Scottish Export Ale
SCOTTISH EXPORT ALE
The world of Scottish beer has been woefully underrepresented in the American Beerscape. Craft breweries will occasionally unleash a Wee Heavy into the world, but for the most part, Scottish ales have been left in Scotland.
We've been know to dabble in the Scottish arts, ourselves. Our Wee Heavy is a favorite of ours, and the famed Scotch is a well regarded treat in these parts (and we like to throw telephone poles like large weirdos, too), but we have never made a normal Scottish pub-style ale. That's essentially what the Scottish Export Ale is. A burlier cousin of the English ESP and Irish Red, this beer is a malt forward, moderately strong beer that acts stronger than it really is.
Scottish beer is generally placed into one of four categories. The lightest is called a Light (TONS of metaphor there), then comes a Heavy, the Export, and the biggest of all the Wee Heavy. Scottish Export Ales, like those from Belhaven and McEwan's, are generally reddish brown in color with a heavy malt profile, low hop bitterness, and a moderate ABV somewhere between 4-6%. The Export was designed for, you guessed it, exporting to other countries. The heartier ales were designed to thrive after trans-Atlantic voyages, where the Light and Heavy were better consumed domestically.
The reddish brown color comes from a hearty malt bill that includes a small amount of dark malt to shade the final product. Some brewers will add a secondary sugar source such as caramel or treacle or give darker hues. Treacle is an English molasses equivalent that is NOT interchangeable with molasses. It is much milder in flavor and is a golden syrup, rather than a dark syrup like the American version.
One of the more important differences between Scottish beers and Scotch Whisky is the involvement of peat. Where the whisky is noteworthy for its peat flavors and aroma, Scottish beers should have none of that in any traditional brew. Of course, peat smoked malt can be used as an adjunct malt for those who desire those characteristics, however the regular Scottish ales, regardless of their strength, avoid peat at all costs.
OUR RECIPE
9lb 2-Row Pale Ale Malt
1/2 lb 40L Caramel Malt
1/4 lb Roasted Barley
1/4 lb CaraFoam
1/2 lb Flaked Corn
1 oz Mt Hood hops
WLP-028 Edinburgh Ale Yeast with 1L Starter
1 tsp Irish Moss
Malts We Use
CaraFoam: Also known as Dextrine Malt or CaraPils, this addition is to increase head retention in your beer. CaraFoam can be used in any beer style as it gives little to no color, flavor, or aroma to a brew.
Roasted Barley: A classic dark malt, roasted barley adds rich dark hues with highlights of magenta and red to stouts and porters. It is heavy on the roast flavor and gives a fresh coffee aromatic characteristic in beer. Roasted barley is among the only widely used specialty grains that are unmalted.
Comments
Post a Comment