I am planning to brew a Wee Heavy and want to get some feedback. Let me know what you think. I am planning to do the boil down on 1 gallon. Thanks
Kent County Wee Heavy
Strong Scotch Ale
Type: All Grain
Date: 12/26/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: bluesman
Boil Size: 6.30 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 83.57 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 11.14 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.79 %
0.25 lb Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 1.39 %
0.20 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.11 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 12.3 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 9.5 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (10 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
5.50 gal Poland Spring (R) Water
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [Starter 3000 ml] Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.088 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.028 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.86 %
Bitterness: 26.3 IBU Calories: 413 cal/pint
Est Color: 16.7 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 17.95 lb
Sparge Water: 2.84 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 22.44 qt of water at 170.5 F 152.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Take 1 gallons from kettle pre-boil and reduce 75% then return to boil for a 90min boil.
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The absolute, without a doubt best wee heavy recipe I’ve ever tried is Skotrat’s Traquair House clone. I uses only pale malt and a bit of roast barley for color. Based on that, I’d have to say that your recipe is way over the top.
60 minutes is Way too short of a boil, at least 2 hrs closer to 3 would be awesome. Or as some people do and have success with boil down the first running’s as you notes suggest
This style is NOT a hop showcase, drop everything after the 60 min addition and increase the amout of hops to hit your biotterness, NO flavor or aroma hops.
Peat, I wouldn’t use it. Rauchmalt if you need to but keep in mind that the coerrect amount of smoke in the final product is just a hint. The judge needs to ask the question, “Is that smoke I’m getting?” If the answer is yes there is too much smoke. IMHO 4 oz of fresh smoked malt is too much.
Since you are using liquid yeast consider Scottish Ale Yeast, the yeast you have chosen will work.
Mash, a 158F mash for me on my system for a 1.088 strong scotch ale would be way to high. I would be looking at 151/152F looking for 1.022-1.025 FG. I think 155F will give you a much higher FG than you are looking for, maybe something short of 1.035. Save those high mash temps for your Scottish ales.
Looks pretty close to me, and I agree with bonjour on most of his points… I would drop the peat smoked malt as well. Tried it once. Yuk! Maybe add 1/2 lb to 1 lb of wheat? Mash at ~153. If you have the time mash for 90 and boil 90. Depending on your system you’ll need about 8 gallons to start. Boiling down a gallon to a quart is good. Hops? 2.5 oz EKG @ 60 & 1/2 oz EKG at 30. (I think bonjour meant to say “This style is NOT a hop showcase”) Go with Wyeast 1728 if you can get it. Ferment it for 3 weeks and cool. Start at ~58 and bump it up to ~62 after the vigorous fermentation has ceased, about 1 week into the fermentation but that all depends on your conditions. Start rousing the yeast at this point and rouse at least daily. Let it warm up to ~68 the last 3-4 days to give the yeast a chance to finish up. Then keg & let it sit for a while. Big beers need a lot of love & attention, and patience!! :)
Don’t be fooled by the simple malt bill in this recipe. It’s the boil offs and boil times that really lend themselves to the outstanding complexity in this brew . . . like no other!
I just got my first Wee Heavy on tap so I can now comment on the style.
For 10 gallons I used 30 pounds of Maris Otter, 5 pounds of Munich, 0.5 pounds roasted barley mashed at 154F. I took 2 gallons of the first runnings and boiled it down to a quart-it looked suspiciously like dark liquid extract, and the rest of the wort I boiled 2 hours. At 60 minutes I added 3 oz’s of Challenger.
It’s a very malty, malty brew with very little hops bitterness, pretty much exactly what I was shooting for. I’ll let the second keg sit until next summer.
White Labs Edinburgh, stepped up the starter 3 times and fermented at 62F wort temp. I have a 12.2 gallon conical with a thermowell hooked to a Johnson controller all sitting in an insulated box with a window AC attached.
