Hills and Hangovers

By Arthur Olcot

Recipe is part of Recipe Index

BJCP 2021 Style 14A Scottish Light

After Christmas I wanted to brew something low strength for a change and I’ve never brewed anything sub 4% before. Additionally, I have a small personal goal of medalling a beer style for each part of the UK (although Wales might be a tricky one). So, the Scottish light category fitted the bill perfectly and I set about designing a recipe for a style that isn’t massively brewed judging by the limited number of recipes online.

The name came from a nice weekend away in St Albans with my partner, walking around the hilly streets on the Saturday whilst suffering from the effects of the night before.

Awards

Scottish National Home Brew Competition 2024 (Edinburgh)

2nd - Scottish and Irish Ale

UK National Homebrew Competition 2024 (Bristol)

3rd - British Amber & Pale

Statistics

• ABV 3.8%
• IBU 20
• OG 1.035
• FG 1.006
• EBC 36.5
• 20 litres at end of boil.

Note: This attenuated far more than I expected hence making it stronger than planned as I originally targeted around 3%.

Ingredients

Water

• Profile: Ca2+ 40, Mg2+ 3, Na+ 9, Cl- 53, SO42- 55, HCO3- 0

Malt

• 2.4 kg (75.7%) — Simpsons Pale Ale Finest Maris Otter — Grain — 5 EBC
• 430 g (13.6%) — Dingemans Munich — Grain — 10.8 EBC
• 170 g (5.4%) — Crisp Medium Crystal 240 — Grain — 265 EBC
• 90 g (2.8%) — Crisp Dark Crystal 400 — Grain — 450 EBC
• 60 g (1.9%) — Simpsons Chocolate Malt — Grain — 1185 EBC — Steep — 15 min
• 20 g (0.6%) — Weyermann Carafa Special III — Grain — 1400 EBC — Steep — 15 min

Note: Chocolate and Carafa malts are steeped

Hops

• 25 g (20 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5.5% — Boil — 60 min

Yeast

• 1 pkg — Wyeast Labs 1728 Scottish Ale (from starter)

Process

Mash

• 68 °C — 60 min

Boil

• 60 minutes

Ferment

• 16 °C until fermentation slows then increased to 18°C for a few days before cold crashing and then transferring to a keg

Serving

• 2.4 volumes of CO2