lazy). YMMV. The flavors are malt/ethanol, then caramel/smoke, then a faint hint of cherry. Really good.

For a single infusion I would mash around 152-153 as you don't want this beer to dry out too much.

Going for no decoction and going to mash around 152-153.

Brewsmith is showing 7.9% ABV estimated, which wouldn't hurt my feelings if it tastes good. I usually like my beer at around 7%.

I'll post my results as to my personal tastes. This will sit a while in the keg, I'm filling kegs to avoid brewing on my deck with propane when it gets so hot.

 

[u81doughboy]

You may want to bump the mash temp a little higher. I found with my last Wee Heavy that 152ish made the wort too ferment-able. Rather than an est 7.8% it ended at around 9.1%. If you have tight control on fermentation temperature, you can also make sure it doesn't over attenuate. I believe I had both of these problems.
Good luck.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

You may want to bump the mash temp a little higher. I found with my last Wee Heavy that 152ish made the wort too ferment-able. Rather than an est 7.8% it ended at around 9.1%. If you have tight control on fermentation temperature, you can also make sure it doesn't over attenuate. I believe I had both of these problems.
Good luck.

Thanks for your input
Since I BIAB over propane, I wouldn't say I have tight control over mash temperature. However I do have tight control over fermentation temp.

I will keep it in mind and lean in that direction with the mash temp.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

Brewed this Sunday. Did use a starter, and since I didn't do the decoction added 1/2 lb melanoidin per 5 gallons.

Edited to add, went into fermenter at 1.075, came out at 1.020 nailing an ABV of 7.3 (just perfect for my preferences)

As usual, I tasted the fermented beer before carbonation/aging and it was smoother than I expected. Not much depth at this point in time, but very smooth and should become nicer over time. Also used WLP028 for yeast and EKG for hops (on the recommendation of my local brew shop supplier, who has always been an excellent resource.)

 

[PersonalBrewer]

OK, Kegged 30 days ago and now this is starting to come along nicely.

Did some tasting at intervals an it was kinda bleh.

However, now this is becoming something I'm glad I brewed. Definite notes of caramel and a very smooth beer. Mostly just me drinking it so ten gallons of something that doesn't go down well takes a while to get rid of.

As other posters have said, this one only gets to it's best with. time.

I'm glad I brewed 10 gallons of this one for sure.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

The first keg of this just kicked empty.

I checked the date and it was kegged on July 12, fastest a keg has ever gone empty at my house.

My post of thirty days being kegged, probably should have been brewed.

I double checked the date I put on with blue tape on both the empty keg and the one I replaced it with They both said kegged July 12

Edited to add: must have been a brain fart because should have been kegged June 12 instead of July.

Still was gone pretty damn fast, glad I'm not drinking that much though. It's mostly just me drinking the beer

 

[PersonalBrewer]

Also, my wife came across a wee heavy in the local grocery store. So she bought a can for me to compare.

Their wee heavy was produced by a micro brewery in Asheville, NC - not far from here.

This is without doubt better.