×
AD BLOCKER DETECTED:

We provide beer recipes and other content to you for free. Instead of charging you, we charge our advertisers. Without ads, we will not survive. Beerrecipes.org has been supporting homebrewers since 2002 with quality beer recipes, style guides and other content. Please help us continue by switching off your ad blocker. Learn more...

Whitelist Beerrecipes

For the best experience, Login or Register for more features.  Favorites, write reviews, get notifications of new recipes, and more.

Log in or Register

Highland Heather Ale

back to search Back to Search  Style Details 

Highland Heather Ale

back to search Back to Search  Style Details 
5 Star Rating
3.2 stars based on 5 votes
No reviews
Vote or Review

Beer Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer  (21A)
Recipe Type: all-grain
Yield: 5 US gallons

Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

Description:

Heather Ale is one of the more ancient of fermented beverages, with archaeological evidence in Scotland and Ireland that dates to the Neo-lithic Period (circa 5000 years ago). Greeks and Romans wrote about the Celts of Britian (Britannia) Ireland (Hibernia) and the Picts of Scotland (Caledonia) who made a coveted fermented beverage with heather as a primary ingredient. Legend has it the original recipe for the revered heather elixir of the Picts went to the grave as a secret. Nevertheless, this recipe relies on archaeo-botanical and molecular archaelogical research to recreate the possible flavors of this ancient beverage.

Expect this ale to be a robust sweet malt veverage with hints of peat smoked barley and notes of heather and meadowsweet. Here is to the ancient brewers of the Neolithic Revolution.

Ingredients:

  • 9 lbs Simpsons Golden Promise Malt
  • 3 lbs Simpsons Medium Crystal Malt
  • 1 lbs Simpsons Peated Malt
  • 0.5 lbs Acidulated Malt
  • 3.5 lbs Wildflower honey
  • 2.0 oz. Heather tips (@ 60 minutes)
  • 2.0 oz. Meadowsweet flowers (@ 30 minutes)
  • 2.0 oz Heather tips (@ 5 minutes)
  • 2.0 oz Meadowsweet flowers (@ 5 minutes)
  • 1.0 oz Sweet Gale (@ 5 minutes)
  • 1 tsp. Irish Moss (@ 15 minutes)
  • Old Ale yeast (Wyeast 1318)
  • Scottish Ale yeast (Wyeast 1728)

Additional Instructions

Boil: 60 Minutes
Secondary Ferment: 2 Weeks

Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.082
Final Gravity: 1.020
Alcohol by Vol: 9%
Recipe Type: all-grain
Yield: 5.00 US Gallons

Click to Print Recipe

Procedure:

Mashing Procedure:
1. Fill mash tun with 4 gallons of 165F water.
2. Combine cracked grain and 2oz of heather tips at bottom of mash tun.
3. Stabilize water temperature at 153 deg F for 90 minutes.
4. Sparge mash with 4 gallons of 170 deg F water and transfer wort to brew pot (5-6 gallons)
5. Boil wort for one hour.
6. Add 4 ounces of heather tips and meadowsweet flowers at beginning of boil
7 Add 4 ounces of heather tips and meadow sweet flowers at 30 minutes
8. Add 1 tsp of Irish Moss to boil during final 15 minutes.
9. Add 2.5 lbs of honey in last 5 minutes of boil.
10. Add 6 ounces of heather tips and meadowsweet and sweet gale in last 5 minutes of boil
11 Chill wort and transfer to a 5-6 gallon fermentor (carboy)
12 Allow to cool below 80 deg F before pitching the yeast
13. Ferment at 68 deg F
14 After 10 days remove 1/2 hallon of ale and steep with 2 cups of heather tips at 160F for 15 minutes
15 Strain heather and transfer back into the fermenter
16. Bottle and age for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Source:

spacer