Session Beer Series: Scottish 70-

I am continuing my Session Ale kick. I'll explain my recent obsession .

I think Session Ales are the next wave in Craft Brewing. Yes, craft beer has blown up in the past years and it will continue being a high growth business. But I personally think for craft beer to continue to grow it must be in a price range that more people can afford or at least be tempted to try. So by making a low gravity beer the customer can get the taste without the price tag. I also understand that beer ingredients are a low percentage of the actual cost to the consumer but it may help. The other issue with session beers is the shelf life because of the low alcohol level and sometimes hopping rate. So this will limit the range of the brewery to be more local or to brew smaller more frequent batches. Lastly, I am not convinced how many people are drinking beer just for the alcohol benefit, I would rather be able to taste and drink 10 session beers than 4-5 IPAs.

On to the beer style, this is my favorite because I am a fan malty, slightly sweet beer, not because of the reason my wife thinks which is I like everything Scottish. This is my second time brewing the beer and it is again a JZ recipe. It was my favorite beer of 2009. It did pretty well in competition but main complaint was the body is too low. So this year I will be mashing even higher around 158 but by using Cal Ale yeast this beer will still dry out. The thing I enjoyed in this beer last go around was it had a great sweet malt smell but was fairly dry tasting. I believe the honey malt in addition to the decent amount of crystal created this.


Recipe: Scottish Ale 70-
O.G.-1.035  F.G.-TBD   IBU-13  
SRM-15   ABV-TBD   Cal-TBD

Grain Bill (75% Efficiency):
2.5 lb Maris Otter (65.6%)
8 oz Crystal 40L (13.1%)
4 oz Crystal 120L (6.6%) 
4 oz Munich Malt (6.6%)
4 oz Honey Malt (6.6%) 
1 oz Chocolate(UK) (1.6%)

Hops:
.25 oz East Kent Goldings, 5%, pellet, 90 min 13 IBU (100%)


Yeast:
1 vial of White Labs WLP001


Brew Day:
Brewed: 03/21/10
Kegged: TBD

Water:
San Diego (Alvarado) Tap Water
1 campden tablet for 5 gal.

Mash Details:
H2O/Grain Ratio: 1.33 qt/lb
Mash Volume: 1.25 gal
Sacc Rest. Temp/Time: 158F @ 60min
Strike Temp: 172F
Batch Sparge Volume: 4 gal
Sparge Temp/Time: 170F @ 30min

Boil Details:
Boil Volume: 4.5 gal
Pre Boil O.G.: TBD
Boil Time: 90min
Post Boil Volume: 3 gal

Ferment Details:
O.G.: TBD
Ferment Temp: 64-68F
Length: 7 days
F.G.: TBD
App Attenuation: TBD
Actual Efficiency: TBD