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| September 2001 | Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen | Volume 9 Number 9 |
The next meeting will be held at Shields in Dearborn on Wednesday, September 26. Shields is located at 1620 N. Telegraph just south of Ford Road. Because they are afraid of the liquor control commission, we must drop off any beer that we are bringing (i.e. homebrew) at the kitchen entrance at the back of the building to the right of the Mercury vapor lamp on the roof. Just set your cooler or package inside the door and go around to the front to enter the restaurant. Our wait-person will deliver our package.
The competition for this September is Scottish Ales. As usual, the thirsty hard-core who want dinner will start arriving around 5PM, people will drift in for an hour or so, and we will start our meeting around 6PM.
The winners from the California Common are:
| Place | Name | Style | Points |
| 1 | Bob and Kim Barrett | California Common | 46/50 |
| 2 | Rich Hampo | California Common | 37/50 |
This Septembers competition will be Scottish Ales, BJCP categories 5 a, b, c, & 11 b.
5. SCOTTISH ALES
5A. Light 60/-
Aroma: Malt is evident; some examples have a low level of hop aroma. Fruitiness low to none. A very faint smoky and/or toasty/roasty characteristic sometimes present. May have some diacetyl.
Appearance: Amber to dark brown. Draught examples often have a creamy, long-lasting head.
Flavor: Malt-dominated flavor, with subdued esters and just enough hop bitterness to prevent the beer from being cloyingly sweet. A very slight toasty, roasty and/or chocolate-like character is sometimes present. Caramel flavor from crystal malt medium to none. May have some diacetyl.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, with low carbonation. Body is medium-light, but full for the gravity.
Overall Impression: Cleanly malty, with perhaps a faint touch of smoke and few esters.
History: More recent commercial interpretations from Scotland have begun to drift towards English bitter in terms of bitterness, balance, attenuation, esters and dry-hopping. These guidelines don't account for these recent commercial examples which would more accurately be described as bitters. Traditionally, these beers were dispensed via pumps, which forced air into the headspace of the cask, thus forcing the beer out. These air-powered systems are referred to as "tall fonts." The "light" name associated with this style refers to the gravity rather than the color.
Comments: Though similar in gravity to ordinary bitter, the malt-hop balance is decidedly to the malt side. Long, cool fermentation leads to clean malt character (which may include some faint peat or smoke character). Note that the smoky character can be due to the yeast as often as to smoked or peat-kilned malt. Strongly smoky beers should be entered in the Smoked Beer category rather than here.
Ingredients: Scottish or English pale malt with small proportions of roasted barley, crystal or chocolate malt. English hops. Clean, relatively un-attenuative ale yeast.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.030-1.034
IBUs: 9-15 FG: 1.010-1.013
SRM: 12-34 ABV: 2.5-3.3%
Commercial Examples: Belhaven 60/-, Caledonian 60/-, Maclay 60/- Light, Highland Dark Light (HDL).
5B. Heavy 70/-
Aroma: Malt is evident; some examples have a low level of hop aroma. Fruitiness is low to none with a mild smoky character and/or toasty/roasty aroma, which is sometimes present. May have some diacetyl.
Appearance: Amber to dark brown; draught examples often have a creamy, long-lasting head.
Flavor: Malt-dominated flavor, with subdued esters and just enough hop bitterness to prevent the beer from being cloyingly sweet. A very slight toasty/roasty or chocolate-like character is sometimes present. Caramel flavor from crystal malt medium to none. May have some diacetyl.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, with low carbonation. Body is medium to medium-light.
Overall Impression: Cleanly malty, with perhaps a faint touch of smoke and few esters.
History: More recent commercial interpretations from Scotland have begun to drift towards English bitter in terms of bitterness, balance, attenuation, esters and dry-hopping. These guidelines don't account for these recent commercial examples which would more accurately be described as bitters. Traditionally, these beers were dispensed via pumps, which forced air into the headspace of the cask, thus forcing the beer out. These air-powered systems are referred to as "tall fonts."
