I'm a brewer in Edinburgh which is where most Scotch ale has been brewed. So, Scottish ales are malt forward so far as to say theyre not hoppy. Theyre not maltbombs in the way Dunkels and Bocks are. Typically they are overwhlemingly made of Pale Malt, with some brewers invert ( hard to get! ) or crystal/caramel malt. The colour was dialled up with brewers caramel. Despite everything everyone reads no we dont use masses of roasted malts, toasted malts, crazy long boils or anything containing peat. The Shilling system was based on how much malt tax was levied per barrel of ale brewed. Before we had hydrometers we taxed beer on what went in, not what came out as alcohol. Ferment the ales 14-20 degrees, the warmer the more aromatic. I'll post a very typical recipe with a slight American twist using maple syrup instead of No.2 invert. If I use roasted malts its really for a touch of flavour, not colour. Historically we did import "American hops" for bittering so using Cluster for the 60 minute addition is perfectly fine. Fuggles and goldings for later additions.
Hey, thanks for sharing the information there, its always awesome when we can get some input from the brewers whose regional styles I'm trying to emulate. While doing research in preparation for this video, I found examples of recipes ranging from just pale malt boiled for 4 hours to far more complicated grists than the one I put together here (including peated malt additions). Is the recipe you posted for a wee heavy style or would it be for more of a lighter ale? I appreciate the clarification on some of those points in the video - as you mentioned, it seems like there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding the style. Thanks for sharing!
@@TheApartmentBrewer Its for a wee heavy. Scottish yeast is great for topcropping and for something this big im using freshly skimmed yeast from a heavy i've done. This is a great style for doing a first running as a wee heavy and a second running as a light or heavy. No need for the prolonged boil, that was when third runnings were boiled down....much easier to save the third runnings and heating them to make your next strike water. Much less fuel used! We never use peated anything. Ron Pattinson does great work researching this stuff. Will post the link
I brewed the recipe I sent. Just enough Chinook for it to really work. Really nice. 3 weeks in primary, now for bottling for 2 months or so. Very happy with the result. I dry hopped a little with Chinook. It's nice but id definitely say hold off on DH for the style. That background flavour is just enough, it's not a hoppy style at all.
My pleasure, it seems a lot of folks really appreciate it and it has made a lot of a difference for me as well. I have no plans to change that going forward.
You have the best homebrewing channel on UA-cam, hands down. I've learned so much from you, so thank you! And we have similar taste in whiskey. Cheers!
Nice improvement in the editing! Great intro! Really like the format: introduction to the style and philosophy around it, then notation on thinks you learned by brewing it, then conclusion.
My favorite peated Scotch is Ardbeg Corryvreckan. It's not exactly cheap coming in around ~$90 a bottle, but it's fantastic. If you haven't had it, I highly recommend it.
Re your statement on not using peat malt in beer. I totally agree, I've made a scotch beer with 1% peated malt and it still came through noticeably. Well said Steve 🙂
This is the process I use for when I'm brewing a big beer and I'm worried I might overflow. Add all of the water to the kettle- heat it up to mash temp-- remove a few gallons of the brewing water into a clean bucket. Then add the grains. Then add water from the bucket back into the kettle until I'm no longer comfortable. Whatever water does not fit into the kettle I'll "sparge" with it. It is just a quick and dirty "sparge"-- just dump it over the grains as the basket is draining on the hooks after the minute mash. I've had a few large grains bills where I pulled water off-- but was able to add it all back to the kettle. This is an easy way to brew larger beers without fear of overflowing the grains in the basket// and also eliminates having to do a ton of math to figure out the water calculations.
I made a scotch Ale years ago with a tiny amount of peated malt, it was when I was bottling, so I bottled the batch without tasting it. after it carbed it was utterly undrinkable when it was finished, in disgust I put the cases to the side because I didn't want to go through the work of dumping all the bottles. 6-8 months later a friend grabbed one and opened it and loved it, the peat character mellowed significantly in the aged beer and added a nice character. I'll call it a happy accident and still will not be repeating it any time soon.
I suppose it would be the type of thing to get better with age. I can't stand it though, its great in whisky but just doesn't belong in a beer imo. Glad it eventually got better for you though!
Nice video. I'm planning one of these in a few months - different grain bill though. Despite your warning I am still thinking of using 1% cherry or apple hardwood smoked malt. Emmet suggested to me on the clawhammer with bills up to 20 lbs he would fill the clawhammer with his total mash volume and heat it, and then remove a few gallons and set it aside. Mash in, and then top up with the water you pulled off as much as you can fit. Then when it drains at mash out just sparge back the remaining water you couldn't fit back in.
I like your videos for a few reasons. 1. You list the recipe not only for the beer but for the water because that’s just as important. You show the process and finished process all in the same video. Well done sir
Really enjoyed this video. Great atmosphere set by the weather, backdrop, and lovely music..paired with your very thorough style. Scottish ales are underrated. Underrated video too..deserves more views!
One of my favorite styles. I went through a phase where I brewed beers predominantly from the British Isles because I absolutely love the flavors and drinkability of the various styles. Well done! 🍻
English/Irish/Scottish beers really are a very interesting malt showcase and other than Irish ales you just don't see them that frequently in the states, which makes them all that much more interesting. I'm going to do more this year for sure!
I saw you pour your entire 2 liter starter in. Try this on a batch: make your starter a few days in advance, then cold crash it in the fridge for a day or so prior to brewing. Most of the yeast should flocculate and fall out. Then carefully decant the spent "beer" off the yeast bed. Swirl the yeast around in what's left and pour that in. This way you aren't adding spent beer to your wort, nor adding additional volume. One of my brewing friends suggested this technique and it's worked well for me.
