Spanky's Place

So, the conundrum I faced is, what to make? I mean, I've pretty much mastered the American and Canadian style ales; not much of a challenge there. I make one heck of a great Porter, my Anvil Ale is tops, and my Stout is, well, awesome. The problem with these are that they just take way too long to age properly, and there is no way I could have them ready in time. As it is, I'm going to be pretty hard pressed anyway. Also, while I love Porters and Stouts, I think that lighter fare is more in order. I could try an American Pilsner or Lager, but I don't have the equipment to properly ferment them -they need to ferment at a controlled 48-54 degrees F (9-12C), which leaves them right out. So, what to brew?

I finally decided on what is called a Scotch Ale. While this requires a lower fermentation temperature (around 60-65 degrees F) than most other ales, this shouldn't be too much of a problem, as it has been fairly cold (all things are relative -I'm in Phoenix, AZ, and cold means anything under 70) here as of late, and I don't expect it to warm up for another few weeks. Which means that the temperature in my office (where the fermenter is kept) should be perfect for this. Also, due to the forced carmelization of the malts in the wort while brewing, Scotch ales don't require as much time in the bottle (as compared to most other "heavy" brews) to gain their full flavor.

Scotch Ales are rated in "schillings". This refers to their Original specific Gravity (OG), with a range of 1.030-1.050. A Light Scotch Ale measures from 1.030-1.035, and is referred to as "60 Schilling". A Heavy goes from 1.035-1.040 (70 Schilling), and an Export runs from 1.040-1.050 (80 Schilling). There is a special kind of Scotch Ale that has a much higher OG (1.072-1.085) called a Strong Scotch Ale (or "Wee Heavy" if you are in/from the Northern Highlands), which runs from a 90 to a 120 Schilling rating. These are serious beasties to wrangle, and not something I'm ready to battle with just yet. However, a nice 70 Schilling seems to be within my skillset. Another reason I had for doing a Scotch Ale is because Wild Bill was asking about a Scottish night, and I figured I'd do my best to help the man out.

I've never brewed a Scotch Ale before, this is a bit of a challenge: exploring new ground and all that, so to speak. So, I brewed today what I intended to be a 70 Schilling "Heavy" Scotch Ale. It actually turned out to be an 80 Schilling "Export" (OG was 1.046), but that's OK. While this is a really short schedule, I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that it is ready in time for Lotusphere. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. For any interested, here is the recipe I used:

• 5 gallons spring water
• 3.5 lb can Plain Amber Malt Extract
• 2 lbs Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract (powdered)
• 8 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt grain, sparged
• 4 oz. Crushed Chocolate Malt grain, sparged
• 1 oz. Crushed Roasted Barley grain, sparged
• 1 oz Fuggle Hops (for bittering) I know I've been pretty lucky with the Willamette lately, but the recipe calls for Fuggle, and I decided not to tempt fate on this one.
• 1/2 oz Fuggle Hops (for finishing)
• 1 pkg (11g) Nottingham Brewing Yeast

Anyway, I put the grains in a sparging bag, and steeped in 2 gallons of water at 165 degrees for 10 minutes. Then I removed (and drained) the bag, brought to a boil, added the malt extracts, and returned to a boil. I let it "almost" overboil for about 5 minutes, then added the bittering hops and lowered the flame till the wort is just boiling (not simmering, it needs to boil, just make sure it is a low, slow boil). I let it boil like this for 55 minutes, stirring occasionally. After this, I increased the flame till I got a more aggressive boil (not an overboil, just a good active boil), and added the finishing hops. I let this run for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, and then killed the flame. I then poured the wort into my fermenter, and added cool spring water for a total of 5 gallons.

The wort needs to be cooled off as quickly as possible. I don't have a wort chiller (very cool device, btw), so i just put the whole fermenter into an icewater filled bathtub. After the wort cooled to 70 degrees, I added the yeast and sealed it up. It is bubbling in the background as I type this.

So there you have it. As I said before, I'm hoping this will be ready in time for Lotusphere. Granted, I can't take any to the Gonzo thing at ESPN, but I'm guessing that I might bring some along to any special "receptions" I get invited to. A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat, know what I mean?

Oh yeah, if you haven't seen The Polar Express, take the time to do so. Take a child with you if you can. It's that good.