Gruagach Scotch Ale 80/-

Being that this is the last weekend before heading home for the holidays, I figured I should get a couple brews done. Bought a second primary fermentation vessel(30L bucket), rubber stopper and airlock from the homebrew store.

The first beer, to be brewed on Saturday, is a Scotch Ale using homegrown Goldings B.C. hops, grown by a co-worker. The recipe was taken from the address below:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/walkersans-gruagach-80-a-43384/

Gruagach Scotch Ale 80/-
3.5G, all grain; OG = 1.061 FG = 1.017; IBU = 31.6; SRM = 21.4; ABV = 5.8%
90 minute boil.

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
5 lbs 14.2 oz	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	73.7 %
12.7 oz	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)	Grain	10.0 %
7.6 oz	Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)	Grain	6.0 %
5.6 oz	Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)	Grain	4.4 %
5.1 oz	Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM)	Grain	4.0 %
2.5 oz	Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)	Grain	2.0 %
0.94 oz	Goldings, B.C. [5.00%] (60 min)	Hops	23.8 IBU
0.63 oz	Goldings, B.C. [5.00%] (15 min)	Hops	7.9 IBU
0.64 tsp	Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)	Misc
0.64 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min)	Misc
1 Pkgs	Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)	Yeast-Ale

Mash all grains at 156F for 1h and draw first runnings to kettle. Some amount of caramelization is desired in this beer. To achieve this, take 2 pints of the first mash runnings and simmer in a saucepan to reduce to a syrup, taking care not to burn it. Do this while the rest of the wort is boiling. Sparge with 175F water to collect full volume of wort. Boil wort for 90min. Add hops as per schedule and add wort reduction to kettle with 5min to go in boil. Chill to 58F and pitch yeast.

Steps and How it Went Down

01. Filled the mash-tun with hot water to heat it up.

02. Boiled 10L of water to 79C(174F).

03. Drained the mash-tun of hot water.

04. Added grains and 9.45L of water, mixed it all up to get rid of any clumps of grains. (1.2L per pound of grain)

05. Made sure the temperature was at 68C(154F), closed and let sit for 60min.

06. Boiled 13L of water for sparge.

07. After 60 minutes, drained 2L of the wort out and poured it back gently on top(vorlauf).

08. Drained the mash-tun into boil kettle and took 1L to a smaller pot to simmer for the whole time.

09. Added sparge water. Let sit for 10min.

10. Vorlauf and drain mash-tun in kettle.

11. Checked pre-boil gravity and got 1.048.

12. Brought to boil.

13. Added Goldings BC hops at 60min.

14. Added Goldings BC at 15min.

15. Added Irish Moss and yeast nutrient at 10min.

16. Added wort reduction in kettle at 5min.
17. Cooled down in sink of cold water to 18C(65F), took gravity and got 1.061(spot on where it needed to be), Brix was 16.5.

18. Pitched #1728 yeast. Closed and let sit for 3 weeks.


UPDATE 01/31/2011
After about 40 days in primary due to vacation and having to soak the oak chips in bourbon for at least a week(and a bit of laziness too, I confess!), I finally transfered the Scotch ale, added about an ounce of oak chip and what I'd estimate was about 4-5 shots of bourbon to secondary. Now, to wait another month or so to get the beer aging!