We bottled the scotch ale last night, after a nice day out at the zoo with the kids.  The gravity was still a few points higher than what the recipe asked for, but hadn’t changed in a week, so I figure it’s done one way or the other.

I did a quick search for the final gravity being too high, and found people suggesting problems with

• the grain bill
• inaccurate thermometers
• mashing temperature
• stale yeast
• going to second fermentation too soon
• temperature fluctuations during fermentation

So I’ve got a few ideas of what to do better next time, but I’m mostly confirmed in my paraphrase of Tolkien:

Go not to the tubes for counsel, for they will say both yes and no and RTFM!

Today was seeming quiet enough, so decided to brew a batch of beer.  This time around I wanted to make my new favorite type: a Scotch ale (also called “Wee Heavy”, strong and malty).  We have a mini-mash recipe that’s supposed to be like Pike’s Kilt Lifter, though I’ve never had it, so I’ll have to take their word for it.

The mash went fine, but I was using dry extract which gunked up because I couldn’t open four bags and stir at the same time.  If only I had three hands…  By the time I had that mostly sorted out, it nearly boiled over.  After that was taken care of and the last chunks of malt goo broken up, it was clear sailing.  Well, filtering out the hops was a pain, but it’s always a pain and I’m going to do a secondary fermentation anyway so what’s a little extra muck in the primary?

My wort chiller (which is worth it’s weight in, well, copper) brought the wort temp down pretty quickly, but I misjudged and stopped at 80° instead of 70°.  Luckily, it’s unusually cold today, so our walk-out freezer (the garage) got it cool enough to pitch the yeast in about an hour.

So assuming everything goes according to plan, it’ll be ready to bottle by the end of January and I can bring a few bottles with me to a conference in February to share.