Highland Heather Ale

5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains; OG=1.048; FG=1.008; IBU = 22; SRM= 17; ABV = 5.2%

Ingredients:

• 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Muntons Light liquid malt extract
• 2.25 lbs. (1.0 kg) Muntons Light dried malt extract
• 1.0 lbs. (0.45 kg) British Maris Otter malt
• 4 oz. (113 g) roasted barley
• 2 oz. (56 g) heather tips (boil 30 minutes)
• 2 oz. (56 g) heather tips (dry hop)
• 1 teaspoon Irish moss (boil 60 minutes)
• 3.5 AAU Kent Goldings hops (bittering hop, boil 60 min.) (0.75 oz. (21 g) of 4.7% Alpha acid)
• 2.4 AAU German Hallertau Hersbrucker hops (bittering hop, boil 60 min.) (0.50 oz. (14 g) of 4.7% alpha acid)
• White Labs WLP001 California Ale yeast or Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast
• 0.75 cup of corn sugar for priming

Step by step:

Steep the two crushed malts in 3 gallons (13.5 L) of water at 150 ºF (66 ºC) for 30 minutes. Remove grains from wort, add the malt syrup and dry malt extract and bring to a boil.

Add the Goldings hops, Hersbrucker hops, Irish moss, and boil for 60 minutes. Add the first addition of Heather tips for the last 30 minutes of the boil. There are no finishing hops in this recipe.

Now add wort to 2 gallons (9 L) cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons (25 L). Cool the wort to 75º (24 ºC), aerate the beer and pitch your yeast.

Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 65 ºF (18 ºC) and hold at this temperature until the beer has finished fermenting. Add the last 2 ounces (56 g) of the heather tips just as you would if you were to be dry hopping, by adding them to the beer when the fermentation is done.

Let the Heather tips dry hop in the beer for about five to seven days, then bottle.

All-grain option:

This is a single step infusion mash. Your grain bill will be 9.5 lbs (4.3 kg) British Maris Otter Pale 2-row malt and 4 oz. (113 g) British Roasted Barley. Mash crushed grains together at 150 ºF (66 ºC) for 60 minutes.

Collect approximately 7 gallons wort (32 L) to boil for 90 minutes and have a 5.5-gallon yield (25 L), allowing for racking losses later. Lower the amount of the Kent Goldings hops in the boil to 0.50 ounce (14 g) to account for higher extraction ratio of a full boil.

The remainder of the all-grain recipe is the same as the extract recipe.