Wee heavy - is it worth it to boil down some first runnings?

[MaxStout]

I'm planning a 6 gal BIAB batch of wee heavy next month. First time attempt at the style. Golden Promise, with 2.3% UK crystal 150 and 1.5% black barley. I plan to add the black barley at the end of the mash, and will add 1lb. Lyle's Golden Syrup late in the boil. I plan a 90 minute boil.

I realize that many brewers like to pull a gallon or so of first runnings, boil it down and add it back to the boil kettle. Is this step worth the trouble? Or will the dark UK crystal in the mash and Lyle's syrup in the boil give me enough complexity on their own without the wort reduction? I don't mind doing the extra step if it provides some more authenticity, but will skip it if it doesn't.

 

[Finn Berger]

It does not produce authenticity, as that is not what the Scots do - or have been doing. And you do not need to do it to brew a good wee heavy.

That being said, you might like the effect - if it's noticeable.

 

[Kevin58]

Scottish brewers did not boil down their wort to caramelize it. That is a myth that American brewers... blame author Michael Jackson... came to believe based on the rich, malty character of Scottish beers. Beer historian Ron Pattinson (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/) has examined countless brewery log books from all the major Scottish breweries and when compared to their contemporaries in London the data shows that Scottish boil times were no longer than their English cousins and in some cases their boils were shorter.

As for the style of "wee heavy"... it is a made up style. Wee Heavy was the marketing term for a single commercial beer by Fowler's called Twelve Guinea Ale. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/10/fowlers-twelve-guinea-ale.html

OG's for Fowler's Twelve Guinea ale were 1.100 and higher with one mother-whopper reaching 1.159! The full, malty character of this and other Scottish beers resulted from low attenuation and a higher than expected FG (the FG of that 1.159 example was 1.068) How they achieved that feat is unknown. Perhaps they intentionally stopped fermentation. However it was done, the Scots must have liked the result because Scottish beers brewed for sale outside Scotland had an attenuation more in line with London brewers.

If you can get brewers invert sugar I would recommend you use that instead of Lyles. It is also very easy to make although time consuming. It will give you a much more authentic flavor.

 

[Finn Berger]

Scottish brewers did not boil down their wort to caramelize it. That is a myth that American brewers... blame author Michael Jackson... came to believe based on the rich, malty character of Scottish beers. Beer historian Ron Pattinson (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/) has examined countless brewery log books from all the major Scottish breweries and when compared to their contemporaries in London the data shows that Scottish boil times were no longer than their English cousins and in some cases their boils were shorter.

As for the style of "wee heavy"... it is a made up style. Wee Heavy was the marketing term for a single commercial beer by Fowler's called Twelve Guinea Ale. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/10/fowlers-twelve-guinea-ale.html

OG's for Fowler's Twelve Guinea ale were 1.100 and higher with one mother-whopper reaching 1.159! The full, malty character of this and other Scottish beers resulted from low attenuation and a higher than expected FG (the FG of that 1.159 example was 1.068) How they achieved that feat is unknown. Perhaps they intentionally stopped fermentation. However it was done, the Scots must have liked the result because Scottish beers brewed for sale outside Scotland had an attenuation more in line with London brewers.

If you can get brewers invert sugar I would recommend you use that instead of Lyles. It is also very easy to make although time consuming. It will give you a much more authentic flavor.

- but even if it is a made up style - and I fully agree with you - it may be good.

Talking about myths I'm inclined to say that one really big (and also often harmful) myth is that the old ways - the "authentic" ways - were so much better than the modern ways. This is not to say that I don't appreciate the work of Pattinson and the other good beer historians. As a (retired) history teacher I love the stuff.

 

[Kevin58]

Never said it was better. But people need to know the history of a thing to understand it. When you don't understand what really happened you get authors like Michael Jackson making stuff up based on romantic notions. Then impressionable and unsuspecting brewers pick up on these notions and hold them to be truths. I'm just trying to fill in a bit of truth on a topic where the OP appears to have tripped over at least one of the common myths of Scottish brewing.

 

[Finn Berger]

Never said it was better. But people need to know the history of a thing to understand it. When you don't understand what really happened you get authors like Michael Jackson making stuff up based on romantic notions. Then impressionable and unsuspecting brewers pick up on these notions and hold them to be truths. I'm just trying to fill in a bit of truth on a topic where the OP appears to have tripped over at least one of the common myths of Scottish brewing.

"people need to know the history of a thing to understand it". Extremely important! That's what I tried to make my pupils understand when I was teaching history.

Just to make it clear: I didn't think you were saying the old scots way of brewing strong ale was better. I just pounced on the occasion to attack the idea that authenticity in itself is something good. It is akin to the idea of the "natural" as something that somehow is always better than the "artificial", i.e. everything that is the product of science and industry. Both are nostalgic romantic notions that do not further the making of good beer.

And I don't see Pattinson as neither nostalgic nor romantic. I think he just wants to know. Which is great.

- and of course there is nothing wrong with wanting to brew something as close as possible to how it historically was brewed - as long as you don't think that is the Way to a better beer.