Scottish ale

Looking for comments on a Scottish ale recipe I have been formulating.  A little bit non traditional.

5 gallons, aiming for an OG around 1.048

8 lbs. Simpson’s Golden Promise
1 lb. Simpson’s Golden Naked Oats
1 lb. D-90 candi syrup

Mash in at 155°F or so with CaCl and lactic acid to adjust the mash pH in the 5.1 to 5.5 range for 90 min.

Boil for 90 min.

1 oz. Northern Brewer 60 min
1 lb. D-90 candi syrup 10 min

Got a packet of Imperial Yeast A31 Tartan on the way.

Looking for a malty but not sweet beer, with a nice head.  Thinking the D-90 should get me a nice dark color and a little flavor, similar to boiling the first runnings, but without the extra effort.

needs more Fuggles…

Gah!  Ron Pattison has spent much blood, toil, sweat and tears trying to dispel the homebrew myth of boiled down first runnings or long boils in Scottish brewing.  They rarely boiled more than 60 minutes traditionally, shorter than south of the border.  But like all British brewers they’ve long used dark Invert syrups.  I think the D-90 would be a tasty take on that.  Please send a pint when ready. :)  Seriously, I’ve thought about subbing D-90 in a British beer.  Report how it turns out.

My only concern with the recipe is that the beer might dry out too much with only your “base” malts and the inclusion of the candi syrup.

Myth or not, a boil down makes the beer the way it should be.  I care about the results, not duplicating a process.

But there are probably easier ways to get there.  Dunno, never tried the boil-down thing.  Point is, you shouldn’t think it’s not Scottish if it’s not boiled a lot.  Agree as always it’s the results and not the process that you taste in your mug.

Don’t see how it could be a lot easier…run the first gal. into a small kettle and boil it while you boil the rest of the batch.

That’s a good point.  Maybe I will add 4-6 oz. of crystal 40.

And Fuggles…

Let me see if I understand what you’re saying, more fuggles?

You got it.  It’s like tambourine.

Fuggles would certainly work, but I’m saving mine for a nice spring mild.

Maybe Bramling Cross?  I’ve found them to taste dirtier than Fuggles.

I wish I could remember the beer writer who described Fuggles as “fresh English dirt in the morning.”  ;D  (I love Fuggles, as did that writer.  But from a marketing standpoint, that needs some work…)

Are you sure it doesn’t need more cowbell?  I thought I heard somewhere everything needs more cowbell.  ;D

I won’t comment on the recipe since I can’t recall exactly what’s in my Scottish Ale at the moment (and can’t look it up at work).

Paul

Forgot to comment on this.  While this is all true, it takes 4 hours to make Invert No. 3.  Cheating a bit by boiling the first runnings or using D-90 certainly saves time, even if the Scots only boil for 60 minutes. :wink:

Thinking about this some more…I am going to forgo adding any C-40 as the Golden Naked Oats are like the crystal malt of the oat world.  I might even bump them up to 1.5 lbs.

What I was thinking when I mentioned in response to Denny there must be an easier way even than boiling down the first runnings.  Wonder if some grade of crystal might have a similar effect.  I make Invert in big batches to economize on the time, but still it is a task, and if I were to put a price on my time… well, that’s why I’ve thought of using the Belgian stuff.  Again, I look forward to hearing how you think it turns out.

I think the boildown gives me a different flavor than crystal. And FWIW, I’ve only seen it recommended for wee heavy, not lower gravity Scottish.

That makes sense.  Since the Scots were early adopters of sparging, resulting in thinner worts than the English got without sparging, those strong Scottish ales at least must have required a much longer boil.

No way does it take 4 hours to make Invert #3. An hour and a half to two hours max.

Takes me the better part of an hour setting up and getting to 240°F, then hold it for 3-3.5 hours for no. 3… why I love the oven method now.