I find there's two camps here, one in favor of decanting and one not. Have you noticed any difference versus when you didn't decant? I've done it both ways and haven't been able to identify and benefit other than volume changes. Brulosophy also did similar experiment and couldn't find a difference. brulosophy.com/2016/10/10/decanted-vs-full-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/ Sometimes its useful if I'm a little short on target volume though.
@@TheApartmentBrewer I did not note any off flavors on my darker beers but I did on my lighter beers. I have not noted any of that flavor since I began decanting the spent beer off the starter. I can see the merit in what you say about hitting your volume.
I run into the same issue when getting a pre-boil gravity rereading and a OG. I've had instances which my post-gravity was oddly higher than my OG while using the refractometer and comparing to a hydrometer. I am enjoying the Milwaukee digital refractometer by comparison to the Brix refractometer. Your explanation on the discrepancy in the reading was helpful though.
My Homebrew club just filled a barrel with a Scottish strong ale. The thing we noted in all the beers was how they turned out thinner tasting than we expected for a larger beer.
Was that pre or post barrel? Mine seemed kind of thin and boring at first but as it got a few weeks old it started to get really complex. Now I'm about another week and a half from shooting the last part of this video and its kicking out amazing chocolate flavors too. It seems to have gotten a bit more robust but is still super drinkable.
Mash was 154f. 6 people made the same recipe to add to the barrel. We were tasting them before adding them to an Applejack barrel. We just noted that every single beer tasted bold but somehow thin. The age on these beers must really amp thing up as you said.
Now three weeks bottled, after three weeks of fermentation. Very very pleasant and strong, about 11%. Carbonation, like for Belgian ales, really helps this along. One to rebrew for sure.
I just used Voss kveik for my spiced Wee Heavy for Christmas. About 7.7% ABV, and lovely fruity esters from the Voss. Love kveik for high gravity brews, as it takes zero babying. Since I was shooting for a high body beer (finished around .026 - .028), and I knew I would pull huge esters from the Voss (fruity, orangey, raisiny), I didn't use any caramel malts. Brewed with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Great stuff! I just brewed a RIS Saturday, and the OG was somewhere in the 90's. It's already done fermenting as of this morning. Love kveik.
Nice! Thats funny, I literally brewed a RIS with 1.100 OG last weekend and pitched hornindal on it. It is also done haha! Sounds like an interesting idea going without caramel malts and adding spice. I would be very curious to see how that turned out!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I was shooting for about 1.100 on the RIS, but my boil off rate was lower than expected. I'm just using a soup kettle, so I didn't realize it until I went to put it in the fermentor. Thought I just had low efficiency when I checked the gravity. Turns out I actually had HIGHER efficiency than usual (about 74%), and just .25 gallons more wort. I could give you the recipe for the spiced wee heavy, if you are interested. It actually turned out quite nice. As much as I would love to ship beers out (I really would), I've already given away most of the bottles for Christmas. Only have one left for myself. xD
I'd love the recipe! I'm planning on brewing plenty of the lower strength scotch ales and I think that would fit nicely in there with those, if I decide to experiment with them a bit.
@@TheApartmentBrewer Put it into Brewfather (usually use BeerSmith). Can't get the water profile right (won't let me edit the sparge water additions), so I'll just post the target profile here. Calcium : 50 ppm, sulfate : 52 ppm, magnesium : 5 ppm, chloride : 104 ppm, sodium : 27 ppm, bicarbonate : 85 ppm. Brewfather link: share.brewfather.app/p4WKvFkH3eDjgw I do 1.5 gallon batches (moving up to 3 after my Anvil Bucket Fermentor comes in). Only thing I might adjust with this recipe is the oats, especially if you are shooting for a lower gravity. The spices add complexity, and I wanted that silky mouthfeel to go with the spices and fruity esters, so that's my reasoning on their inclusion. I'd just do 3 lbs of Maris Otter if I cut the oats. My efficiency was low (poor sparge), and I think my mash was a bit high, so I had a lower OG, and higher FG that predicted. But we're talking 1% ABV, and 4 points off on FG, so still within acceptable range.
Being such a large grain bill and you not doing a sparge, you could've tried making a parti-gylle beer with the used grains. Two different beers for the price of one almost.
Its a thought thats crossed my mind plenty of times with large beer but you need to have multiple fermenters ready at once, which I did not. However I'm considering partigyling a Belgian quad sometime next year. We'll see how that goes!
@@TheApartmentBrewer What do you think might happen if you took the grain from the wee heavy, tossed it in a garbage bag and froze it until the next day...then ran a second wort from that? Do you think that might preserve the grain, keep it from spoiling, until you have time to do the second running? If not freezing it, how about tossing it in your 40 degree keezer overnight? Thoughts?
I'm making a gallon version of this recipe. When you say to condition the beer for a month after the three weeks of fermenting, should I transfer my beer off the trub and into a secondary carboy or just leave it?
I've been lagering a doppelbock since March to freeze condense into an eisbock. Checked it a week ago and it still hadn't cleared which was not normal for me. Gelatin. Then lowered the temp from 34F to 30F. Still not really clearing, but slightly better. Tastes fine - a repeat of a recipe from a couple years ago. Will freeze condense in the next couple weeks. Give an eisbock a try. Received a Silver at the State Fair 2020 for a Wee Heavy named 'Barry Bez'
Excellent! I've done an eisbock from a doppelbock before and it blew my mind. Well worth the effort. Are you just freezing a small portion or the whole thing?
@@TheApartmentBrewer I told my son last night I'd like to save off a few bottles of the doppelbock to compare, but not for competition (there really isn't any anymore). I think there is only about 4 gallons in the keg at this point to freeze condense. I have a kegerator that goes to 19F, plus can go colder if left outside.
