Crooked and the photographer hasn’t been drinking yet
The Scottish Ales – especially the 60-70-80 sequence – strike me as some of the most challenging styles. Gravity is the main differentiator among them and the target ranges are fairly narrow. It requires a lot of precision in terms of process to arrive at the desired spot. Our Scottish 60 had a sizable percentage of specialty malts with only 4# of Maris Otter and then a pound of Caramel 40, a half pound each of Munich and honey malts, a quarter pound of Caramel 120, and three ounces of pale chocolate. Two-thirds an ounce of East Kent Goldings and unobtrusive, if not-so-Scottish, WLP001 round out the recipe. We did miss the target but only by a single point with an OG of 1.036. The finish was right were it belonged at 1.010. Aiming for dead center of the range might have helped land within style but all things considered it should still be very close to the correct flavor.
The taste is mostly malty with a drier finish. It’s definitely on the lighter side; a little watery but I expect that’s appropriate for a style that’s meant to be 3.2% ABV or lower. I don’t get any of the caramel notes associated with the bigger scotch ales. There’s not a whole lot of aroma. I think a bit of grain sweetness that quickly dissipates and dries is all there is to this one.