MrRook
Landlord.
97-98% golden promise malt
2-3% roast barley
20-25 IBUs of East Kent holdings
Wyeast Scottish ale yeast.
2-3% roast barley
20-25 IBUs of East Kent holdings
Wyeast Scottish ale yeast.
Jamil talks a little about peated malt (or lack of it) wrt Scottish ales in BCS:
Another example is here, from a book published in 1822 in London but containing letters written in the 1720s ascribed to Edward Burt. He says plain as day that Scottish common ale was smoky from use of peat, turf, or furze to prepare the malt. The way he writes, it is clear that by then English ale did not have the taste – he notes the Scottish taste as something unusual and acquired due to custom.
Go far enough back and most common ale would have been a bit smokey.
Peated malt tastes *rank* in beers. Rauchmalt seems to be the way to go if you want smokiness.
Peated malt works fine - you just have to use far less of it than German smoked malts, 2-3% is enough for most people (but I seem to be quite sensitive to something in smoked beers which other people enjoy, so there is obviously some kind of genetic element to it as well).
Whilst I'm sure that makes a great beer it does smack of the typical US kitchen-sink approach to ingredients that simply would not have happened "back in the day". My only surprise is that they held back on the hops to only one variety and two additions.This is Jamil's recipe for a Wee Heavy from BYO. I think the BCS version is a little different but I don't have it to hand.
McZainasheff’s Wee
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.099 FG = 1.026 IBU = 28 SRM = 20 ABV = 9.7%
Ingredients
17.8 lbs. (8.1 kg) British pale ale malt
17.6 oz. (0.5 kg) crystal malt (45 °L)
14.1 oz. (0.4 kg) Munich malt (8 °L)
7 oz. (0.2 kg) crystal malt (120°L)
1.8 oz. (50 g) roasted barley (500 °L)
6.5 AAU Kent Golding hops (60 min.) (1.3 oz./37 g at 5% alpha acids)
2 AAU Kent Golding hops (10 min.) (0.4 oz./11 g at 5% alpha acids)
1 tsp Irish moss (optional)
White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale) or Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale) yeast
Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude uses 100% Peated Malt and is very nice. Particularly if you like Islay whisky. Horses for courses.Peated malt works fine - you just have to use far less of it than German smoked malts, 2-3% is enough for most people (but I seem to be quite sensitive to something in smoked beers which other people enjoy, so there is obviously some kind of genetic element to it as well).
Whilst I'm sure that makes a great beer it does smack of the typical US kitchen-sink approach to ingredients that simply would not have happened "back in the day". My only surprise is that they held back on the hops to only one variety and two additions.
I think this is a good point, it's easy to bash US brewers when they comment on British styles (I may even be guilty myself on occasion) but Jamil's philosophy as you allude to is not the kitchen sink approach, everything that's there should be there for a reason. He makes that point in the book:But surely a recipe designed using the US kitchen-sink approach wouldn't produce a great beer? I've not brewed this particular recipe but knowing Jamil Z's philosophy when it comes to recipe design I'm pretty sure all those ingredients have a reason for being there.
I agree it's probably not reflective of a recipe for how a Wee Heavy would have been brewed "back in the day" but that isn't necessarily a bad thing in my view. I suppose I depends whether the OPs intention is to make a great Wee Heavy using modern malts and techniques, or to brew the style based on historical practices and the limited ingredients they had back then.
Bell Haven Wee Heavy is just pale, sugar and black malt for colour (source: BYOBRA)I just want a tasty wee heavy that has been tried by forum members that they think is representative of the style. I've now got loads to choose from
Will post here what I ended up making but I'm working on this one.
Think I might drop the melanodin and/or either the roasted or Crystal. I know it needs one of them
Vitals
Original Gravity: 1.079
Final Gravity (Adv): 1.019
IBU (Tinseth): 27
Color: 42.5 EBC
Mash
Strike Temp — 68.1 °C
Temperature — 64 °C — 30 min
Temperature — 70 °C — 30 min
Malts (5.65 kg)
5 kg (84%) — Crisp Maris Otter — Grain — 7.9 EBC
500 g (8.4%) — Crisp Crystal Dark — Grain — 148 EBC
100 g (1.7%) — BestMalz Melanoidin — Grain — 70 EBC
50 g (0.8%) — Bairds Roasted Barley — Grain — 1180 EBC
Other (300 g)
300 g (5%) — Brown Sugar, Light — Sugar — 15.8 EBC
Hops (45.2 g)
30 g (22 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 60 min
15.2 g (5 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 15 min
As @Northern_Brewer has already tried to impress on people (and seemingly failed) there is no such thing as a "wee heavy" style of beer at any time "back-in-the-day". Except for one beer that was named "Wee Heavy".... I agree it's probably not reflective of a recipe for how a Wee Heavy would have been brewed "back in the day" ...
@foxbat if Skull Splitter is one of your Favourites... not sure if this has some commonality. Its EKG, the curveballs maybe Peated malt (controversial choice )Skull Splitter
6000g Maris Otter
300g Crystal
300g Peated Malt
150g Torrefied wheat
100g Chocolate malt
100g Melanoidin
500g Brown Sugar
60 minutes mash @ 60C, batch sparge
75 minutes boil.
45g EKG @ 75minutes, 20g EKG @ 15 & 3 minutes.
CML Beoir yeast
OG 1080
On the subject of peated malt …@foxbat if Skull Splitter is one of your Favourites... not sure if this has some commonality. Its EKG, the curveballs maybe Peated malt (controversial choice )
It's a regular at one of the beer festivals I used to go to every year before going to beer festivals became an even dimmer memory. You had to get there early before the real headbangers drain the barrel dry before us connoisseurs () could sample a half but it's worth it. I think I'd believe the ingredients on the brewer's website.@foxbat if Skull Splitter is one of your Favourites... not sure if this has some commonality. Its EKG, the curveballs maybe Peated malt (controversial choice )
Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude uses 100% Peated Malt and is very nice. Particularly if you like Islay whisky. Horses for courses.
"It does appear to be the world’s first commercially brewed 100% peated-malt beer. "I've not had it, but you've got to be wary of claims that it uses 100% "peated malt" - it may be 100% of a malt that is smoked with peat, but that doesn't mean it's as intense as the "peated malt" that we can buy as homebrewers. I find it hard to believe that 100% of the latter would be drinkable - and I speak as someone who loves Islay malts.
Enter your email address to join: