# Peat Smoked Malt - Scotish Heavy Ale



## kevnlis (2/1/08)

I have been wanting to do this style for a long time. I was looking through the grain at Craftbrewer and stumbled upon Peat Smoked Malt!

Now that I have access, I need a bit of help fine tuning the recipe:

Amount Item Type % or IBU 
4.00 kg Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (1.5 SRM) Grain 74.77 % 
???? kg Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain % 
???? kg Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain % 
???? kg Melanoidin (Weyermann) (30.0 SRM) Grain % 
???? kg Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain % 
???? kg Roasted Barley (Joe White) (710.0 SRM) Grain % 
10.00 gm Pacific Gem [15.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 23.0 IBU 
???? gm Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc 

1 Pkgs Duvel Culture? Yeast-Ale 


Suggestions would be great, especialy if you have experience with this style or any of these ingredients.

Thanks!


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## Quintrex (2/1/08)

kevnlis said:


> I have been wanting to do this style for a long time. I was looking through the grain at Craftbrewer and stumbled upon Peat Smoked Malt!
> 
> Now that I have access, I need a bit of help fine tuning the recipe:
> 
> ...



Duvel? Any particular reason why? I'd probably use wyeast 1728 or a neutral english style yeast to let your ingredients shine!

Either way sounds like it'll be a taste sensation!

Q


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## newguy (2/1/08)

The dark caramel malt can be up to about 15-20% of the grist. I also typically use about another 15-20% munich malt.  The amount of roasted barley shouldn't really exceed 1.5-2.0% otherwise it will become too roasty. Peat smoked malt is really powerful stuff, so don't use too much. I can taste 0.5% in a 70/ that I do quite often. Approx 5% will give you a very strong flavour. You can always add more to the mash if it isn't 'peaty' enough for you.

A peat smoked wee heavy actually took best of show at my club's last competition. Don't know how much peat smoked malt was used, but it was a very 'peaty' beer. Shoot for a rather high OG - the stronger examples usually do better in comps. At least 1.090 or so.

Your choice of yeast is actually really good. A member of my club took many, many medals with a wee heavy he brewed with a Belgian yeast. I think he said it was Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II.

Hope this helps.


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## brettprevans (2/1/08)

from G&G website - Riggers Strong Scottish

Full Grain Version
4000gms Munich Malt
2500gms Ale Malt
500gms Oat Malt
450gms Caramunich I Malt
* 300gms Peat Smoked Malt*
300gms Crystal Malt
20gms Roast Barley

I like the sounds of your recipe too.

This is what im planning on doing as soon as the weather cools down
3kg Light Dry Malt Extract
1.5kg Amber Liquid Malt Extract
300gms Chocolate Malt
300gms Light Crystal Malt
200gms Peat Smoked Malt
200gms Amber Malt
20gms Roast Barley
I may chuck in 10g of bittering hops at 60min if I feel I must, but heavy scottish apparently arent meant to have distinctive hop characteristics so I will probably be very careful.


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## kevnlis (2/1/08)

I did think of adding Munich and Caramunich but I was not sure it would come through with all the other strong flavours in there. I will add about 20 IBUs which is within style. I also plan to rack it onto some oak chips that I can get from the distillery (they chip the old barrels and sell them as mulch) will probably soak them in whiskey first. Anyone have any idea of how to do that (amount and time to leave them on the chips)? I would like a fair bit of tannin from them.


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## newguy (2/1/08)

The munich or caramunich malt will add to the overall complexity & maltiness of the beer. Munich malt is my favourite by far - I add it to almost every batch I brew.

Soak the chips in scotch (good quality scotch) for at least a day. Use enough scotch to fully cover the chips. Fish them out with a sanitized spoon and add to the fermenter. You'll probably need to leave them in the beer for at least a week, but it may take longer than that. Sample it after a week and if the oak character isn't strong enough keep sampling every 2 days until it's to your liking.

You might also like to try toasting the chips in the oven before soaking them in scotch. The toasted character is quite nice. Also be careful about having a beer that is too busy. With the peat character, you might not be able to detect any oak at all as peat is really, really strong.

Just thought of this. Want to do a split batch? Add a small amount of peated malt (or none at all) and instead add a really peaty scotch to 1/2 the batch. Use a sweeter scotch for 1/2 the oak chips and something like Laphroaig for the other half. The Laphroaig will lend a strong peat character. This way you get 2 different beers.