Great video as always, might have been my favorite one so far! Lots of good information that I'll have to use if we ever get around to that Scotch Ale that's been on the backburner for about 7 years. Also got a kick out of your tasting notes cuz we used almost those exact same descriptors on our Christmas Quad lol
Awesome! Check out some of the other comments for some additional insight from a scottish brewer! I'm glad you guys enjoyed the video, I hope you do get around to it though, I'd love to see your take on it. Quads and wee heavies have done some similarities for sure, but there definitely should be more yeast expression in the quad, whereas the wee heavy is fairly clean
Did you make sure the wort sample was at the calibrated temperature for the refractometer? My refractometer was all over the place until I realized I have to treat the sample as I do for my hydrometer readings. A few degrees will throw of the readings.
your pre boil / OG problem could be what happened to me a short while ago. didn't stir well enough before pre boil reading, so that was too high. tasting that beer today, also a 8.2ABV winter ale. hope its any good.
I had to ditch the ole refractometer in favor of the trusty hydrometer. The numbers i was getting just didn't make sense. So much so that I had no idea what my numbers were on my last brew
you need to do conversions on the numbers if you're measuring a substance with alcohol. There are a number of online calculators. You'll need to know your starting gravity, but it can be done with good results.
Did you bottle any of this so you could see what long term storage did for it? I want to brew one of these and recently brewed a 70 schilling to grow my yeast, using Wyeast 1728, I am ready to brew the Wee Heavy now, but, as I understand the obstacles to brewing high gravity brews, have a number of concerns. Like you, I have no way to oxygenate with pure O2 - I usually splash the wort through a sieve to create a rain of microdroplets using my recirc pump - I recirc for 15-20 mins. I sure learned a lot about 1728 making the 70 schilling...
Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10, Lagavulin 16 are my top three.. I experimented with peated malt in ESB and in Irish Red Ale, both end up pretty well. Only 150gr for the 5 gallon batch gives the perfect amount of peat note that makes you to feel like you are in a musty farmhouse in Ireland and having a Dark Ale.. You should try🍺🍺
Lagavulin 16 is something else! I've also been getting into the speysides lately as well. 150g of peated malt seems like a lot to me, did you let it age out for a while? Eventually smoked/peat malt will probably make its way into something
@@TheApartmentBrewer I am an Islay fan, but I like anything from Scotland as far as it is good.. No boundaries.. Casks makes huge difference.. Glenfiddich Quinta Roban is something else, and Ardbeg Uegadail is another planet.. I tried the peat malt 50-100-150 in different beers I thought it might compliment.. Abbey Ale, ESB and Irish Red Ale respectively.. Irish Red Ale has 150grams, aged over 3 months and is still pretty good. 50gr Abbey, cannot feel anything.. 100gr ESB is like, maybe it is there, but still cannot feel it. I think sweet spot is 150grams for some beers.. If you like Laphroaig 10, then You should go for a beer with Peated malt, dark malty, over 5 abv..
@@TheApartmentBrewer By the way, I just checked my labels, I bottled the Irish Red Ale at the end of August, so 4 months in bottle, still very good, even the peat more blended in the whole beer. I used a light peated malt. I also tried in Abbey Ale, only 50gr, cannot get any hint of the peat.. As you said, the malt forward full beers might be more suitable..
Nice video again 👍🏻 The thing I wandered about is the fact why you kept the lid on the kettle during the boil? Normally you leave it off to get some additional increase in the OG and to get rid of DMS also. Was there a special reason to keep the lid on?
Reason is the only thing maintaining the boil is a single 1650W element so it will tend to struggle if you leave it wide open. Manufacturers recommendations in fact. DMS has more than enough ability to escape via the crack in the lid
@@TheApartmentBrewer I even 'freeze distilled about a gallon of it, and then used my soda stream like gizmo (fizzini) to force carb it, Holy Smokes! Gonna do that again for sure!
Did you also get 75 feet of snow in between brew day and tasting day? I've been too tired from shoveling to brew, so I tossed five gallons of apple juice in my fermenter.
I loved your video. It's great to see different processes and styles from home-brewers. I have a little critique for you, and it's only meant to be constructive. Your focus is a bit off. Many of your shots you might notice that your face is a bit fuzzy and the background is crisp and in focus. It seems that your camera is focused on infinity, or at least on the background. Just make sure that your camera's focus is set to the distance you're standing from the camera. I'm pretty sure you'd prefer we watch you and not the trees or the decorations in the background. I'll still watch your brewing videos if they're a bit fuzzy though. The most important thing is the brewing experience you're sharing with us.
@@TheApartmentBrewer i did it at 8 gallions I hit the pre biol gravity fell a little short on after the biol but not enough to where I think it will make difference. I went to the fermenter at 1080.
Sounds like you had a pretty similar brew day overall. Be patient with the fermentation and you'll be rewarded. This beer was at its best about 2 months from pitching the yeast
I have tasted the beer along the way. It is very tasty Nd the longer it sits more flavor comes through. I will keep this one for future brews. Great recipes. Thank you
In my simple opinion, its nasty, and when used as an ingredient I think its commmonly overdone. I think in certain very specific cases, such as rauchbier, a smoked malt is fine, but even then it really isnt an ingredient you use in quantity. That being said, it seems to age pretty well and can lend an interesting quality when mellowed out.
Smoked malt really needs AGE. I've made many many smoked stouts and porters this year, and they were never that good when they were young, some even tasting a bit of charred wet grass. However, after about 4-6 months, they really start to take off, and at this point, I'd say the best beer I have ever made is a smoked stout.
@@ericv00 @TheApartmentBrewer thank you for your tips, I'll keep them in mind. I was thinking ( ~5%) of smoked malt could make up for character in beers that traditionally were brewed on an open fire and fermented in wooden barrels, is this a thing? not looking to get a smoky flavour but a mellow "umami" note.