Comments: Though similar in gravity to special bitter, the malt-hop balance is decidedly to the malt side. Long, cool fermentation leads to clean malt character (which may include some faint peat or smoke character). Note that the smoky character can be due to the yeast as often as to smoked or peat-kilned malt. Strongly smoky beers should be entered in the Smoked Beer category instead.
Ingredients: Scottish or English pale malt with small proportions of roasted barley, crystal or chocolate malt. English hops. Clean, relatively un-attenuative ale yeast.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.034-1.040
IBUs: 10-25 FG: 1.011-1.015
SRM: 10-19 ABV: 3.2-3.9%
Commercial Examples: Orkney Raven Ale, Greenmantle Ale, Borve Heavy Ale, Waverly Ale 70/-, Highland Heavy, Belhaven 70/-, Caledonian 70/-,Maclay 70/-, McEwans 70/- (also sold as Younger's Scotch Ale and Tartan Special).
5C. Export 80/-
Aroma: Malt is evident; some examples have a low level of hop aroma. Fruitiness is low to none. A mild smoky and/or toasty/roasty character is sometimes present. May have some diacetyl.
Appearance: Amber to dark brown. Draught examples often have a creamy, long-lasting head.
Flavor: Malt-dominated flavor, with subdued esters and just enough hop bitterness to prevent the beer from being cloyingly sweet. A very slight toasty/roasty and/or chocolate-like character is sometimes present. Caramel flavor from crystal malt medium to none. May have some diacetyl.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, with low carbonation. Body is medium to medium-full.
Overall Impression: Cleanly malty, with perhaps a faint touch of smoke and few esters.
History: More recent commercial interpretations from Scotland have begun to drift towards English bitter in terms of bitterness, balance, attenuation, esters and dry-hopping. These guidelines don't account for these recent commercial examples which would more accurately be described as bitters. Traditionally, these beers were dispensed via pumps, which forced air into the headspace of the cask, thus forcing the beer out. These air-powered systems are referred to as "tall fonts."
Comments: Though similar in gravity to strong bitter, the malt-hop balance is decidedly to the malt side. Long, cool fermentation leads to clean malt character (which may include some faint peat or smoke character). Note that the smoky character can be due to the yeast as often as to smoked or peat-kilned malt. Strongly smoky beers should be entered in the Smoked Beer category instead. It is important to note that while the IBUs on some of these beers can be rather high, the low attenuation and solid maltiness results in a balance that is still even at best and more than likely towards malt.
Ingredients: Scottish or English pale malt with small proportions of roasted barley, crystal or chocolate malt. English hops. Clean, relatively un-attenuative ale yeast.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.040-1.050
IBUs: 15-36 FG: 1.013-1.017
SRM: 10-19 ABV: 3.9 to 4.9%
Commercial Examples: Orkney Dark Island, Harviestown 80/-, Sherlock's Home Piper's Pride, Greenmantle 80/- Export, Arrol's 80/-, Highland Severe, Younger's No. 3, McEwan's 80/- (despite the "India Pale Ale" on the label), Arrol's 80/-, Belhaven 80/- (Belhaven Scottish Ale in the US), Caledonian 80/- Export Ale (Caledonian Amber Ale in the US), Maclay Scotch Ale, Maclay 80/- Export (Maclay 80 Shilling Export Ale in the US).
11B. Strong Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy)
Aroma: Deeply malty, with caramel apparent. Roasty or even smoky secondary aromas may also be present, adding complexity. Moderate diacetyl character is also acceptable.
Appearance: Dark amber to dark brown color, often with ruby highlights.
Flavor: Intensely malty with kettle caramelization apparent. Hint of roasted malt or smoky flavor may be present, as may some buttery diacetyl or nutty character. Hop flavors are low, so malt impression should be dominant.
Mouthfeel: Full-bodied, with a thick, chewy viscosity. Alcoholic warmth should also be present.
