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BJCP Style Guidelines Category 9 - Scottish Ales and Irish Red Ale
All of the Scottish ales share the same description and are differentiated mainly based on gravity and alcoholic strength. The Scottish ales follow in the English tradition of having a confusing naming convention. The names are steeped in tradition and history, one thing the Scottish are famous for. To start with are the Schilling designations. These are remnants of the 1870 rating system in which the price of beer, including the taxes, was rated in the old pre-decimal shillings. 60 Shillings was a light ale; 70 Shillings was a heavy ale; 80 Shillings was an export; and 90+ Shillings was a barley-wine known as "wee heavy". If the names didn't confuse outsiders enough, it happens that the lighter ales, which were equated with the English mild, were dark beers. And the heavy beers, similar to English bitters, weer light in color. The fact that the breweries in Scotland still use these terms to describe their beers, shows how much the Scotts believe in tradition and history. You can't read about the history of Scottish ales without reading about their use of local natural plants for bittering and flavor instead of hops. There are several theories why. I prescribe to the theory that number 1, hops just won't grow in Scotland, and number 2, when they were finally able to import hops from abroad, they were expensive, so they naturally used less than the English for whom the hops were cheap. There is also the argument that the Scotish people's tastes are tied up in tradition, they had grudges against the British marketplace, and they also preferred things that were Scottish in origin. Thus they used heather and/or bog myrtle among other plants that were native to their lands. These two plants were also antiseptic in nature and astringent in flavor, which helped preserve their beers and balance the sweetness of the malts. Scottish ales of today may vary in strength, but they all have some similar characteristics. They are all malt forward and balanced with low hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. Of course with any rule there are exceptions. Many of the newer breweries are making hoppier beers in the English style. In Scotland, agriculture is still a big part of life. Barley is still a major crop and is grown both in the north, where whiskey is made from the barley, and in the south, where beer is made from the barley grown there. So, the Scottish brewers always had plenty of malt on hand for brewing which meant malty beers. Plus, when Scotland and England joined in 1707, the Treaty of Union which joined the two countries excluded the Scottish from a huge malt excise tax. This gave the Scottish brewers an advantage over the higher taxed British breweries. Beer can also be brewed year round in Scotland and prior to refrigeration, Scotland was a major exporter of ales to the rest of the world, including the Americas. Some important factors to remember when brewing Scottish ales is that they are traditionally brewed colder than most ales. Therefore the beers are much cleaner with very low esters and a lot of clean malt flavor. Using a neutral ale yeast and controlling fermentation temps to the low to mid 60s (Fahrenheit) will help keep these beers in style. Keep the hopping moderate to low and do not add peat smoked malts as some of the older recipes suggest. The beers in this category are:
References: Information for this page was taken from the article Scotch and Scottish Ales in All About Beer Magazine by Ray Daniels, the article Scottish Ales from the Masters Table 1998 by Adrian Tierney-Jones, the BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines, and Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer. Go From Scottish Ales Back to BJCP Styles
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