On July 25 I brewed a Scottish Amber. The recipe was based on a beer I had brewed a year earlier that was just amazing - one of my favorite beers to ever have on tap at home. That original recipe was based on a Pike Kilt Lifter clone recipe out of the book Beer Captured, except after reading about how potent peat smoked malt can be, I cut my addition to only 1 oz in a 6 gallon batch, and I also cut out the 12oz addition of malted wheat. That beer came out great, but that interesting smoke/peat flavor was a touch too faint. Every pint I pulled off the tap left me searching for more - I would start with a normal sip and notice it as a faint flavor in the background. Wanting more I'd take a big ol' gulp. Never quite satisfied but forever trying to capture that flavor, I drank that keg very quickly. This time I upped the peat smoked malt addition to help make that flavor more satiating.
While I was at it, I decided to split the batch and also make a stronger Scotch Ale. My target for this was inspired by Innis & Gunn Original. That beer is super oaky - I think the beer was actually originally brewed to condition new oak barrels before adding scotch whiskey to them, but they ended up liking the beer so much they decided to sell it. It comes across with a ton of vanilla and wood - way more than I would want in my beer, but the flavors are intriguing enough to inspire a spin off. To make the brew day as straight forward as possible (only one mash and boil) I used the same base recipe, except I set aside enough of the first runnings so that if I boiled it down to a syrup then added it to one fermenter, that batch would have an OG of 1.075 sg (as opposed to the base beer's target of 1.058) and also have a slightly sweeter, more malty flavor profile from the caramelized sugars. On top of that, after primary fermentation I further distanced the "Scotch Ale" from the Scottish Amber by soaking 1oz of medium toast American oak cubes in ~2oz of Johnnie Walker Spice Road for several weeks before tossing it into the fermenter, whiskey and all.
I had really high hopes for these beers, especially the Scottish Amber. I wasn't really sure how the Scotch Ale would turn out but I was looking forward to finding out. Unfortunately, both of these beers fell victim to my contamination issue. The Scotch Ale was somehow infected straight from the get-go despite being extra-careful in terms of sanitation when adding the syrup, and following my standard sanitation practices everywhere else. On September 20 I pulled my first sample and found that the gravity had somehow dropped down lower than the Scottish Amber had finished, and there was a slight funky tartness to it. I added the oak and whiskey to it at that point anyway hoping I was wrong and the flavor would clean itself up, but a few weeks later a nice bubbly pellicle had developed. There is a chance this fermenter had previously held another sour beer, but I'm not for sure (this has sparked me to mark each fermentation vessel and keg and keep track of every beer each holds). If that wasn't the case, then I have no idea where this contamination originated from as I used the same sanitation practices I have for 2+ years.
The Scotch Ale was also contaminated, but in a different way. This beer made it through primary fermentation without issue and was kegged on August 22nd with notes of "Tasted Fantastic!" and "Can't wait for this to be ready". Unfortunately, a week later the samples flowing out of the tap were terrible. I didn't immediately notice any sourness and originally diagnosed the issue as there being too much yeast in the keg. That description didn't exactly match what I was tasting, but the flavor was new so I went ahead and added gelatin to the keg anyway. After giving it a few days to let everything settle out I pulled off several pints and dumped them, but the off flavor persisted in the subsequent glasses. It was very off-putting and really clashed with the smoked peat flavor, but I still didn't arrive at the conclusion of "infected' until about a month later when the pH had clearly dropped and an obvious tartness had developed.
Luckily, when I kegged the beer I had a surplus volume and also bottled 4 bombers worth. You would assume these would also be infected, but they weren't! This was great news for two reasons: 1) it helped me narrow down my search for my my contamination and 2) it allowed me to evaluate my recipe with a cold and carbonated sample.
