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I could really get used to this beer. It is soo smoooth! I brewed another one for the VA Beer Festival.

Awesome! I hope that I get to taste it!

Prost!

I've got my 70/- fermenting at 63 right now.  White Labs says not to go below 62 for the strain, with optimal at 65- 70.  Like you all I am trying to push it low to get a clean taste.  We will see!

Mine fermented out in 14 days at 62F. I racked it to secondary this weekend and now have it conditioning at 44F. The hydro sample was fantastic, nice and clean with great malt aroma, and good caramel flavor from the extended boil. It finished a couple of points higher than I planned, but I was worried it may end too dry, so that's a good thing.

The late edition is kinda small so it'll probably have a minimal effect. The hop, WBVG, tends to be slightly "fruity" so I thought if anything it would add complexity to the malty nose and flavor. I've never brewed the style but I've seen dozens of recipes where people just simply bastardize it to pieces. Some people try to get cute and add too much. The Scots are simple folks and their beer showcases their lifestyle.

Mine is also fermenting at a fairly cool temp, 62-63 degrees. Research says that that's the way they do it. It smells and looks great but we'll see.

That looks pretty close to my recipe, except I boiled the first gallon of run-off for half an hour, added it back to the full wort volume, and boiled that for two hours. The decoction mash-out is a great idea though, I've had good results with that method in adding malt complexity to hefeweizens. It actually seems like a simpler, smarter method than the extended boil.

I'm surprised your adding a flavor addition on the hops. Have you brewed this before? I was afraid a flavor addition would add too much hop character for the style so I stuck with just a bittering addition.

Just tried a bottle of 2009 St. Victorious Dopplebock from Victory.  Wow, this beer is amazing, just the thing for a cold winter evening.  Great malt nose with a very full body.  So clean, it's hard to find the 8.5 abv.  Highly recommended!

I figured I'd post my recipe for the Scottish Ale competition here. It's fairly simple.



Charlie's Albannach Ale:

9# Marris Otter
4oz Roasted Barley
1oz pellet - Whitbread Goldings Variety - 60min
.25oz pellet - Whitbread Goldings Variety - 15min
WLP028 - Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast

Mash at 154 degrees for 90 mins. Pull 1/3 of the mash(thick) and do a decoction to bring the entire mash up to 168 degrees. That's a more difficult way to get the "kettle caramelization" called for but I think it'll provide a deeper and more complex malt profile in the end.

Lauter the mash and collect a little over 6 gallons. Boil for 60 mins, adding hops as indicated, and chill to 65 degrees. Pitch yeast and ferment at 65 degrees for 7-10 days. Historically, the Scots fermented their beer for colder and longer periods because of the lack of real temp control and their chilly climate. If it takes longer than usual, don't worry - have a homebrew. I'll update with the final taste results soon. Prost!

sweet!