Overall Impression: Rich and malty, reminiscent of a dessert. Complex secondary malt flavors prevent a one-dimensional impression.
History/Comments: Fermented at cooler temperatures than most ales, and with lower hopping rates, resulting in clean, intense malt flavors. Well suited to the region of origin, with abundant malt and cool fermentation and aging temperature. Hops, which are not native to Scotland and formerly expensive to import, were kept to a minimum.
Ingredients: Well-modified pale malt, with some crystal and perhaps a dash of darker malt or even roasted barley. A small proportion of smoked malt may add depth, though smoky character may also originate from the yeast. Hop presence is minimal, although English varieties are most authentic. Low-to-medium sulfate and medium carbonate/bicarbonate water is most appropriate.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.072-1.088+
IBUs: 20-40 FG: 1.019-1.025+
SRM: 10-47 ABV: 6.9-8.5+
Commercial Examples: Traquair House, MacAndrew's Scotch Ale, McEwan's Scotch Ale, Belhaven Wee Heavy, Scotch du Silly, Vermont Pub and Brewery Wee Heavy.
Because of a scheduling fluke those of you who view this newsletter on the web-site will probably see it before the picnic which is on Saturday, September 22.
The picnic this year is back at Heritage Park in Taylor and starts at 1:00 p.m. We will have a chili cook-off again and attendees are asked to bring a dish to pass. There will be games for both adults and kids. The web-site has more details about this annual event.
From the August 1996 edition ...
August's meeting was a nice casual relaxed meeting, no agenda, no demos, no lectures, just the club coming together to talk about, what else, beer! Many were in attendance as we quickly filled out the entire middle section of Chelsea's.
Neal began the meeting with the officers introductions and gave a quick recap of the Brew-B-Cue. It turns out that with the combined ticket sales for the raffle and the entry fee that the event cost the club only $100, considering the cost of the site rental and the food bill this is a great figure! We would like to scope out some new sites next year, the pavilion was excellent and we will try to find another pavilion next year as well.
Neal and Tim then recapped the Greenmead Rock & Blues festival sponsored by Wine Barrel, an interesting demo as the day progressed, what started out as a normal crowd turned into a "bikers convention" by the end of the evening, no problems reported at all but an interesting audience! ....
October's competition is mild ale BJCP category 10a. It is an AHA competition.
10A. Mild
Aroma: Slight mild malt/brown malt aroma, with some fruitiness. No hop aroma.
Appearance: Medium to dark brown or mahogany color. A few light brown examples exist. May have very little head due to low carbonation.
Flavor: Malty, though not roasty, with a lightly nutty character. Flavors may include: vinous, licorice, plum or raisin, or chocolate. Usually fairly well balanced, though some are sweetly malt-oriented.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium body. Low carbonation and relatively high residual sweetness contribute to a full mouthfeel relative to the gravity.
Overall Impression: A light-flavored, malt-accented beer that is readily suited to drinking in quantity. Refreshing, yet flavorful.
History: May have evolved as one of the elements of early porters. In modern terms, the name "mild" refers to the relative lack of hop bitterness, Originally, the “mildness” may have referred to the fact that this beer was young and did not yet have the moderate sourness that aged batches had.
Ingredients: English mild/brown malt, or a combination of English pale and darker malts should comprise the grist. English hop varieties would be most suitable, though their character is muted.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.030-1.038
IBUs: 10-20 FG: 1.008-1.013
SRM: 10-25 ABV: 2.5-4.0%
Commercial Examples: Brain's Dark, Banks's Mild, Highgate Mild, Fuller's Hock, McMullin AK, Robinson's Best Mild.
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Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions
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| Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club |
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| Editor:
Tony Tantillo Contributors:
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F.O.R.D. is a private, non-profit organization of homebrewers. The main goal of this club is to
promote awareness and appreciation of the quality and variety of beer; to share information regarding technique, equipment and skill
required to brew quality homemade beer; and to encourage responsible use of beer as an alcohol-containing beverage.
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