Scottish Sixty-One - 2

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 02/02/2008 | last updated: 05/26/2008
status: Finished

3.3# NB Gold liquid malt extract
1# Light spraymalt
4 oz. Brown Sugar
12 oz. Crystal 40°L
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Maltodextrin
.5 oz. Newport 10% (45 min)
2 oz. dried oak chips
Wyeast 1728 (69-73% atten)

This is a 60/- Scottish brew, but I've added oak chips to give it an additional flavor. So, it's a bit more expensive, say, one shilling more, hence, 61/-.

2/14/2008 - boiled and pitched today. Actual OG: 1.038. Waiting for fermentation.

2/15/2008 - We have lift-off, or I should say, blow-off.

2/16/2008 - Blow-off done. Switched to airlock.

2/19/2008 - SG: 1.013.

2/20/2008 - SG: 1.012. Apparent attenuation: 68%.

2/21/2008 - Bottled today. Had a funky flavor that was kind of a bourbon-type taste, I'm guessing from the oak chips. I hope that calms down a bit in the bottle.

2/27/2008 - oh, wow! Put a bottle in the fridge last night and pulled it out tonight. The funky bourbon flavor has subsided to an oak aftertaste which adds a perfect little surprise at the end of a sip. Carbonation is higher than I want, & no head retention to speak of. But, I'm certainly not throwing it out, as I thought I would be as I was bottling. Not very clear, next time try Irish moss.

3/10/2008 - The oak flavor, which at times has seemed overwhelming, is really mellowing out now, making this a pretty good beer. Not great, but decent.

3/12/2008 - wow, I don't get it. Things keep getting better with this brew. Tonight it had a 1.5" head for a couple of minutes, which started disintegrating from the outside (heavy carb underneath), leaving like an island of head! Weird. And, the oak flavor has become a faint hint, making this a great beer. So, maybe it just needed three weeks in the bottle to mature.

5/26/2008 - Boiled today's brats in the last bottle. A fitting end to a beer I will never make again.