Heather Ale

[IainMcLean]

Kinda :icon_offtopic: but is anyone going to Ringwood Highland Games on this sunday?

I hope there is some beer stalls there

Yob

Yob,

:icon_offtopic:
You into piping or drumming?
I used to play for LA Scots and AusHigh.
Small world.

 

[Yob]

I used to play for LA Scots and AusHigh.

Zat right? nice one indeed... do ya still have ya kilt? lol..

Not a player at all man, just into it from a heritage point of view... no frikkin beer there <_< I think I need to get involved and see what we can do to change this sad state of affairs.. be nice to have a few scottish beers on offer at an event like that.

Tob, get onto wirking out a recipe fir it. We could do a double batch of that (sub heather for thistle) & double of heather ale and split it.

tis a though indeed.. I assume we would need thistle flowers as well??... will look into it..

I bought a pack of WY1728 for the up and coming heather ale..

awww my first liquid yeast :icon_drunk:

 

[brettprevans]

Zat right? nice one indeed... do ya still have ya kilt? lol..

Not a player at all man, just into it from a heritage point of view... no frikkin beer there <_< I think I need to get involved and see what we can do to change this sad state of affairs.. be nice to have a few scottish beers on offer at an event like that.



tis a though indeed.. I assume we would need thistle flowers as well??... will look into it..

I bought a pack of WY1728 for the up and coming heather ale..

awww my first liquid yeast :icon_drunk:

Its a good yeast for multiple styles.
Start building it up, split some off so u get multiple yeast usage and maximise value.

 

[white.grant]

I was very impressed by the aroma coming off the heather beer I brewed yesterday. I have a light scottish ale preparing some 1728 working its way through so will be pitching some of that onto the Heather in a day or so. Quite excited to see what it turns out like.

 

[Logman]

I was very impressed by the aroma coming off the heather beer I brewed yesterday. I have a light scottish ale preparing some 1728 working its way through so will be pitching some of that onto the Heather in a day or so. Quite excited to see what it turns out like.

I put mine in a secondary yesterday. Tastes a little bitter and needs conditioning for sure. Certainly no twang or anything so I assume it's part of the process and needs some time.

 

[Yob]

Quite keen to know how you lads get on with these brews.. Probably a month or so away from brewing one.

Yob

 

[white.grant]

Pretty sure there will be a few experiments over the next couple of months, I've started with a little bit of heather and still have lots left, so things can only get bigger!

It could be interesting to brew the same recipe amongst us and then see how we go.

 

[Logman]

How did you go about it Grant, how much/when etc. Any going in the fermenter?

Wondering if my 200g or so was a bit heavy handed :huh: Oh well, whit's fur ye'll no go by ye! Apparently that means 'what's meant to happen will happen'.


Edit: Just saw your recipe on the previous page.....

 

[white.grant]

Hi Logman,

Basically I just chucked 50gms in at flameout in a hop sock. I noticed it was a bit hydrophobic (which I guess is to be expected from a flower), so stirred it around a bit - that seemed to release quite a lot of aroma. How that aroma survives fermentation will be the thing though, it may get driven off - so some dry heathering may be in order.

 

[Yob]

from HERE

FRAOCH - HEATHER ALE

BEER INFORMATION

TECHNICAL
ABV:5.0%
OG:1051
MALTS:British Pale Ale Malt, Cara Malt, Malted Wheat

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:Heather, Bogmyrtle

TASTING NOTES
ASTE:Malty, Heather, Grassy, Herbs, Light Spice, Honey
COLOUR:Clear Gold, Clear Amber
SMELL:Heather, Floral, Caramel, Herby

im going to email these guys and see if they are willing to part with any info.. cant hurt to try eh?

ed: Re the Thistle ale

Blessed Thistle

Cairngorm, based in Aviemore, is a microbrewery on the up having already upgraded from humble beginnings in 2001 to a 20 barrel brewery to meet demand. With Blessed Thistle, like Williams Brothers, Cairngorm is revisiting a traditional Scottish method of making ale which uses thistles in the years before hops were widely available the updated twist being the addition of goldings hops and ginger late in the brewing process to enhance the flavour.