@@alibronx2112 I've used a combination of cherrywood and peated malt in most of my beers, together adding up to 30% of the grain bill. But mostly cherrywood, which is more subtle, and these beers are pretty smokey. I think you are on the right track for what you are going for. I'd consider using cherrywood if you want to keep it subtle, and most importantly, give it time. If you want some woody aspects, consider toasted oak chips, too. If it is a darker beer, give it 2 months before you even try it. And if you don't like it, give it more time. If it's not what you want and you want to adjust the recipe, wait until 6 months before deciding what your adjustments should be. Two beers I made I regretted drinking most of it before the 3 month mark, because they ended up being world-class beers when I only had a few bottles left. I have two other batches that I stored away to try in one year from the brew date. About 8 more months to go...Haha!
Here is my 11 gallon recipe for a wee heavy: Water Profile : Brown Full (Beersmith3) Est Original Gravity: 1.085 SG Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.2 % Bitterness: 26.4 IBUs Est Color: 22.9 Measured Original Gravity: 1.095 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.021 SG Actual Alcohol by Vol: 10.0 % 156* mash for 60 min 90 min boil 14 lb Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) Mash (42.0%) 14 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US Mash (42.0%) 2 lb 2.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L Mash (6.4%) 1 lb 10.1 oz Munich Malt - 20L Mash (4.9%) 10.0 oz BEST Smoked (BESTMALZ) Mash (1.9%) 9.8 oz Special B Malt Mash (1.8%) 6.0 oz Chocolate Malt Mash (1.1%) 1.58 oz Nugget Boil 60 min (26.4 IBUs) 1.8 pkgs American Ale Wyeast Labs #1056 Ale yeast G
@@jasonlash544 How did it turn out? I just brewed a wee heavy today, probably 3 weeks away from tasting, but I stayed away from the smoked malts and also shied away from the darker crystal malts opting for just higher percentages of the medium crystal malt. Einstock had an incredible wee heavy that came out late october (with some spruce tips for extra flavor) which inspired me to make it. I think I based my recipe from my perceptions from that particular beer. Was there a beer that inspired your wee heavy recipe?
John Palmer, in How To Brew, says the best you can get with shaking is 8 ppm. Pouring the wort with splashing gives 4 ppm at best. The goal for good fermentation is 8-12 ppm. He also says that an oxygen wand with air stone will deliver 12 ppm at 1 minute of use. It’s a cheap upgrade at $52 on Amazon. Yeast go ballistic with all that O2!
I've seen other homebrewers use a painter mixer attached to a drill and aerate the wort that way. Is that a more effective method than shaking and splashing?
Is it not worth talking about how to improve the brew and what the differences are from other similar dark malty beers? Honest question - I'm not disagreeing with you here - just would like more information.
I'm not hugely in to beer tasting videos, but I think it's almost essential that a brewing video has a wrap up section that talks about how it came out. I understand why you don't want to watch his summary, but I think it's pretty useful for a lot of viewers.
I'm a brewer in Edinburgh which is where most Scotch ale has been brewed. So, Scottish ales are malt forward so far as to say theyre not hoppy. Theyre not maltbombs in the way Dunkels and Bocks are. Typically they are overwhlemingly made of Pale Malt, with some brewers invert ( hard to get! ) or crystal/caramel malt. The colour was dialled up with brewers caramel. Despite everything everyone reads no we dont use masses of roasted malts, toasted malts, crazy long boils or anything containing peat. The Shilling system was based on how much malt tax was levied per barrel of ale brewed. Before we had hydrometers we taxed beer on what went in, not what came out as alcohol. Ferment the ales 14-20 degrees, the warmer the more aromatic. I'll post a very typical recipe with a slight American twist using maple syrup instead of No.2 invert. If I use roasted malts its really for a touch of flavour, not colour. Historically we did import "American hops" for bittering so using Cluster for the 60 minute addition is perfectly fine. Fuggles and goldings for later additions.
Hey, thanks for sharing the information there, its always awesome when we can get some input from the brewers whose regional styles I'm trying to emulate. While doing research in preparation for this video, I found examples of recipes ranging from just pale malt boiled for 4 hours to far more complicated grists than the one I put together here (including peated malt additions). Is the recipe you posted for a wee heavy style or would it be for more of a lighter ale? I appreciate the clarification on some of those points in the video - as you mentioned, it seems like there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding the style. Thanks for sharing!
@@TheApartmentBrewer Its for a wee heavy. Scottish yeast is great for topcropping and for something this big im using freshly skimmed yeast from a heavy i've done. This is a great style for doing a first running as a wee heavy and a second running as a light or heavy. No need for the prolonged boil, that was when third runnings were boiled down....much easier to save the third runnings and heating them to make your next strike water. Much less fuel used! We never use peated anything. Ron Pattinson does great work researching this stuff. Will post the link
beersmith.com/blog/2016/09/14/scottish-ale-history-with-ron-pattinson-beersmith-podcast-133/
I brewed the recipe I sent. Just enough Chinook for it to really work. Really nice. 3 weeks in primary, now for bottling for 2 months or so. Very happy with the result. I dry hopped a little with Chinook. It's nice but id definitely say hold off on DH for the style. That background flavour is just enough, it's not a hoppy style at all.
@@jonmarcstanley could you send me
The recipe? I couldn’t find it in the link you sent
Thanks for the distilled water/additions starting point. Great stuff.
My pleasure, it seems a lot of folks really appreciate it and it has made a lot of a difference for me as well. I have no plans to change that going forward.
Yea, this is very helpful!
You have the best homebrewing channel on UA-cam, hands down. I've learned so much from you, so thank you! And we have similar taste in whiskey. Cheers!
