“Wee Beastie” Scottish Ale
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“Wee Beastie” Scottish Ale
The following recipe will produce an authentic Scottish Ale. It is one of those brews that the process is as critical as the ingredients….. and the process produces the characteristics that define the style.
Wee Beastie
(Original Gravity) O.G. = 1.077
(Final Gravity) F.G. = 1.019
(Bitterness) IBU = 31
(Color) SRM = 18
(Alcohol) APV = 7.4%
Calories per 12-oz bottle =249
For a 5-gallon batch:
14-pounds Golden Promise Malt
0.3125-pounds (5-ounces) Roasted Barley (500L)
1-ounce of East Kent Goldings Hops (AA = 7.2, adjust quantity as necessary for varying AA): 60-min. remaining in boil.
Yeast = S-05 (if available, use Edinburgh Ale yeast, and lower mash temp. to 155)
NOTE: It is important that there are some tannins in the water that have a sharp earthy character. If you do not have access to water that has flowed through a peat bog (who the heck does) either obtain some peat turf and make a “tea” or, steep some dead dried Oak leaves (from the tree, not off the ground) for a few days. No more than a gallon for either the above options. Or you can just cheat and add ONE ounce of peat smoked Malt to the grist. (the smoke and peat are not noticeable, but the complexity it adds would be missed without it).
Also the water used should be fairly soft…. I dilute my high carbonate water with distilled.
Single infusion mash at 157 degrees at 1.25 quarts per pound for two hours. After the first hour, drain one gallon and put on to boil. Boil it hard. Be very attentive to this as it has a tendency to boil over.
Batch sparge twice, 3-gallons the first sparge and 2.5 gallons the second. Allow for a 30-min. rest for each sparge.
After you have the third runnings in the kettle, the gallon of first wort should have boiled down to a fairly thick, almost syrupy consistency, (if not boil it longer). Add this to the kettle, and boil for 90-min. This should be a fairly low boil. 30-minutes into the boil add the hops. After a minimum of a 90-minute boil, chill, and pitch the yeast.
Ferment fairly cool for 7-weeks (Primary only) rousing the yeast every other day or so after the first 2 weeks, prior to bottling or kegging. Carbonate low. Allow to age for at least 3-months.
This not only seems like, but is, a real pain in the buttocks to brew….. but the results are so worth it!
Tha sin nas fheàrr! Slàinte, slàinte mhor!!!!
Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
I guess I should add that this recipe was developed after a long e-mail correspondence with a fellow amateur bagpipe maker… who lived in Scotland. His brother was a former employee of a local brewery over there that sadly, like so many others, was bought out by a large international firm… he stated that the beer now made there was a “heap o’ shite” and went on to suggest that the company perform several rather imaginative un-natural acts with inanimate objects……. (that I do not care to remember, let alone repeat……) Anyway, the above recipe, and process, met with his brother’s approval…. And that it was very close (as close as you could get without using the same water) to the original beer that they made at the brewery for over a hundred years.
Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
sounds delicious. i'll save it for when i have a full day to brew and when the weather makes it fun to brew outside again.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
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this sounds like a fun brew. the basic brews are rather boring, set it and forget it... this would be interesting.
oh and Z, it was a beautiful day today.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny -
Lakewood said:
this sounds like a fun brew. the basic brews are rather boring, set it and forget it... this would be interesting.
oh and Z, it was a beautiful day today.
shut your west coast face!The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
FromZwolle said:Lakewood said:
this sounds like a fun brew. the basic brews are rather boring, set it and forget it... this would be interesting.
oh and Z, it was a beautiful day today.
shut your west coast face!
Oh, you mean it wasn't 78 and sunny everywhere?The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny -
Lakewood said:FromZwolle said:Lakewood said:
this sounds like a fun brew. the basic brews are rather boring, set it and forget it... this would be interesting.
oh and Z, it was a beautiful day today.
shut your west coast face!
Oh, you mean it wasn't 78 and sunny everywhere?
it was only 70 there todayAin't that a Bitch -
Is that what weather.com says? First hand experience says different. Lakewood is pretty warm, we are a good bit inland and in the shadow of palos verdes.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
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Lakewood said:
Is that what weather.com says? First hand experience says different. Lakewood is pretty warm, we are a good bit inland and in the shadow of palos verdes.
id like a good Cabernet SauvignonAin't that a Bitch
