Fall Bloom (quist) Scottish Red Ale

Something beautiful happens when good friends and good beer show up at the same place at the same time. The only problem, as I see it, is that good beer has a much shorter half life than good friends. It's a good thing we can re-brew good beer to keep sharing with our good friends!

Now, about that good beer...

I love malty Scottish beers. It might be a little hot right now in August, but Fall is right around the corner and there's nothing better than a great Scottish red ale when the days start to cool down. This beer is based heavily on my previously brewed "Scotch-ish ale" (which was basically stolen from Jamil Zainasheff) but slightly downsized to be a little more drinkable... and now it fits nicely into "Scottish Export 80/-" category.

I finished off the last bottle of Scotch-ish several months ago and I've been wanting to re-brew it ever since. This is one of the few beers that I really should have on hand nearly year round... but, like I said before, good beer has a short half life. And, that's why I was happy to hear that our good friends, the Blomquists requested a Scottish Red ale. They'll be helping us brew it up on the 22nd.

Here's the rundown:

Batch size 6 gallons Boil size 7.1 gallons Boil time 90 minutes Grain weight 12.6 pounds Efficiency 75%	Original gravity 1.058 Final gravity 1.016 Alcohol (by volume) 5.5% Est. Color 16.8°L
Yeast 2 liquid packs White Labs WLP028 Endinburgh Scottish Ale Grains 12.6 pounds Maris Otter 38ppg, 4°L 10 pounds Crystal 40L 34ppg, 40°L 1 pounds Crystal 120L 33ppg, 120°L 0.5 pounds Honey Malt 30ppg, 20°L 0.5 pounds Munich (Light) 34ppg, 10°L 0.5 pounds Carafa Special II 30ppg, 500°L 0.1 pounds	Mash 60 minutes Strike Target 156°F 4.1 gallons 172°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge Target 165°F 5.9 gallons 172°F Hops & Boil 90 minutes, 7.1 gallons Goldings (Kent) hops 5%, Pellet 1.5 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Add wort chiller + Wirlflock 15 minutes (+75) Ferment 2 months+ 14 days+ 63°F 3 days 68-70°F 14 days + 55°F

Notes:

Fresh out of the fermenter. Lookin good and tasting great! The goal here is to make a malty beverage that is drinkable but substantial. That means heavy caramel and some fruit flavors but still keep it refreshing, not too filling and not too much alcohol. We're mashing on the high side (156°F) to keep the body up and we'll use a slightly less attenuative, but clean fermenting yeast (WLP 028). We'll ferment cool (63°F) but do a diacetyl rest that will also let the yeast attenuate as far as they'll go and then cool condition it at 55°F for a month or more. This beer can sit on the shelf or in the closet for a long time before peaking. The last one lasted a few years and never started to decline (despite poor storage conditions and summers of 100+°F :/ ) This beer should mature, or "bloom" (ha hah, heh... hm...) in the Fall and will taste great all through Winter.