Thanks so much! Means a lot, I appreciate it
Nice improvement in the editing! Great intro!
Really like the format: introduction to the style and philosophy around it, then notation on thinks you learned by brewing it, then conclusion.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My favorite peated Scotch is Ardbeg Corryvreckan. It's not exactly cheap coming in around ~$90 a bottle, but it's fantastic. If you haven't had it, I highly recommend it.
I've had a few Ardbegs before (including someone handing out some 23 year) and they've all been great, I'll keep an eye out for it!
Re your statement on not using peat malt in beer. I totally agree, I've made a scotch beer with 1% peated malt and it still came through noticeably. Well said Steve 🙂
In my recipe, it does not come through all that much.
Awesome video. I brewed a wee years back but on a 3 vessel. glad to see more brewers brewing this style.
Glad you enjoyed it, it's a great style!
To each his own, but I used to brew an *amazing* Wee Heavy inspired ale with heather and peat malt. It was absolutely delicious.
Yes!! This is my next brew! Excited to get to it now
This is the process I use for when I'm brewing a big beer and I'm worried I might overflow.
Add all of the water to the kettle- heat it up to mash temp-- remove a few gallons of the brewing water into a clean bucket.
Then add the grains.
Then add water from the bucket back into the kettle until I'm no longer comfortable.
Whatever water does not fit into the kettle I'll "sparge" with it. It is just a quick and dirty "sparge"-- just dump it over the grains as the basket is draining on the hooks after the minute mash.
I've had a few large grains bills where I pulled water off-- but was able to add it all back to the kettle. This is an easy way to brew larger beers without fear of overflowing the grains in the basket// and also eliminates having to do a ton of math to figure out the water calculations.
I made a scotch Ale years ago with a tiny amount of peated malt, it was when I was bottling, so I bottled the batch without tasting it. after it carbed it was utterly undrinkable when it was finished, in disgust I put the cases to the side because I didn't want to go through the work of dumping all the bottles. 6-8 months later a friend grabbed one and opened it and loved it, the peat character mellowed significantly in the aged beer and added a nice character. I'll call it a happy accident and still will not be repeating it any time soon.
I suppose it would be the type of thing to get better with age. I can't stand it though, its great in whisky but just doesn't belong in a beer imo. Glad it eventually got better for you though!
Nice video. I'm planning one of these in a few months - different grain bill though. Despite your warning I am still thinking of using 1% cherry or apple hardwood smoked malt. Emmet suggested to me on the clawhammer with bills up to 20 lbs he would fill the clawhammer with his total mash volume and heat it, and then remove a few gallons and set it aside. Mash in, and then top up with the water you pulled off as much as you can fit. Then when it drains at mash out just sparge back the remaining water you couldn't fit back in.
I like your videos for a few reasons. 1. You list the recipe not only for the beer but for the water because that’s just as important. You show the process and finished process all in the same video. Well done sir
I'm glad you appreciate it, I have a lot of fun doing this.
I smelled my brew tonight, omg my beers are perfect.
Really enjoyed this video. Great atmosphere set by the weather, backdrop, and lovely music..paired with your very thorough style. Scottish ales are underrated. Underrated video too..deserves more views!
Awesome! Thank you!
One of my favorite styles. I went through a phase where I brewed beers predominantly from the British Isles because I absolutely love the flavors and drinkability of the various styles. Well done! 🍻
English/Irish/Scottish beers really are a very interesting malt showcase and other than Irish ales you just don't see them that frequently in the states, which makes them all that much more interesting. I'm going to do more this year for sure!
I saw you pour your entire 2 liter starter in. Try this on a batch: make your starter a few days in advance, then cold crash it in the fridge for a day or so prior to brewing. Most of the yeast should flocculate and fall out. Then carefully decant the spent "beer" off the yeast bed. Swirl the yeast around in what's left and pour that in. This way you aren't adding spent beer to your wort, nor adding additional volume. One of my brewing friends suggested this technique and it's worked well for me.
I find there's two camps here, one in favor of decanting and one not. Have you noticed any difference versus when you didn't decant? I've done it both ways and haven't been able to identify and benefit other than volume changes. Brulosophy also did similar experiment and couldn't find a difference. brulosophy.com/2016/10/10/decanted-vs-full-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/
Sometimes its useful if I'm a little short on target volume though.
@@TheApartmentBrewer I did not note any off flavors on my darker beers but I did on my lighter beers. I have not noted any of that flavor since I began decanting the spent beer off the starter. I can see the merit in what you say about hitting your volume.
Adding some wood chips would be a good idea?
Laphroaig is amazing! Great taste, my friend
I run into the same issue when getting a pre-boil gravity rereading and a OG. I've had instances which my post-gravity was oddly higher than my OG while using the refractometer and comparing to a hydrometer. I am enjoying the Milwaukee digital refractometer by comparison to the Brix refractometer. Your explanation on the discrepancy in the reading was helpful though.
My Homebrew club just filled a barrel with a Scottish strong ale. The thing we noted in all the beers was how they turned out thinner tasting than we expected for a larger beer.
Was that pre or post barrel? Mine seemed kind of thin and boring at first but as it got a few weeks old it started to get really complex. Now I'm about another week and a half from shooting the last part of this video and its kicking out amazing chocolate flavors too. It seems to have gotten a bit more robust but is still super drinkable.
Maybe your mash temp was a little low, could give thinner body
Mash was 154f. 6 people made the same recipe to add to the barrel. We were tasting them before adding them to an Applejack barrel. We just noted that every single beer tasted bold but somehow thin. The age on these beers must really amp thing up as you said.
Now three weeks bottled, after three weeks of fermentation. Very very pleasant and strong, about 11%. Carbonation, like for Belgian ales, really helps this along. One to rebrew for sure.