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## kevnlis (2/1/08)

I can only do a half batch anyway. I have a 25L esky tun and will not be able to achieve this sort of gravity in a full batch.

I will have to check my supplies and see what grain I have laying around that I can use in this recipe. I think I may have some Caramunich II somewhere


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## MHB (2/1/08)

Up to 100% Peated Malt isn't unheard of, but I would love to see some UK Amber and/or Brown malt in there, the best examples I have tried were around 80% Peated, the balance Amber, Brown or some Crystal.

Definitely go for a malt driven flavour profile with just enough bitterness to balance the maltiness; a lot of the Scottish Ales are quite alcoholic 8-10%.
So with the high OG a balancing bitterness might be in the 40-50 IBU range

The obvious hop of choice would be Fuggle, but very good results are obtained with Target or another of the newer general purpose hops, tho I would resist the temptation to go for a really high alpha variety - as the bitterness can become quite harsh.

A long, up to 120 minute, boil will enhance the mellow hop character that is very desirable in this style.

The other thing to note is that this is a beer that rewards very long maturation although Oak isnt regarded as a typical ingredient - I would consider boiling the chips to sterilise them, this will extract a lot of flavour - then adding the cooled chips and the water that they were boiled in to the secondary and leaving it there for weeks or months.

One of my favourite beers - when you get a good example its a cracker.

MHB


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## brettprevans (2/1/08)

kevnlis said:


> I also plan to rack it onto some oak chips that I can get from the distillery (they chip the old barrels and sell them as mulch) will probably soak them in whiskey first. Anyone have any idea of how to do that (amount and time to leave them on the chips)?



search for oak chips on AHB. there are a few threads (some with pics) of using oak chips.



newguy said:


> Soak the chips in scotch (good quality scotch) for at least a day.
> split batch? Add a small amount of peated malt (or none at all) and instead add a really peaty scotch to 1/2 the batch. Use ....something like Laphroaig for the other half. The Laphroaig will lend a strong peat character. This way you get 2 different beers.



bloody good idea but in Australia your looking at paying AUS$80-90 (or $70-80 Canadian) for a bottle of Laphroaig. Bit pricey. 

still, splitting a batch (even if its only a half batch) will still give you 2 distinct beers. I recon it worth a shot. maybe use a slightly cheaper scotch?....


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## newguy (2/1/08)

citymorgue2 said:


> bloody good idea but in Australia your looking at paying AUS$80-90 (or $70-80 Canadian) for a bottle of Laphroaig. Bit pricey.



If you always have a random bottle around for the occasional sip, as I do, then it's worth it to get a bottle for the maybe 2 oz you'd use for the beer. Wow, Laphroaig is expensive there! It's actually one of the more reasonably priced varieties here. Usually around $55, but it can occasionally be found for about $45 on sale.

This thread has given me ideas. My favourite scotch is Glendronach. It's matured only in used sherry casks, and is bloody fantastic. I'm tempted to buy a bottle and use it to spice up the Russian imperial stout I just brewed.


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## kevnlis (2/1/08)

I keep Glen Livet for drinking, and McCullums for mixing in the house. Wouldn't the alcohol negate the need to boil? This was part of the reason I was going to do it.

I will definately put some age on this one. It sounds like something that could benefit from a prolonged bulk conditioning, just need to find a vessel large enough.

I am thinking 5% or so of Peat malt to start with. I can always do another batch and up that addition if I feel it is necessary. I have done a few Smoked Ales from the kits and they are excellent with a good flame grilled steak or a half corona cigar... or both 

I have never actualy tasted a Strong Scotch Ale, but from the research I have been able to do (there isn't much info out there that I could find) it sounds like my kind of drink!

I appreciate all the replies!


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## newguy (2/1/08)

kevnlis said:


> I keep Glen Livet for drinking, and McCullums for mixing in the house. Wouldn't the alcohol negate the need to boil? This was part of the reason I was going to do it.



I think the other poster was suggesting that you boil the oak chips in water to sanitise. You're right - you could soak them in scotch instead. Either way will sanitise the chips, but boiling them in water will extract the oak character much faster/more efficiently than soaking in scotch.



> I have never actualy tasted a Strong Scotch Ale, but from the research I have been able to do (there isn't much info out there that I could find) it sounds like my kind of drink!



McEwan's Scotch Ale is widely available here - hopefully it is in your neck of the woods as well. It's a nice beer, but is a bit on the weak side for a wee heavy. It will give you an idea of what the style is all about.


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