The Scotch Ale was also contaminated, but in a different way. This beer made it through primary fermentation without issue and was kegged on August 22nd with notes of "Tasted Fantastic!" and "Can't wait for this to be ready". Unfortunately, a week later the samples flowing out of the tap were terrible. I didn't immediately notice any sourness and originally diagnosed the issue as there being too much yeast in the keg. That description didn't exactly match what I was tasting, but the flavor was new so I went ahead and added gelatin to the keg anyway. After giving it a few days to let everything settle out I pulled off several pints and dumped them, but the off flavor persisted in the subsequent glasses. It was very off-putting and really clashed with the smoked peat flavor, but I still didn't arrive at the conclusion of "infected' until about a month later when the pH had clearly dropped and an obvious tartness had developed.
Luckily, when I kegged the beer I had a surplus volume and also bottled 4 bombers worth. You would assume these would also be infected, but they weren't! This was great news for two reasons: 1) it helped me narrow down my search for my my contamination and 2) it allowed me to evaluate my recipe with a cold and carbonated sample.
The bottled beer turned out pretty good. Let me first say that I've noticed my kegged beers generally taste a bit better/cleaner than bottle fermented beers, which end up cloudier than their kegged brethren and usually have a touch more yeast character - this beer was no exception. The clarity thing makes sense as extended cold aging in the keg while continually pulling off the bottom will do that. The extra yeast flavor may be attributed to my preferred yeast selections - flocculation is not a trait I give much weight to, which makes it difficult to "decant" beer off the yeast in the bottle (I have yet to add bottling yeast). I also wonder if pressured fermentation stresses more flavor out of the yeast, but that's totally speculation for me at this point. In addition to clarity and yeast flavors, carbonation levels are not well controlled in my bottle conditioned beers as I use one carbonation drop in each bottle (regardless of its size) for simplicity.
All that said, I enjoyed this beer. It had no real distinguishable smell (maybe some basic malt if you search really hard), but the flavor was nice. The malt character was similar to an English Mild / ESB with just enough bitterness to support, and the finish was nice and crisp without the body being thin. No real discernible hop flavor, but now that I think about it that could just be inexperience/poor palate - the late EKG additions might have (most likely??) driven my description of English Mild / ESB rather than the malt. Come to think of it, I should use a similar recipe if I ever want to brew one of those styles.
Either way, the beer was enjoyable except for one thing: the peat smoked flavor. Last time I was left unsatisfied and digging for that flavor. This time it was right up front, out of balance, and (almost) in the way. Now I'm not saying this was a peat bomb - at only 5 oz in a 12 gallon batch with over 28 lbs of grain, it's far from it. But it is too much. That flavor is fairly polarizing and I'm sure I would have a hard time suggestive selling more than one glass of this beer to friends. Luckily I enjoy it and only have 4 bottles.
When I brew this again I'll split the difference on the peat malt and go with something like 1.5 oz per 6 gallon batch. I've been at this for a while longer than I had been when that original batch came around, and I think I may really appreciate the subtle flavor a small amount of that malt can create (the rest of this recipe is great), but if I can find a way to make it present but balanced, even better!
All that said, I enjoyed this beer. It had no real distinguishable smell (maybe some basic malt if you search really hard), but the flavor was nice. The malt character was similar to an English Mild / ESB with just enough bitterness to support, and the finish was nice and crisp without the body being thin. No real discernible hop flavor, but now that I think about it that could just be inexperience/poor palate - the late EKG additions might have (most likely??) driven my description of English Mild / ESB rather than the malt. Come to think of it, I should use a similar recipe if I ever want to brew one of those styles.
Either way, the beer was enjoyable except for one thing: the peat smoked flavor. Last time I was left unsatisfied and digging for that flavor. This time it was right up front, out of balance, and (almost) in the way. Now I'm not saying this was a peat bomb - at only 5 oz in a 12 gallon batch with over 28 lbs of grain, it's far from it. But it is too much. That flavor is fairly polarizing and I'm sure I would have a hard time suggestive selling more than one glass of this beer to friends. Luckily I enjoy it and only have 4 bottles.