Excellent! I think this is definitely one of those styles that benefits from bottle conditioning
I just used Voss kveik for my spiced Wee Heavy for Christmas. About 7.7% ABV, and lovely fruity esters from the Voss. Love kveik for high gravity brews, as it takes zero babying. Since I was shooting for a high body beer (finished around .026 - .028), and I knew I would pull huge esters from the Voss (fruity, orangey, raisiny), I didn't use any caramel malts. Brewed with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Great stuff!
I just brewed a RIS Saturday, and the OG was somewhere in the 90's. It's already done fermenting as of this morning. Love kveik.
Nice! Thats funny, I literally brewed a RIS with 1.100 OG last weekend and pitched hornindal on it. It is also done haha! Sounds like an interesting idea going without caramel malts and adding spice. I would be very curious to see how that turned out!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I was shooting for about 1.100 on the RIS, but my boil off rate was lower than expected. I'm just using a soup kettle, so I didn't realize it until I went to put it in the fermentor. Thought I just had low efficiency when I checked the gravity. Turns out I actually had HIGHER efficiency than usual (about 74%), and just .25 gallons more wort.
I could give you the recipe for the spiced wee heavy, if you are interested. It actually turned out quite nice. As much as I would love to ship beers out (I really would), I've already given away most of the bottles for Christmas. Only have one left for myself. xD
I'd love the recipe! I'm planning on brewing plenty of the lower strength scotch ales and I think that would fit nicely in there with those, if I decide to experiment with them a bit.
@@TheApartmentBrewer Put it into Brewfather (usually use BeerSmith). Can't get the water profile right (won't let me edit the sparge water additions), so I'll just post the target profile here. Calcium : 50 ppm, sulfate : 52 ppm, magnesium : 5 ppm, chloride : 104 ppm, sodium : 27 ppm, bicarbonate : 85 ppm.
Brewfather link: share.brewfather.app/p4WKvFkH3eDjgw
I do 1.5 gallon batches (moving up to 3 after my Anvil Bucket Fermentor comes in). Only thing I might adjust with this recipe is the oats, especially if you are shooting for a lower gravity. The spices add complexity, and I wanted that silky mouthfeel to go with the spices and fruity esters, so that's my reasoning on their inclusion. I'd just do 3 lbs of Maris Otter if I cut the oats. My efficiency was low (poor sparge), and I think my mash was a bit high, so I had a lower OG, and higher FG that predicted. But we're talking 1% ABV, and 4 points off on FG, so still within acceptable range.
Very cool...... the wee heavy sounded pretty spot on
Cheers Steve
Thanks Jesse, it's a delicious beer and I'm very happy with it, just wish I could have gotten a better OG. Cheers!
40 shilling 60 shilling 80 shilling refers to the tax on the beer imposed by the british government because of the darkness and alcohol content
Being such a large grain bill and you not doing a sparge, you could've tried making a parti-gylle beer with the used grains. Two different beers for the price of one almost.
Its a thought thats crossed my mind plenty of times with large beer but you need to have multiple fermenters ready at once, which I did not. However I'm considering partigyling a Belgian quad sometime next year. We'll see how that goes!
@@TheApartmentBrewer Hot cube your wort, ferment when you want.
@@TheApartmentBrewer What do you think might happen if you took the grain from the wee heavy, tossed it in a garbage bag and froze it until the next day...then ran a second wort from that? Do you think that might preserve the grain, keep it from spoiling, until you have time to do the second running? If not freezing it, how about tossing it in your 40 degree keezer overnight? Thoughts?
haha love the intro music. great stuff. I just partyguiled a belgian tripel and made a table lager with it. Love the new stuff, keep it up!
Thanks! Thought I'd have a little fun with this one. I need to catch up on your videos!
You got a Ph meter! LOL. I've always found your video's to be informative and entertaining and this is no exception . Cheers!
Thank you so much! Yep, I found it for about 60 bucks at my local shop.
Great video! Laphroaig Quarter Cask if you haven’t had it!
What is that grain strainer basket you have, do you have a link or a list for it somewhere? You have a lot of unique content!
That is the basket for the clawhammer system. I think it can be purchased seperately.
Nice intro and nice brew
Thank you!
I'm making a gallon version of this recipe. When you say to condition the beer for a month after the three weeks of fermenting, should I transfer my beer off the trub and into a secondary carboy or just leave it?
Up to you. It should be ok on the yeast at that small scale
I've been lagering a doppelbock since March to freeze condense into an eisbock. Checked it a week ago and it still hadn't cleared which was not normal for me. Gelatin. Then lowered the temp from 34F to 30F. Still not really clearing, but slightly better. Tastes fine - a repeat of a recipe from a couple years ago. Will freeze condense in the next couple weeks. Give an eisbock a try. Received a Silver at the State Fair 2020 for a Wee Heavy named 'Barry Bez'
Excellent! I've done an eisbock from a doppelbock before and it blew my mind. Well worth the effort. Are you just freezing a small portion or the whole thing?
@@TheApartmentBrewer I told my son last night I'd like to save off a few bottles of the doppelbock to compare, but not for competition (there really isn't any anymore). I think there is only about 4 gallons in the keg at this point to freeze condense. I have a kegerator that goes to 19F, plus can go colder if left outside.
Great video as always, might have been my favorite one so far! Lots of good information that I'll have to use if we ever get around to that Scotch Ale that's been on the backburner for about 7 years. Also got a kick out of your tasting notes cuz we used almost those exact same descriptors on our Christmas Quad lol
Awesome! Check out some of the other comments for some additional insight from a scottish brewer! I'm glad you guys enjoyed the video, I hope you do get around to it though, I'd love to see your take on it. Quads and wee heavies have done some similarities for sure, but there definitely should be more yeast expression in the quad, whereas the wee heavy is fairly clean
Did you make sure the wort sample was at the calibrated temperature for the refractometer? My refractometer was all over the place until I realized I have to treat the sample as I do for my hydrometer readings. A few degrees will throw of the readings.