Cairngorm Brewery will be getting an email too

:icon_cheers:

 

[bum]

I'm certain I've seen recipes online that claim to be sourced from those guys so I'm sure you'll get something out of them.
[EDIT: the first guys]

 

[white.grant]

Well I hoped to be posting that I had just pitched my 1728 starter on my heather ale wort, but I mixed up my cubes and pitched the starter on a Dunkelweizen I had waiting in the cue instead. Didn't actually realise until I grabbed the paperwork to make my notes. In my defence they are about the same colour.

I'm wondering how this will turn out, I can't see it being too much of a disaster flavour wise, I may even add some heather to it. Macdunkelweizen anyone?

 

[///]

GRant, if you loose alot of aroma try a tea (cooled before adding) or just dry (hop) flower it ...

Scotty

ps. when do we get to taste btw ...

 

[Logman]

Mine's safely in the keg! Definitely needs a decent rest though having sampled the wort, it's quite bitter but the background flavor suggests it's going to be really nice - planning on leaving it a good while before trying :chug:

 

[evildrakey]

Thinking of Doing a Scottish Heather Ale this weekend... Would love some feedback on the recipe... Not sure on the yeast I'm gonna use tho...

Drake's Heather Ale (Scottish Heavy 70/-)

Batch Size (fermenter): 18.93 l
Boil Size: 25.71 l
Boil Time: 90 min
Equipment: Pot and Cooler ( 5 Gal/19 L) - All Grain
End of Boil Volume 22.64 l Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 17.42 l Est Mash Efficiency 82.8 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Ingredients:
18.93 l Edinburg, Scotland Water
2.60 kg Pale Malt, Golden Promise (5.9 EBC) Grain 2 77.6 %
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 7.5 %
0.20 kg Melanoiden Malt (39.4 EBC) Grain 4 6.0 %
0.20 kg Beechwood Smoked Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 5 6.0 %
0.10 kg Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 6 3.0 %
10.00 g Hallertauer, New Zealand [8.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 7 11.1 IBUs
80.00 g Heather Flowers (Boil 60.0 mins)
1.00 g Elecampane Root (Boil 60.0 mins)
5.00 g Hallertauer, New Zealand [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min
5.00 g Hallertauer, New Zealand [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 min

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.039 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.9 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 11.1 IBUs Calories: 427.1 kcal/l
Est Color: 20.4 EBC

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 3.35 kg
Sparge Water: 16.38 l Grain Temperature: 22.2 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C Tun Temperature: 22.2 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 8.74 l of water at 75.1 C 66.7 C 60 min
Mash Out Add 4.89 l of water at 94.7 C 75.6 C 10 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 16.38 l water at 75.6 C
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

 

[hsb]

Herbsupply also has a retail shop at austral herbs. They don't have the minimum order requirement and will sell in 100g lots, but the price will of course be higher.

Thanks for the link, quite a resource there, only up to 'Butternut' and who knew there were so many natural laxatives available! No wonder the bears are shitting in the woods!

Lots of other possible brew ingredients in there too, interested in how the Heather Ales turn out.

Perfect excuse for a bit of Lord Rockingham too


Hoots mon!

 

[white.grant]

Hey Drakey,

I think the recipe looks fine, you could perhaps leave out the carapils and increase the base malt a bit and add a handful of wheat for head retention, but it's a small thing. I must confess that I have no idea what elecampane root is though. Happy to be enlightened on that.

 

[evildrakey]

Hey Drakey,

I think the recipe looks fine, you could perhaps leave out the carapils and increase the base malt a bit and add a handful of wheat for head retention, but it's a small thing. I must confess that I have no idea what elecampane root is though. Happy to be enlightened on that.

Thanks for that. The Elecampane is just a herb I'm been mucking about with lately... In small amounts it gives a lovely mysterious camphorous perfume to the brew...

 

[white.grant]

Hmm, interesting, google tells me it was used in absinthe as well. Good for asthma and bronchitis apparently.

 

[evildrakey]

The Heather Ale I made last night is interesting... I drank 2 cups of the unfermented wort and had strange dreams all night...

The one where I ate my own face off a plate with a knife and fork whilst the girlfriend looked on in a red wedding dress with a foxes head cheering me on was particularly odd...

Apparently Heather can host an ergot like fungus... Hmm... But I suspect it's not that and the roast duck I had for dinner instead...