At least once a year I like to brew a Wee Heavy. One batch is usually enough to last more than the year and I like to keep some for aging and comparing previous year’s versions. In the past couple of versions I’ve used a varied complex grist with six or eight malts in an attempt to develop malt complexity in the finished beer. The 2011 recipe was the result of an inspiration to keep it simple and move in a more traditional direction.
I’ve read articles about the Traquair House Ale (which is one of my favorite examples) having a very simple grist of mostly pale malt with a small percentage of roast barley. Also, my father-in-law helped me dig up a copy of ‘The Scottish Ale Brewer and Practical Maltster’ from the Google archives which indicates that traditional scottish ales consisted entirely of pale malt and used a very long boil process (3 hours+).