Yeah, even though it supposedly says it has ATC, I will let the samples cool off and it will affect the reading.
your pre boil / OG problem could be what happened to me a short while ago. didn't stir well enough before pre boil reading, so that was too high. tasting that beer today, also a 8.2ABV winter ale. hope its any good.
Very likely the case. At this point its just easier for me to just grab a hydrometer sample at the end.
Top quality video
Thank you!
I had to ditch the ole refractometer in favor of the trusty hydrometer. The numbers i was getting just didn't make sense. So much so that I had no idea what my numbers were on my last brew
My understanding is that it functions reliably pre-boil and after that its more approximate.
you need to do conversions on the numbers if you're measuring a substance with alcohol. There are a number of online calculators. You'll need to know your starting gravity, but it can be done with good results.
Did you bottle any of this so you could see what long term storage did for it? I want to brew one of these and recently brewed a 70 schilling to grow my yeast, using Wyeast 1728, I am ready to brew the Wee Heavy now, but, as I understand the obstacles to brewing high gravity brews, have a number of concerns. Like you, I have no way to oxygenate with pure O2 - I usually splash the wort through a sieve to create a rain of microdroplets using my recirc pump - I recirc for 15-20 mins. I sure learned a lot about 1728 making the 70 schilling...
Didn't bottle but it stayed in the keg for a long time. It aged very gracefully and was quite nice! Give it a try!
@@TheApartmentBrewer Nice, thanks for the reply...now I have to choose - Wee Heavy or Belgian Golden Strong Ale...dangit!
Pro tip, for aroma, do not fill the glass to the brim. Try glass half full and swirl the beer a bit right before you sniff it.
Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10, Lagavulin 16 are my top three.. I experimented with peated malt in ESB and in Irish Red Ale, both end up pretty well. Only 150gr for the 5 gallon batch gives the perfect amount of peat note that makes you to feel like you are in a musty farmhouse in Ireland and having a Dark Ale.. You should try🍺🍺
Lagavulin 16 is something else! I've also been getting into the speysides lately as well. 150g of peated malt seems like a lot to me, did you let it age out for a while? Eventually smoked/peat malt will probably make its way into something
@@TheApartmentBrewer I am an Islay fan, but I like anything from Scotland as far as it is good.. No boundaries.. Casks makes huge difference.. Glenfiddich Quinta Roban is something else, and Ardbeg Uegadail is another planet.. I tried the peat malt 50-100-150 in different beers I thought it might compliment.. Abbey Ale, ESB and Irish Red Ale respectively.. Irish Red Ale has 150grams, aged over 3 months and is still pretty good. 50gr Abbey, cannot feel anything.. 100gr ESB is like, maybe it is there, but still cannot feel it. I think sweet spot is 150grams for some beers.. If you like Laphroaig 10, then You should go for a beer with Peated malt, dark malty, over 5 abv..
I may just have to mess around with it in the Irish red. Thats a very malty style that may blend well with it. I'll think about it haha
@@TheApartmentBrewer By the way, I just checked my labels, I bottled the Irish Red Ale at the end of August, so 4 months in bottle, still very good, even the peat more blended in the whole beer. I used a light peated malt. I also tried in Abbey Ale, only 50gr, cannot get any hint of the peat.. As you said, the malt forward full beers might be more suitable..
I THOUGHT that looked like Connecticut! I'm also originally from Connecticut.
Nice video again 👍🏻 The thing I wandered about is the fact why you kept the lid on the kettle during the boil? Normally you leave it off to get some additional increase in the OG and to get rid of DMS also. Was there a special reason to keep the lid on?
Reason is the only thing maintaining the boil is a single 1650W element so it will tend to struggle if you leave it wide open. Manufacturers recommendations in fact. DMS has more than enough ability to escape via the crack in the lid
@@TheApartmentBrewer OK, clear! Thanks for your reply and keep on brewing 🍺
Your videos rock!
I did a Wee Heavy that ended up 25% Brix! I think I used like 20# grain, it ended up incredibly good!
Excellent!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I even 'freeze distilled about a gallon of it, and then used my soda stream like gizmo (fizzini) to force carb it, Holy Smokes!
Gonna do that again for sure!
Did you also get 75 feet of snow in between brew day and tasting day? I've been too tired from shoveling to brew, so I tossed five gallons of apple juice in my fermenter.
Yup, that storm was crazy!!
I loved your video. It's great to see different processes and styles from home-brewers. I have a little critique for you, and it's only meant to be constructive. Your focus is a bit off. Many of your shots you might notice that your face is a bit fuzzy and the background is crisp and in focus. It seems that your camera is focused on infinity, or at least on the background. Just make sure that your camera's focus is set to the distance you're standing from the camera. I'm pretty sure you'd prefer we watch you and not the trees or the decorations in the background. I'll still watch your brewing videos if they're a bit fuzzy though. The most important thing is the brewing experience you're sharing with us.
What size starter did you use here? Are you using DME for that? Thanks - enjoy the content here.
I used a 2L starter, but I've been using Propper canned starter wort. Makes it super easy!
Your poor downstairs neighbors must be livid every time you start stomping around brewing a Wee Heavy.
🤣 they can handle it i think
The best is to make a 60/ or export and pitch the wee on the yeast cake.
Great idea!
I am brewing this beer on Sunday. Any tips
Probably just to use 8 gallons instead of 8.5 or you may risk overflowing the mash tun. Good luck!
