10-Gallon (38-L) Stovetop Scottish 70/- Ale

This is a recipe for making 10 gallons (38 L) of Scottish ale from 3 gallons (11 L) of wort boiled on your stovetop. I have not tried this . . . yet. But I think the idea is interesting (and sound), so I’m publishing it for brewers willing to take a bit of risk. (I think the worst that could happen is that it turns out a little darker and little less bitter than planned.) Sometime this year, I’ll give it whirl and post the results here.

I chose Scottish 70/- ale because it fits the criteria for a beer made from a highly diluted wort — it’s low in gravity, low in bitterness and amber in color. In addition, some brewers of this style intentionally darken some of their wort with a hard boil. So, if this happens due to the high wort density, it won’t ruin the beer. This is formulated as a countertop partial mash, based on doubling the ingredients from my 5-gallon (19-L) extract recipe of the same beer. I did make a couple changes to the recipe. The biggest change was substituting some relatively high-alpha Challenger hops for some of the Goldings hops in the recipe, to cut down on the amount of hop debris at the bottom of the brewpot. I also dialed down the amount of Munich malt a bit.

Pharming Polly Scottish Ale

Scottish 70/- ale

by Chris Colby

Partial mash (countertop); English units

DESCRIPTION

A Scottish 70/- (seventy shilling) ale, also called a Scottish heavy ale, is — despite the “heavy” moniker — a session beer. It is heavy compared to a Scottish 60/- ale, which is a similar beer, only lower in gravity. (A Scottish wee heavy is a different style of beer altogether.) This amber beer is balanced towards the malt, but only slightly so. The clean ale strains will yield a beer that emphasizes the malt (including amber malt) and hops over yeast byproducts. It is a great beer to have if you want to have another — exactly like the one before — when you’re done.

INGREDIENTS [for 10 gallons (3.0 gallons of wort boiled)]

Water

carbon-filtered tap water

Malts and Malt Extract (for an OG of 1.040 at 65% extract efficiency and 15 SRM)

14 oz. Scottish or English pale ale malt

1.5 lb. light Munich malt (10 °L)

1.5 lbs. amber malt (30–35 °L)

2.0 oz. roasted (unmalted) barley (500 °L)

6 lb. 14 oz. light dried malt extract (British, such as Muntons)

Hops (for 23 IBUs total)

Challenger hops (14 IBUs)

1.0 oz. (of 8.0% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Kent Golding hops (9 IBUs)

1.0 oz. (of 5.0% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Yeast (for an FG of 1.010 and 3.9% ABV)

11 g sachet Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast, , Danstar BRY-97 (American West Coast) or Mangrove Jack M44 (US West Coast) dried yeast

(two sachet of yeast required; one for each carboy)

or

White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale) or Wyeast 1728 (Scottish ale) yeast

(two 1-qt. yeast starters, assuming two fermenters)

Other

1 tsp. Irish moss

7.5 oz. corn sugar (for priming to 2.2 volumes of CO₂)

PROCEDURES

In your brewpot, heat 5.5 qts. of brewing liquor to 164 °F. Place the crushed grains in a large steeping bag and submerge it in your brewpot water. Mash at 153 °F for 60 minutes, stirring and heating briefly every 10 minutes to maintain the mash temperature. In a separate pot, heat 5 qts. of water to 170 °F. When the mash is done, heat the mash to 170 °F for a mash out. Lift the bag and let it drip into the brewpot until you can move it over into the cooler without splattering too much. Scoop or pour the wort from the brewpot into the cooler. Recirculate the wort until it is clear, then run off. Sparge steadily over 60 minutes (collect about a cup of wort from the cooler every 90 seconds) to collect about 10 qts. (roughly 2.5 gallons). Heat the wort as you collect it.  Add at least 2 qts. of water to the brewpot while you are collecting the wort, to make at least 3.0 gallons of wort. (If you can boil a larger volume of wort, do so.) Stir in roughly one quarter of the malt extract and bring the wort to a boil. Add the hops and boil wort for 60 minutes. Keep a pot of boiling water handy and do not let your brewpot volume dip below 3.0 gallons. Add the Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Stir in the remaining malt extract in the last 10 minutes of the boil. (Dissolve the malt extract in wort when adding it during the boil.) Chill wort to 60 °F, then let it sit for at least 30 minutes to let the trub settle and compact a bit. Then, rack the clear beer to your fermenters. Add water to make 5.0 gallons in each, aerate wort thoroughly, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 65 °F (60 °F if you use a Scottish strain). After fermentation stops, let the beer settle for 2–3 days, then rack to keg and carbonate to 2.2 volumes of CO₂.

