Wee Heavy

[DoctorNick]

Hey fellas,

I've got a porter brewing currently that follows Lucas' Choc Smoked Porter recipe which I'm hoping will be ready for the winter months and am looking to move onto something else slightly ambitious for a novice AG brewer: a wee heavy.

I'm looking at this recipe, on Mike Tonsmeire's website:
https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/02/bourbon-barrel-wee-heavy.html

I don't plan to sour it, rather go for his original recipe and, instead of barreling a huge batch, just add some ex-Bourbon oak stave chunks I've picked up (I'm really looking for any excuse to get these involved in a recipe).

My questions are two:
1. Mike lists Maris Otter OR Golden Promise in his recipe, anyone out there recommend one over the other for a malty scotch ale?

2. How much oak? I know there's no hard and fast rule and, from my reading so far, it looks like less is more. I've got 4 cm x 4 cm x 1 cm chunks of staves from ex-Bourbon barrels, so I was thinking of putting just two or three chunks in a 16 L batch and tasting frequently to see how much character the beer was picking up. Any suggestions on this front?


Cheers! Happy hopping!

 

[DoctorNick]

I should mention too that I have a sour culture on the go (I made a starter with the dregs from a couple of bottles of 'La Sirene' Praline and Paradoxe) and have also thought about splitting the batch and fermenting half clean and half sour [obviously, I'd have to wait a good 12-18 months longer to get at the sour half here].

 

[Grogler]

Glad I came across this thread. A wee heavy was one of the first beers to get me interested in craft beer and I've been meaning to brew one for ages. Like yourself I might give that recipe a shot with oak chips and all but give the souring a miss. Will scale it down to 12L (robobrew not big enough for full sized hi grav batch). Might a few weeks till I actually get around to it but eyes peeled for any advice in this thread

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Hey fellas,

I've got a porter brewing currently that follows Lucas' Choc Smoked Porter recipe which I'm hoping will be ready for the winter months and am looking to move onto something else slightly ambitious for a novice AG brewer: a wee heavy.

I'm looking at this recipe, on Mike Tonsmeire's website:
https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/02/bourbon-barrel-wee-heavy.html

I don't plan to sour it, rather go for his original recipe and, instead of barreling a huge batch, just add some ex-Bourbon oak stave chunks I've picked up (I'm really looking for any excuse to get these involved in a recipe).

My questions are two:
1. Mike lists Maris Otter OR Golden Promise in his recipe, anyone out there recommend one over the other for a malty scotch ale?

2. How much oak? I know there's no hard and fast rule and, from my reading so far, it looks like less is more. I've got 4 cm x 4 cm x 1 cm chunks of staves from ex-Bourbon barrels, so I was thinking of putting just two or three chunks in a 16 L batch and tasting frequently to see how much character the beer was picking up. Any suggestions on this front?


Cheers! Happy hopping!

Golden Promise is a sweeter malt ideal for a Scottish 'Wee Heavy' if you like a peat smoked Scotch whiskey, Laphroaig springs to mind, add some (not much) peat smoked malt to your 'Wee Heavy' and drink as a chaser to Laphroaig.

 

[DoctorNick]

Grogler, yeah, man, I'm pretty keen to brew this one too. I probably won't be putting into the tun until March, but I'll let you know how I go. Big scotch ales and big stouts are basically the reason I've gotten into home-brewing.

Cheers, WE+LL, Golden Promise it is.
Good thought on the peated malt. I love Islay whisky, and the ideal of making a peat-smoked beer for a Laphroaig or Ardbeg boiler-maker appeals VERY much.