Brew #16: Town Hall Hope & King Scotch Ale, February 1, 2015

This was an extract kit from Northern Brewer with yeast from Bailee's.  Call this another entry in the "clones of things I've never tried the original of" category.

Recipe
Batch Size: 5 gal
Boil Size: 3 gal
Target OG: 1.060
Target FG: ???
Style: Scotch Ale
Recipe Type: Extract with specialty grains
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Water:
Acadia bottled spring water

Specialty Grains:
0.25 lb Caramel 20
0.25 lb English Chocolate Malt
0.25 lb English Medium Crystal
0.125 lb English Roasted Barley
0.1875 lbs (that's 3 oz for a non-engineer) Belgian Special B

Fermentables:
6 lbs Gold LME @ 60 Min
2 lbs Light DME @ 15 Min

Hops:
0.25 oz Centennial (pellets) @ 60 min.
3 oz Fuggles (pellets) @ 10 min.

Other:
1 Whrilfloc Tab @ 12 min.

Yeast:
White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale Yeast

Brewing Notes
1/29/15 - Yeast Starter:
This one just barely met my 1.060 threshold to make a starter. This was my no calculator 1 Liter yeast starter: 4c of water, 1/4 lb Extra light DME, 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient, boiled 10 minutes and chilled to 72F

2/1/15 - Brew Day:

• Sanitized (star san) my cold side equipment in the big mouth bubbler primary.
• Heated 3 gal water to 130 F in 5 gallon economy stainless kettle on the stovetop.
  
• Steeped specialty grains starting at 130F in muslin bag for until temperature reached 155F, then held for 20 minutes.
• Continued the steep as I raised the temperature to 170F
• Removed the grain bag and held it above the kettle to drain.
• Brought to boil
• Removed kettle from the burner.
• Added 6 lbs Gold LME and stirred well
• Returned to boil, set timer for 60 minutes and added:
  0.25oz Centennial @ 60 min.
  2 lbs light DME @ 15 minutes (off of burner, paused timer until re-boil)
  1 tab Whirlfloc @ 12 minutes
  3oz Fuggles and wort chiller @ 10 minutes
  All hops were in a nylon mesh bag.
• Moved kettle to the sink and chilled with wort chiller to 100 F
• Added 2 gal of pre-chilled water to the kettle to bring temperature to 72F
• Siphoned to BMB, then added more room temperature water and the entire yeast starter until I had 5 Gallons.
• Took an OG reading of 1.060, corrected to 1.062.
• Put the BMB in the beer corner of the dining room with a blow off tube.

1/29 - 2/15/2015 - Primary Fermentation:
Nothing of note. Gravity was 1.016 when I racked to the glass carboy on 2/15.

2/15-3/17/2015 - Secondary Fermentation:
I actually waited the recommended 4 weeks.  My method for patience was working.

3/17/2015 - Bottling:
Bottled  with 5oz of corn sugar boiled in 2 c water to prime.  Gravity was 1.014 @ 70F, corrected to 1.016 (6.0 abv). Yield was 44 12 oz bottles and 4 16 oz swing-tops.

??? - First Taste:
no notes, no date (a theme?)

4/3/2016 - Update:
I actually have a couple of these in my basement still.  You could call it a cellar if you wanted.  The fact that it has lasted this long without me intending to age any is a bit of an indication of its lack of popularity.  I'm not saying it is bad by any means.  It has a very nice malt-forward taste and is relatively full-bodied.  However, most of my friends and family just don't prefer this style.