Colorado Kitchen Brew

Although my Wee Heavy blog about brewing this beer was posted in December, I actually brewed it in November. After a long wait, I feel it's finally matured enough to write about. Let's see what happened. First off, this is a very big beer. It has a large grain bill and an alcohol content of around 9.5%. The mouthfeel is dense and chewy, with very soft carbonation. It's definitely a meal in a bottle suitable for the coldest of nights. So how does it taste? Pretty damn good, if I may pat myself on the back for a moment. Heavily caramelizing the wort resulted in an intense toffee and roasted grain dominated beer. Bitterness is light and bolstered by the roasted flavors. Hops also add a bit of black tea and tobacco to the nose. The alcohol is almost too well masked, which makes for a very sneaky beer. Its heavy body keeps the brew from going down too quickly, but it's easy to get carried away. This beer is definitely a keeper. For 2013, I think I'll brew it a l

It's amazing how some of the best commercial beers have a really straightforward list of ingredients. A beer doesn't have to be made of seven grains and five hop varieties to be excellent. My attempt at a Wee Heavy follows this theme by mimicking the excellent, yet deceivingly simple Traquair House Ale . Because the physical ingredient list is so simple, the real key ingredient is the boiling process. It's very time consuming, but the payoff should be worth it. To make a proper Wee Heavy, I need to heavily caramelize the wort. My (and many other people's) way of doing this is to take a gallon of the first-running of wort, put it in a second pot and boil it until there's only about two pints of thick liquid left. For this beer, 90 minutes of a vigorous rolling boil turned the wort into a nice syrup. As the liquid gets thicker, I reduce the heat and stir continuously to avoid scorching. The resulting caramelized syrup is mixed back into the rest of the wor

My Scottish Ale is finally ready to go. First off, my goal of creating a midway point between an 80 Schilling and a Wee Heavy was overruled by the yeast. With a Final Gravity of just 1.008, the alcohol level is only a few ticks below 8.0%, which is way out of 80 Schilling Territory. Oh well. The beer pours a deep mahogany hue, with nice clarity for a bottle conditioned beer. A vigorous pour nets a small nougat tinged head. Head retention isn't quite what I'd hoped for, but a good swirl of the glass brings it back to life. The aroma is exactly what I was shooting for. Deeply caramelized sugars intermingle with a touch of roasted grain. There is very little hop aroma to be had. What's there brings a hint of black tea. In the mouth, caramel, toffee and just a touch of coffee intermingle nicely. Bitterness is very low, as was to be expected. The beer gets a little astringent late, but not overly so. The mouthfeel is somewhat dry and not quite as hefty as I'd hoped fo

If you remember the All Things Scottish skit from Saturday Night Live, you'll know what goes in place of the periods. This week's brew is a Scottish Ale that attempts to split the difference between the Scottish 80 Schilling and Wee Heavy. If all goes well, it will have the modest strength of the 80, with the flavor profile of the much stronger Wee Heavy. There's an old story about the high cost of hops in Scotland back in the day that I'll spare you from. But because of it, Scottish beers are very malt forward and low on bitterness. To that end, I've assembled a complex grain bill and let the hops sit in the background. English Maris Otter is the base malt, due to Scottish Golden Promise not being carried at my local store. If I had access to it, I would be using it. Here's the recipe for five gallons of Scottish goodness: Grains: 11 lbs Maris Otter 8 oz English Medium Crystal 4 oz English Extra Dark Crystal 4 oz English Chocolate Malt 2 oz Roaste