Pharming Polly Scottish Ale

Scottish 70/- ale

by Chris Colby

Partial mash (countertop); metric units

DESCRIPTION

A Scottish 70/- (seventy shilling) ale, also called a Scottish heavy ale, is — despite the “heavy” moniker — a session beer. It is heavy compared to a Scottish 60/- ale, which is a similar beer, only lower in gravity. (A Scottish wee heavy is a different style of beer altogether.) This amber beer is balanced towards the malt, but only slightly so. The clean ale strains will yield a beer that emphasizes the malt (including amber malt) and hops over yeast byproducts. It is a great beer to have if you want to have another — exactly like the one before — when you’re done.

INGREDIENTS [for 38 L (11 L of wort boiled)]

Water

carbon-filtered tap water

Malts and Malt Extract (for an OG of 1.040 at 65% extract efficiency and 15 SRM)

400 g Scottish or English pale ale malt

680 g light Munich malt (10 °L)

680 g amber malt (30–35 °L)

57 g roasted (unmalted) barley (500 °L)

3.1 kg light dried malt extract (British, such as Muntons)

Hops (for 23 IBUs total)

Challenger hops (14 IBUs)

28 g (of 8.0% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Kent Golding hops (9 IBUs)

28 g (of 5.0% alpha acids), boiled for 60 minutes

Yeast (for an FG of 1.010 and 3.9% ABV)

11 g sachet Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast, Danstar BRY-97 (American West Coast) or Mangrove Jack M44 (US West Coast) dried yeast

(two sachet of yeast required; one for each carboy)

or

White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale) or Wyeast 1728 (Scottish ale) yeast

(two 1-L yeast starters, assuming two fermenters)

Other

1 tsp. Irish moss

210 g corn sugar (for priming to 2.2 volumes of CO₂)

PROCEDURES

In your brewpot, heat 5.2 L of brewing liquor to 73 °C. Place the crushed grains in a large steeping bag and submerge it in your brewpot water. Mash at 67 °C for 60 minutes, stirring and heating briefly every 10 minutes to maintain the mash temperature. In a separate pot, heat 5 L of water to 77 °C. When the mash is done, heat the mash to 77 °C for a mash out. Lift the bag and let it drip into the brewpot until you can move it over into the cooler without splattering too much. Scoop or pour the wort from the brewpot into the cooler. Recirculate the wort until it is clear, then run off. Sparge steadily over 60 minutes (collect about a cup of wort from the cooler every 90 seconds) to collect about 10 L. Heat the wort as you collect it.  Add at least 1 L of water to the brewpot while you are collecting the wort, to make at least  11 L of wort. (If you can boil a larger volume of wort, do so.) Stir in roughly one quarter of the malt extract and bring the wort to a boil. Add the hops and boil wort for 60 minutes. Keep a pot of boiling water handy and do not let your brewpot volume dip below 11 L. Add the Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Stir in the remaining malt extract in the last 10 minutes of the boil. (Dissolve the malt extract in wort when adding it during the boil.) Chill wort to 16 °C, then let it sit for at least 30 minutes to let the trub settle and compact a bit. Then, rack the clear beer to your fermenters. Add water to make 19 L in each, aerate wort thoroughly, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 18 °C °F (16 °C if you use a Scottish strain). After fermentation stops, let the beer settle for 2–3 days, then rack to keg and carbonate to 2.2 volumes of CO₂.