Homebrew Beer Recipes | Page 1151 | Browse 320,000+ at Brewer's Friend

Author:

Crayolabrown

Boil Size: 4.75 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.07

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 1.0

Primary Temp: 56 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 4/19/2015 9:42 PM

Notes: Those that go toward the malty side eventually want to brew strong Scotch ale. It is kind of like the IPA of the malty world. Also known as wee heavy, it is a rich, malty beer. Do not confuse strong Scotch ale with the much lower alcohol Scottish strong ale. To avoid confusion, I think it is better to refer to strong Scotch ale as wee heavy. While wee heavy is related to the lower-alcohol Scottish ales, and could be considered a higher shilling version of them, wee heavy's higher starting gravity results in a different beer.

A good wee heavy is sweet, but not cloying, has a complex malt character, and has a warming, yet not harsh, alcohol presence. Enhancing the perception of sweetness is a low level of hop bitterness and considerable melanoidin character either from long boil times or specialty malt additions. Fermenting higher gravity wort not only results in higher alcohol beer, but also some additional ester formation. A good example of this beer will not be as clean and low-ester as Scottish ale. The color should range from light copper to dark brown, often with deep ruby highlights.

Unfortunately, quite a large number of judges still seem to reward only sweet, full, and boozy examples of the style. If you want to win at competition, you need to focus on bigger beers for this category. They expect a beer with warming alcohol, sweet malt complexity, and caramel notes. As for appearance, lean toward darker beers, but avoid roasted character. Hop bitterness should just barely balance the malt sweetness and late hop character should be minimal or non-existent.

Much of the rich malty flavors in wee heavy come from selecting a proper base malt. To brew an award-winning example of this style, start with British pale ale malt as the base. It provides that background biscuit-like malt character that is a key component in fine British beers. British pale ale malt is kilned a bit darker (2.5 to 3.5 °L) than the average American 2-row or pale malt (1.5 to 2.5 °L) and this higher level of kilning brings out the malt's biscuity flavors. Some brewers use North American pale ale malt or North American 2-row with the addition of 5–10% Munich malt when they cannot source British pale ale malt. This will not produce the same beer as using British pale ale malt, but will produce a pleasant
malt background.

Extract brewers should make the effort to source an extract made from British pale ale malt. If you end up using North American 2-row malt extract, you will need to compensate by partial mashing some additional specialty malts such as Munich or biscuit. For a 5-gallon (19-liter) batch, use about 5–10% of the total base malt.

All-grain brewers should use an infusion mash. You will find a temperature in the range of 152–158 °F (67–70 °C) works well. Use a lower temperature when using lower attenuating yeasts or higher starting gravities. Use a higher mash temperature when using the higher attenuating yeasts or lower starting gravity beers. If you are unsure, a great starting point is 154 °F (68 °C).

In theory, you can brew a great example of the style by using only base malt, some roasted barley for color (less than 3%), and an extensive boil. The extensive boil is to develop malt flavors that are a key component to the style. Judges will expect some caramel flavors and aromas in wee heavy and you can develop them through extended boiling. The best way, if you want to try it, is to boil down one gallon (4 L) of first runnings until it is thick and syrupy. While you will develop some caramel flavors by boiling for an extended time, it can be hit or miss. Often there is not enough caramel flavor or the flavor that develops is more toffee-like and judges think the beer has a diacetyl problem.

So, the easiest and most consistent way to get the proper caramel character is the use of crystal malt. Allocating 5-10% of the grist for crystal malt should add the right character. I prefer to split the crystal malts into a couple different color ranges. Lighter color crystal malts add sweeter caramel notes, mid-color crystal adds more caramel flavor, and dark crystal adds some raisin notes. The beer should have a rich color, so a touch of highly kilned malts, such as roasted barley can add a hint of balancing dryness and the depth of color that judges are looking for.

If you are looking for more complexity, you can add other specialty malts. Wheat malt, Victory®, biscuit, and others are common additions in many recipes, but re-straint is important so that the beer does not become saturated with non-fermentable dextrins and cloying flavors. In general, keep the total of all specialty grain additions to less than 20% of an all-grain grist. Keep highly kilned malt additions small (less than 3%), as bold roasted flavors are not appropriate.

If you want to develop more color and more melanoidin-based flavors and aromas, start with a larger pre-boil volume so you can boil the wort for two hours or more. This develops a unique character that is not possible by grain additions alone. Regardless of what you might read on the Internet, do not add peat smoked malt to your wee heavy. It is not appropriate. Any suggestion of smoke character is possibly from the use of roasted barley and long boil times. It is not from the water and it is not from peat smoke.