@@TheApartmentBrewer i did it at 8 gallions I hit the pre biol gravity fell a little short on after the biol but not enough to where I think it will make difference. I went to the fermenter at 1080.
Sounds like you had a pretty similar brew day overall. Be patient with the fermentation and you'll be rewarded. This beer was at its best about 2 months from pitching the yeast
Update i bottles it tonight. The final gravity was 1010. The wort tasteded good. Now we wait.
I have tasted the beer along the way. It is very tasty Nd the longer it sits more flavor comes through. I will keep this one for future brews. Great recipes. Thank you
Well done! What are your thoughts in general regarding pleated malt in beers?
In my simple opinion, its nasty, and when used as an ingredient I think its commmonly overdone. I think in certain very specific cases, such as rauchbier, a smoked malt is fine, but even then it really isnt an ingredient you use in quantity. That being said, it seems to age pretty well and can lend an interesting quality when mellowed out.
Smoked malt really needs AGE. I've made many many smoked stouts and porters this year, and they were never that good when they were young, some even tasting a bit of charred wet grass. However, after about 4-6 months, they really start to take off, and at this point, I'd say the best beer I have ever made is a smoked stout.
@@ericv00 @TheApartmentBrewer thank you for your tips, I'll keep them in mind. I was thinking ( ~5%) of smoked malt could make up for character in beers that traditionally were brewed on an open fire and fermented in wooden barrels, is this a thing? not looking to get a smoky flavour but a mellow "umami" note.
@@alibronx2112 I've used a combination of cherrywood and peated malt in most of my beers, together adding up to 30% of the grain bill. But mostly cherrywood, which is more subtle, and these beers are pretty smokey. I think you are on the right track for what you are going for. I'd consider using cherrywood if you want to keep it subtle, and most importantly, give it time. If you want some woody aspects, consider toasted oak chips, too. If it is a darker beer, give it 2 months before you even try it. And if you don't like it, give it more time. If it's not what you want and you want to adjust the recipe, wait until 6 months before deciding what your adjustments should be. Two beers I made I regretted drinking most of it before the 3 month mark, because they ended up being world-class beers when I only had a few bottles left. I have two other batches that I stored away to try in one year from the brew date. About 8 more months to go...Haha!
My kitchen was screwed. Everything is sticky. The `beer is attracting dogs all over. I fear how drunk I will get.
What part of the world are you in. ??
What’s was or is your MOS?
12A ARNG
That’s cool man! I was 11B. Thanks for all you do brother. Enjoy the videos.
You as well, glad you're enjoying the videos!
Here is my 11 gallon recipe for a wee heavy:
Water Profile : Brown Full (Beersmith3)
Est Original Gravity: 1.085 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.2 %
Bitterness: 26.4 IBUs
Est Color: 22.9
Measured Original Gravity: 1.095 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.021 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 10.0 %
156* mash for 60 min
90 min boil
14 lb Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) Mash (42.0%)
14 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US Mash (42.0%)
2 lb 2.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L Mash (6.4%)
1 lb 10.1 oz Munich Malt - 20L Mash (4.9%)
10.0 oz BEST Smoked (BESTMALZ) Mash (1.9%)
9.8 oz Special B Malt Mash (1.8%)
6.0 oz Chocolate Malt Mash (1.1%)
1.58 oz Nugget Boil 60 min (26.4 IBUs)
1.8 pkgs American Ale Wyeast Labs #1056 Ale yeast
G
I ferment this at 66*, keg and age for a minimum of 1 month. the keg i am about to tap has been aging at 55* since march, i brew this every year.
@@jasonlash544 How did it turn out? I just brewed a wee heavy today, probably 3 weeks away from tasting, but I stayed away from the smoked malts and also shied away from the darker crystal malts opting for just higher percentages of the medium crystal malt. Einstock had an incredible wee heavy that came out late october (with some spruce tips for extra flavor) which inspired me to make it. I think I based my recipe from my perceptions from that particular beer. Was there a beer that inspired your wee heavy recipe?
@@vongregor1 it was originally Oskar blues old chub, but I cranked up the OG a tad
Doesnt shaking/splashing max out oxygenation to only 8 ppm
Haven't really heard that anywhere before but I've used that method with every brew I've done and I've been successful, so I'd say it works
@@TheApartmentBrewer Thanks. It was in one of my brewing books someone gave me as a gift, didnt know how accurate it was or if it had any effect
John Palmer, in How To Brew, says the best you can get with shaking is 8 ppm. Pouring the wort with splashing gives 4 ppm at best. The goal for good fermentation is 8-12 ppm. He also says that an oxygen wand with air stone will deliver 12 ppm at 1 minute of use. It’s a cheap upgrade at $52 on Amazon. Yeast go ballistic with all that O2!
I've seen other homebrewers use a painter mixer attached to a drill and aerate the wort that way. Is that a more effective method than shaking and splashing?
👍🏻👍🏻🍺
What’s your opinion? I’m looking for a scotch that has a very very pronounced peaty ness and smoke under $100
More peat and smoke the better.
Hmm I would suggest lagavulin 8 or any ardbeg to be honest. I love the Laphroaig 10 but its honestly not that smoky
@@TheApartmentBrewer nice, thanks man
No problem!
ardbeg uigeadail, about 60€ in Europe. Very good value for money
Octomore or Smokehead are the peatiest single malts out there. "Big Peat" is also very peaty and a great value blend.
you can probably cut the last six minutes off of your video
Is it not worth talking about how to improve the brew and what the differences are from other similar dark malty beers? Honest question - I'm not disagreeing with you here - just would like more information.
You could probably stop watching the last six minutes of the video
I'm not hugely in to beer tasting videos, but I think it's almost essential that a brewing video has a wrap up section that talks about how it came out. I understand why you don't want to watch his summary, but I think it's pretty useful for a lot of viewers.