The Brothers Reid Scottish Ale

5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains; OG = 1.040; FG = 1.010; IBU = 18; SRM = 11+; ABV = 3.9%

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. 6 oz. (1.5 kg) Briess Light dried malt extract
• 1 lb. 10 oz. (0.74 kg) pale ale malt
• 0.25 lb. (0.11 kg) crystal malt (30 °L)
• 2.0 oz. (56 g) roasted barley (300 °L)
• 5.5 AAU Kent Goldings hops (60 mins)
• (1.1 oz./31 g of 5% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale) or White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale) yeast
• (0.75 qt./~0.75 L yeast starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Place crushed grains in a nylon steeping bag. In a large kitchen pot, heat 3.0 qts. (2.8 L) of water to 173 °F (79 °C). Submerge grain bag in water and let steep at 162 °F (72 °C) for 15 minutes. (The temperature will drop a bit during the steep, but this won’t hurt.) While grains are steeping, heat 1.5 qts. (~1.5 L) of water to 170 °F (77 °C) in a sauce pan. Also, begin heating 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to a boil in your brewpot. When steeping is done, place a colander over your brewpot and lift the grain bag into it. Pour the "grain tea" through the bag (which will strain out most of the grain bits), then rinse the bag with the 1.5 qts. (~1.5 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water.

Heat the (roughly) 3 gallons (11 L) of wort in your brewpot to a boil, then stir in dried malt extract. (It will foam a bit, so don’t pour all the extract in at once.) Bring the wort back to a boil, add the hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil.

After the boil, put a lid on your brewpot and cool the wort (either in a cold-water bath in your sink or with a wort chiller). Cool until the side of the brewpot no longer feels warm. Transfer wort to your fermenter and top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with cool water. Aerate the wort and pitch your yeast. Ferment at 65 °F (18 °F). When beer falls clear, bottle with corn sugar (or keg). (In other words, skip "secondary fermentation.")