Brewed a Scottish ale today (export, probably, if you’re wondering). I used Smitty’s Scotch Ale recipe by Brad Smith, but switched the crystal 40 malt out for crystal 60 because that’s what I had on hand, and doubled it to give a little darker color and a little more caramel flavor. I still have no idea what I’m doing, but at least that’s the effect I’m hoping to achieve.
I had a hard time finding Scottish bands and didn’t feel like listening to traditional Scottish music all day, so here’s what I came up with for the spirit of this beer:
- The Silencers – Scottish rock band
- The Aliens – Scottish indie rock band
- Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew – Pirate rap. I was feeling it.
- The Killers – Alt rock band that’s been one of my favorites for a while. They always seemed like they could have come from Great Britain somewhere. Plus, I’m The Man when I brew.
I always do my best to keep the tradition of drinking what I’m brewing, but I don’t always have something close. So today, I’m drinking an american IPA (Clone-of-My-Clones) mixed with a shot of scotch. Not exactly a Scottish ale (I would much prefer some Loch Down), but it’s actually a pretty good combination.
The brew day itself went fairly well. My mash efficiency was back up to over 90%, and I ended the day with an overall brewhouse efficiency of almost 83.7%. Not too shabby. OG was 1.058, so with the irish ale yeast, this should hopefully end up in the 5.5-6% range. I’m fermenting on the cooler side of this yeasts range so I don’t over power the beer with too much of the yeast character. I want the malt to since through.
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