Brewed For Thought

Opened my last scotch ale today. I bottled it during a time in my life when I didn’t feel like labeling the beers I’d brewed, so it was a surprise. I brewed it January, 2007. I tried adding a little peat-smoked malt to the malt bill. It caused me a lot of distress. When I tried the finished wart, it tasted like liquid smoke – that stuff you put in barbeque marinades. I almost just dumped out the entire beer, but I didn’t. When I bottled it a month later, it was still smokey, and I didn’t think it would ever be any good… but by the end of the ski season, I started really enjoying the things. In my notes (which I try to keep on each beer) I first wrote that I should use 1/8 lb of peat smoked malt, instead of the 1/2 lb that I used, but as time passed, I’ve come up to a new hypothesis. 1/2 pound of peat smoked malt (for a 5 gallon batch) is perfectly reasonable… but you better be willing to wait for a long time before you drink it. So here’s my recipe:  Continue reading Chimney Sweep Scotch