Smoked Wee Heavy

5 gallons, partial mash; OG = 1.070; FG = 1.022; 18 IBUs

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. pale malt
• 1 lb. medium crystal malt, 50° Lovibond
• 0.5 lb. flaked oats
• 2 oz. roasted barley
• 1 oz. peat-smoked malt
• 7 lbs. unhopped amber malt extract syrup
• 0.25 lb. light brown sugar
• 1 oz. Kent Goldings hops (4% alpha acid, 4 AAUs) for 60 min.
• Scottish ale yeast (Wyeast 1728) slurry
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar to prime

Step by Step:

Heat 1.5 gal. water to 160° F. Mix in pale and crystal malts and oats. Hold at 150° F for 75 min. Sprinkle roasted barley and smoked malt on top of mash, then sparge with 2.5 gal. of 168° F water. Take the first 2 qt. of run-off and boil in a wide, flat pan for 20 min. or until caramelized (nearly burnt is fine).

Add caramelized wort, malt extract, and brown sugar to the kettle and bring to a boil. Add Goldings hops and boil 60 min. Remove from heat, begin cooling. Top up in the fermenter with enough chilled, pre-boiled water to make 5.25 gal. When cooled to 65° F, pitch yeast slurry (aerate the wort well — cover the fermenter and shake for several minutes before pitching the yeast).

Ferment cool (58° to 60° F) for three weeks, then transfer to secondary and age cooler (48° to 50° F) for three to four weeks. Prime with brown sugar and bottle condition cool (50° to 55° F) for at least three weeks or until needed! The longer it’s in the bottle, the better.

All-grain:

Omit the malt extract, increase the pale malt to 10 lbs. and the crystal to 1.25 lbs. Mash in 3 gal. water, and sparge with 4 gal. Maintain the same times and temperatures, but caramelize the first 1 gal. The rest of the procedure remains the same.

Extract:

Omit the pale malt, steep the oats, crystal, roasted barely, and smoked malt in 3 gal. at 150° F for 30 min. Increase the brown sugar to 0.5 lb., dissolve it in 1.5 qt. of water, and caramelize as indicated. Increase the malt extract to 8.5 lbs., then proceed as above.

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