Wee heavy is best brewed with English hops such as East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, North-down, or Challenger. As a general rule of thumb, you can skip any late hop additions. If you do add late hops, make sure they do not overwhelm the malt character — a half-ounce (14 g) of a mild hop, such as Kent Goldings, would be about all you should add.

Bittering additions are similarly subtle. You want just enough hop bitterness to add a little balance to the malt sweetness. Target a bitterness to starting gravity ratio (IBU divided by OG) of 0.2 to 0.4. One thing to be aware of is the effect of highly kilned specialty malts on the perception of dryness and bittering. If you use more low color malts, such as crystal for color, the beer will have a sweeter overall impression than if you use just base malt and roasted barley for color. You would adjust your bittering slightly to account for this difference.

Fermentation for all of the Scottish ale styles requires a clean, neutral yeast character. The goal for wee heavy is a beer with relatively low esters, as compared to British ales, and lots of rich malt flavor.

While I prefer White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) for the lower gravity Scottish ales, I like yeast with a little more fermentation character and a richer maltiness for wee heavy. White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale) and Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale) are both excellent choices for this style as well. In a pinch, you could use other yeasts. The important thing is finding one that has a more malt forward character.

Cool fermentation, proper pitching rates, adequate yeast nutrition, and the proper addition of oxygen to the wort also factor into getting that rich malt character, gentle warming alcohol, and fully attenuated (not syrupy) beer. On bigger beers like this, I start fermentation at the lower end of their range and then let the temperature rise at least a few degrees over the course of a couple of days. This helps moderate the production of hot tasting alcohols, helps the yeast attenuate fully, and keeps the amount of diacetyl in the finished beer to a minimum.

Author:

xander10

Boil Size: 15 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.065

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: 3.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 1.25

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: BelgianCandySugar

Priming Amount: 30.4 g

Creation Date: 9/4/2020 9:08 PM

Notes:

Author:

OMS1

Boil Size: 3.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.037

Efficiency: 80

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 11/3/2016 11:18 PM

Notes:

Author:

Vader ipa

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.038

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 1.4

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 5/6/2022 5:25 PM

Notes:

Author:

Mohaynow

Boil Size: 6.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.048

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 1.75

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: dextrose

Priming Amount: 4.5 oz

Creation Date: 12/3/2021 3:01 PM

Notes: Make a big starter to get the FG down below 1.006,

This recipe is a work in progress.

Author:

MeemoNZ

Boil Size: 61 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.046

Efficiency: 80

Mash Thickness: 3

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 22 ° C

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/26/2021 8:18 PM

Notes:

Author:

Tylor Miranda

Boil Size: 5.75 Gallons

Boil Time: 30

Boil Gravity: 1.054

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: Extract

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: sucrose

Priming Amount: 5.2 oz

Creation Date: 12/21/2020 5:16 AM

Notes: This Belgian Blonde tastes as if it were brewed by an all-grain method.

Extract brewing can be simple and rewarding! Note that while the equipment costs far less than the equivalent all-grain systems, the cost to let someone else create your extract over extracting the sugars from grains yourself is more expensive by about 20-50%.

*The bottles are on Amazon. Search Plastic Beer Bottles.
*You may use tap water and/or modify the water profile.

Additional costs include:

$24.57 An inexpensive Amazon stainless kettle from India
$26.97 A 6.5 Gallon Bottling & Siphonless Fermentation Bucket from Northern Brewer with the Spigot: Fermenter's Favorites Bottling Spigot for Bottling Bucket and with the Lid: Grommeted Lid (Drilled)
$8.99 20ft 3/8" ID Siphon Hose
$4.99 Fermenter's Favorites® Spring Tip Bottle Filler
$16.00 Five Star - Star San - 16 Ounce - Brew Sanitizer High Foaming Acid Anionic

A yeast starter is advisable for this beer as it needs about 160B yeast cells and the White Labs yeast packets come with about 100B yeast cells. If you don't want to make a yeast starter, it is advisable to pitch two White Labs yeast packets.

For a fermentation airlock, run a section of the 3/8" ID Siphon Hose from the grommet on the lid to the bottom of one of the gallon jugs filled with sanitizer solution in tap water, and place the gallon jug and the fermentation bucket at the same height. It is best to elevate the beer at the beginning of the fermentation cycle with the spigot facing the area where you will be bottling so that the trub is not disturbed during the bottling process. In other words, try not to move the bucket just before bottling. Primary fermentation ambient temperature is about 68f. Allow the yeast to ferment up to whatever temperature it prefers.

