Given the low attenuation and modest hopping, these must have been pretty malty beers. Syrupy even.
Should I ask Kristen to bash up a recipe? I know I'd love to try one of these devils. The 1851 140/- looks a good candidate. A light session beer.
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4 hours ago
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That 140/- has a final gravity higher that a lot of modern ales starting gravity!
Ron - These have the same attenuation rates as the German beers. I have to ask if you know what temperature they are fermented at. From what I have seen the Scotch ales were fermented in the low 50s F.
Cheers
Jim
Jim, Roberts cites fermentation temperatures in the low 50s F. But after 1850 that wasn't the case at Younger's. It's too complicated to explain here, so I'm writing another post.
From my re-reading of the subject online yesterday which captured sources like Ure (always very detailed and technical), Roberts again, Webster & Parkes, and Watts, Scotch ale was fermented around 50 F which was lower than the norm for English. Here is a good general overview from one of these sources:
http://books.google.com/books?id=35ISAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA591&dq=scotch+ale&lr=#v=onepage&q=scotch%20ale&f=false
Scotch ale was pale in colour - this has changed for some types today - "vinous", "balsamic", with "hop not predominating". There appears some possible contradiction in these descriptions, but we know that was not unusual. Maybe the older varieties had some acetic development to explain "vinous", for example.
But in general the types seemed un-hoppy although Ron's per per-barrel numbers for the strong Younger beers can be impressively high. I think - just a supposition - the high rates were off-set by the rich FG of these beers, whereas say in an IPA highly attenuated, the same hop rate per barrel would be much more noticeable.
The Ontario LCBO considers (see its description at www.lcbo.ca) McEwan's Scotch Ale to be both hoppy and malty. I would not disagree but feel the maltiness is rather more prominent. Still, I acknowledge that the hop rate for this beer is probably rather lower than for any of Ron's examples at a similar gravity.
Gary
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