Ironically or not, the Scottish heavy isn’t exactly what most of us would call heavy. Not to be confused with the wee heavy or strong Scotch ale, the heavy sits amid a few standard, session-strength Scottish ales. These are the light, the heavy, and the export, aka the 60-, 70-, and 80-shilling, known for the rates at which they once were taxed. They all punch above their weight in terms of flavor, and that means they require a deft hand—and there’s more to the heavy than taking a Scottish light recipe and adding a few gravity points.
Style: While the Scottish light ale is designed to be flavorful despite its low gravity (1.030–1.035, or 7.6–8.8°P), the export (1.040–1.060, or 10–14.7°P) starts to resemble the ESB or American pale ale in strength. The heavy, meanwhile, lands in the middle of that range—arguably the best of both worlds, but making one that stands out can be tricky. All three bear similar hallmarks of Scottish-ale flavors: caramel, biscuit, and minimal hops. We want more bulk and flavor than the light, but we want some restraint. It can be a hard needle to thread, which makes this even more ironic: The Scottish heavy might be the easiest of the three to make.
Ingredients: For reference, I’ll compare this with my Lerwick Light 60-Shilling Ale recipe (available at beerandbrewing.com). For the heavy, our base grist is still mostly Maris Otter with dollops of Munich and 65°L British crystal—those will lay down some solid caramel, bready, and toasty flavors. Here, however, we’ll leave out the Victory and higher-Lovibond crystal malts—our gravity isn’t as low, so we don’t need the extra body and flavor to compensate. Instead, we’ll sub in a bit of chocolate rye for the pale chocolate—to add some spicy malt flavors and a touch of drying roast—plus some malted wheat for a smooth breadiness. The result is a rich-but-drinkable malt profile with an ABV of about 4.3 percent. That’s a touch high for the guidelines (3.2–3.9 percent ABV), but it’s not uncommon in the marketplace. Hopping is still restrained, and 20 IBUs of anything for the 60-minute addition is fine. Optionally, you can add a small addition of East Kent Goldings or Fuggles at the end of the boil for some floral-earthy British-hops character, but it’s an accent at most. For the yeast, I like Wyeast’s Irish Ale strain for its malt-friendliness—but you could also use a more traditional Scottish ale strain.
Process: Why is this beer easier to make than the Scottish light? Because I leave out the kettle caramelization and mash at the usual 152°F (67°C). The specialty malts provide enough residual sugars, and there’s no particular need to add the extra flavor via kettle caramelization. Ferment cool to get a clean, malty, session-strength ale in about seven to 10 days. Don’t worry about a diacetyl rest—a little bit of it can be a good thing here.
Don’t think of the Scottish-style heavy as just a slightly stronger version of the light ale, made distinct only by how much it’s taxed. It can be a worthwhile beer in its own right. And what do tax collectors know about beer, anyway?