Chimney Sweep Scotch

Opened my last scotch ale today. I bottled it during a time in my life when I didn’t feel like labeling the beers I’d brewed, so it was a surprise. I brewed it January, 2007. I tried adding a little peat-smoked malt to the malt bill. It caused me a lot of distress. When I tried the finished wart, it tasted like liquid smoke – that stuff you put in barbeque marinades. I almost just dumped out the entire beer, but I didn’t. When I bottled it a month later, it was still smokey, and I didn’t think it would ever be any good… but by the end of the ski season, I started really enjoying the things. In my notes (which I try to keep on each beer) I first wrote that I should use 1/8 lb of peat smoked malt, instead of the 1/2 lb that I used, but as time passed, I’ve come up to a new hypothesis. 1/2 pound of peat smoked malt (for a 5 gallon batch) is perfectly reasonable… but you better be willing to wait for a long time before you drink it. So here’s my recipe: 

1/20/07

12.5 lb british PA

1 lb british xtal 120

1 lb brit amber

1/2 lb peat smoked malt (too much)

1/4 lb brit chocolate malt (meant to get roasted…)

steeped at 152

3/4 oz 11.4 % nugget

50 min

1 tsp gypsum

1 whirlfloc

3/4 oz fuggles

10 min

1/2 oz fuggles

3 min

osg 1.076

wyeast scottish ale yeast

transferred 1/28/07

sg 1.018 (fast!)

really smokey

Sixteen months after brewage, the beer tastes old, smooth, and almost like the definition of a scotch ale. There’s still a smokey flavor to it, but the alcohol and malty character balance it nicely. It might be a little more hoppy than traditional scotch ales, but this is CA, and we like hops.

I brewed this beer again in November as part of my efforts for my buddy’s wedding: fourteen 5 gallon beers brewed for one weekend of drunkenness – and apparently someone is going to get married! This time, I only put a quarter pound of peat smoked malt in the recipe, so hopefully I’ll be coherent enough to make a comparison. As evidence of the smokiness, my friend was still convinced that it was too smokey, but by mid-May, I’m betting it’ll be great.