When I brew this again I'll split the difference on the peat malt and go with something like 1.5 oz per 6 gallon batch. I've been at this for a while longer than I had been when that original batch came around, and I think I may really appreciate the subtle flavor a small amount of that malt can create (the rest of this recipe is great), but if I can find a way to make it present but balanced, even better!
Recipe:
Batch Size: 12 Gallons
Planned OG: 1.058 & 1.075 (Actual = 1.058 & 1.073)
Planned IBU: 25
Planned Efficiency: 70%
FG: 1.012 (Actual reading for the Scottish Amber. The Scotch Ale never finished due to the extra microbes, but was at 1.010 at last check)
Grain:
20# German Pilsner
1# 11oz Crystal 75*
1# 11oz Crystal 40*
3# 7oz Dark Munich (9 SRM)
1# 3oz Carapills
5oz Peat Smoked Malt
*split crystal malts to approximate crystal 55, but later realized the original recipe called for Crystal 40 and I had only moved to crystal 55 because they were out of Crystal 40 when I purchased ingredients for my original batch. I liked the color and sweetness of this batch, but will probably go with only C40 if it's available in the future.
Hops:
1.00 oz Magnum (12.3 AA) @ 60 min
1.50 oz EKG (5.7 AA) @ 15 min
0.50 oz EKG (5.7 AA) @ 10 min
Extras:
Irish Moss
2oz medium toast american oak aged in scotch added to Scotch Ale
Yeast:
Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale. Fermented cold at 57*F after learning this yeast can produce smokey phenols if fermented in this range - unfortunately I was only able to reach 59*F with my set-up in the middle of summer.
Water:
Target Profile (ppm):
Batch Size: 12 Gallons
Planned OG: 1.058 & 1.075 (Actual = 1.058 & 1.073)
Planned IBU: 25
Planned Efficiency: 70%
FG: 1.012 (Actual reading for the Scottish Amber. The Scotch Ale never finished due to the extra microbes, but was at 1.010 at last check)
Grain:
20# German Pilsner
1# 11oz Crystal 75*
1# 11oz Crystal 40*
3# 7oz Dark Munich (9 SRM)
1# 3oz Carapills
5oz Peat Smoked Malt
*split crystal malts to approximate crystal 55, but later realized the original recipe called for Crystal 40 and I had only moved to crystal 55 because they were out of Crystal 40 when I purchased ingredients for my original batch. I liked the color and sweetness of this batch, but will probably go with only C40 if it's available in the future.
Hops:
1.00 oz Magnum (12.3 AA) @ 60 min
1.50 oz EKG (5.7 AA) @ 15 min
0.50 oz EKG (5.7 AA) @ 10 min
Extras:
Irish Moss
2oz medium toast american oak aged in scotch added to Scotch Ale
Yeast:
Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale. Fermented cold at 57*F after learning this yeast can produce smokey phenols if fermented in this range - unfortunately I was only able to reach 59*F with my set-up in the middle of summer.
Water:
Target Profile (ppm):
Salt Additions (gram / gallon):
For the syrup, I pulled off about 1 gallon of the first runnings (volume based on the sg as per an all-too-complicated calculation in an effort to hit my target OG) and my lovely wife boiled it down to a viscous syrup for me. The goal was a consistency between corn syrup and cheap maple syrup - enough viscosity to cause a "lip" when moving the liquid around on the bottom of the pan, but not so much that it's hard to pour out of the pot. This required a controlled burner setting to create a simmer (we used the normal kitchen gas stove top) and constant stirring to make sure it didn't burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. I think it took over an hour, and we ended with about 0.25-0.33 gallons of syrup. After adding the syrup to the fermenter the measured OG was 0.002 low, but this may be simply because it was difficult to get the syrup to fully mix with the wort (i.e. I trust my calculations).
Hopefully the next attempt yields better results.