To bottle your beer, precondition each sanitized 16oz bottle with 1 Northern Brewer Fizz Drop. Attach a 5-8 foot section of the 3/8" ID Siphon Hose to the Fermenter's Favorites Bottling Spigot and the other end of the hose to the Fermenter's Favorites® Spring Tip Bottle Filler. Slowly open the spigot until it is fully open. Place the spring tip filler into the bottle and press the tip inward on the bottom of the bottle. Fill the bottle until the liquid reaches the top. Remove the filler and the bottle will be filled to the optimal height.

Secondary fermentation in bottles takes between 14 and 21 days. 17.5 is usually a safe number of days to allow carbonation to build.

To add a bit of perceived sweetness and rounded maltiness to the finished product try to get your PPM of Calcium and sodium to about 50. CaCl and non-iodized table salt or sea salt are fine for reaching this water chemistry. Your local municipal water company should have posted your water mineral content. If you are on well water, you can start with distilled/reverse osmosis water and build the water chemistry from there. Just use a PPM calculator.

Don't forget to sanitize everything including the outside rims of the brewing equipment and even the outside of the yeast packet.

Author:

PJ Butcho

Boil Size: 6.37 Gallons

Boil Time: 90

Boil Gravity: 1.054

Efficiency: 66

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/11/2019 2:16 PM

Notes:

Author:

Ozarks Mountain Brewery

Boil Size: 8 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.042

Efficiency: 80

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: 50 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 12/3/2017 11:10 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boogey Man Estate

Boil Size: 28.5 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.036

Efficiency: 60

Mash Thickness: 3

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 18 ° C

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 1/6/2017 4:00 PM

Notes: Water measurements were off on this brew so have adjusted the brew size to match estimated alcohol percentage based on OG and FG, could do with 2-3 litres less sparge water next time to get approx. 19 litres in fermenter. Also used recirculation on this one.
Used a big tub with cold water and ice and coil to cool wort which cooled pretty quickly even though outside temperature of 25.
Warm weather in Holland during fermentation, so pitch temperature around 19 degrees but temp went up during fermentation as high as 24 so decided to leave fermenter in tub of cold water in garage to stabilise fermentation temperature at around 20C. Fermentation is finished after 3 days, approx ABV 5.5%, dry hopped for 2 days, with 35gr of Crystal and 15gr of Citra.

OG 1052
FG 1010

Author:

TattooSteve

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.035

Efficiency: 60

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 12/22/2016 7:42 PM

Notes:

Author:

mike@majormike.com

Boil Size: 7 Gallons

Boil Time: 90

Boil Gravity: N/A

Efficiency: 65

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: Forced Carbonation

Priming Amount: 2.3 vols

Creation Date: 5/5/2012 7:19 AM

Notes: Strong bitterness but nit astringent. Medium mouthfeel. Good Cascades aroma. Lingering smooth aftertaste. Great beer!

9 days in primary @ 65deg F. 20 days in secondary with 1oz Cascades dry-hopped @ 65deg F. Force carbed at 40 deg F @ 10 psi.

Author:

Boil Size: 8 Litres

Boil Time: 5

Boil Gravity: 1.108

Efficiency: 1

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: Extract

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 20 ° C

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 4/21/2016 10:54 PM

Notes:

Author:

BBQ-N-BREW

Boil Size: 6.25 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.043

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 1.0

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 4/18/2016 11:38 AM

Notes:

Author:

jfpitts84

Boil Size: 7 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.038

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/21/2016 10:36 PM

Notes:

Author:

Brady Smith

Boil Size: 8.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 70

Boil Gravity: 10.3

Efficiency: 80

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Plato

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 1.5

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 12/18/2015 6:31 PM

Notes: Soft water. One-fourth teaspoon of gypsum and CaCl in the mash. OG was 15brix w/ a little over 6 gallons into kettle. Kegged 1/4/16

Author:

Luther's Lagers

Boil Size: 3 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.106

Efficiency: 35

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: Extract

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 8/4/2015 4:51 PM

Notes:

Author:

Mellow Fellow

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.027

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 1.25

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 5/27/2015 5:01 PM

Notes:

Author:

Starving Artist Brewing

Boil Size: 105 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.046

Efficiency: 65

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.75

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/23/2015 1:33 AM

Notes:

Author:

Diamond-Geezer

Boil Size: 28.5 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.043

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: N/A

Primary Temp: 19 ° C

Priming Method: keg

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 8/9/2014 5:12 AM

Notes: If you wana let loose then dry hop with some cascade or your favourite hop and enjoy! This hopped up to the max will make ya Mrs Tits Jiggle when she drinks it.

" The grains I used for this were NZ grown Gladfeilds 2 row pale, Pilsen and Med Crystal. The carahell was German"