Get in Mah Belly! Scotch Ale

Paying homage to that cinematic wonder from the Austin Powers film, Fat Bastard, I brewed up a malty Scotch Ale Tuesday. Appropriately enough, I called it "Get in Mah Belly!" on a blustery and cold 39 degree North Carolina day sitting in the garage performing that magical rite known as brewing.

The muse? Scottish Bagpipes. Bagpipes on the iPod. The music library is indeed immense.


The recipe:

8 oz. Crystal Malt 60L
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
1 oz. Roasted Barley

3.3 lb. amber liquid malt extract
2 lb. amber dry malt extract

1 oz. Glacier hops 6.0% alpha acid at 60 minutes
1/2 oz. Glacier hops 6.0% AA at 5 minutes

1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes (to clarify)

WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast

Use your best Scottish brogue to roll that yeast name off your tongue.

In preparing the yeast starter a few days ahead of time (as usual), the corresponding "step up's" to grow the yeast cell population really took off this time. The highest cell count I've had in quite a while. A good healthy slurry of yeasties settled to the bottom: Fermentation began in earnest within 2 hours once again. With using a yeast starter, gone are the days of the wort sitting and sitting and sitting all night long until the following morning when fermentation activity would begin, giving the opportunity for bacterial infection to take hold and choke out the yeast. Now, within mere hours a frothy head occurs and there's no chance of bacteria to thrive. Nice. As you can see, there's even one cluster of pre-yeast-pitching aeration froth that hadn't slid completely down off the glass yet, and fermentation has kicked up enough to visibly see its progress:
Looks to be another success. Weighing in at a starting gravity of 1.040, it won't be a thick huge malt bomb, but rather should be an easy-drinking slick smooth Scotch Ale. Can't wait.