Coopers Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy) Recipe

[Paul_inYork]

This is my first posting on the forums, but I've been an avid reader since I started my first kit brew last November. These forums have been invaluable. Thought I'd post with my experiences so far and a couple of questions.

1st brew - St Peters Ruby Red, got stuck at 1.020 & spent over 3 weeks in the FV, not entirely uncommon with the 2 can kits I hear, probably down to the cold temps we had at the time. Great pint though, really does improve with age, only got 3 bottles left.
2nd brew - Coopers APA with Muntons BKE, very drinkable summery brew, not much head retention & could do with a bit more character but nice enough.
3rd brew - Ditch's stout, followed recipe exactly but bottled instead of kegged. Been bottled for 2.5 weeks, the few samples I have had are great, lovely liquorice taste to it, high hopes for the rest of the batch in the coming weeks - can't wait
4th brew - Coopers Real Ale with Coopers BKE1. Bottled this last Saturday, so not tried any yet, fingers crossed.

Anyway to my point. Just ordered 2 more kits.
Coopers Mexican Cerveza with Coopers BKE2. Plan is for summertime drinking, BBQs etc, and the missus should like this one too.
Also got the ingredients for the Coopers Scotch Ale recipe:- Coopers Sparkling Ale, 1.5kg Amber Malt Extract plus 500g dark sugar.

Have had a search through the forums and not found much comment on the Scotch Ale recipe. Has anyone made the Scotch Ale? Any tips? I'm considering not putting all the dark sugar in, as recipe says ABV comes out at 5.8%, but I'd probably prefer something not quite as strong - 5%ish.

Any help, gratefully received!

[brianboru]

wee heavy? I made coopers sparkling with ikg dark dme. and a lash of hops ( brambling cross ) turned out very good. 3/4 of it still in barrel it is getting better by the week. I have not drank too many wee heavy but its good stuff whatever it is.....

[Paul_inYork]

The recipe page on the Coopers website callls it a 'Wee Heavy'

http://coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild ... scotch-ale

Scotch Ale 21 Litres

Ale (21 litres)

STEP 1: A "Wee Heavy"
Compared to our commercial Pale Ale, this style tends to be higher in alcohol and somewhat darker, displaying complex malt/fermentation driven aromas (although, very little to no hop aroma) with similar or slightly higher bitterness. Boasting an alcohol content of 5.8%ABV, it was known as a darker version of Sparkling Ale with notes of coffee and caramel.

Ingredients
• 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Sparkling Ale beer kit
• 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Amber Malt Extract
• 500g Dark Brown Sugar
• Coopers Commercial Ale yeast culture (preferred) or the kit yeast