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Styles · Scottish Heavy

Beer style · BJCP 2021 14B

Scottish Heavy

Scottish Ale

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.035–1.040
Final gravity
1.010–1.015
Bitterness
10–20 IBU
Color
13–22 SRM (26–43 EBC)
Alcohol
3.2–3.9 % ABV

What it is

A middleweight Scottish ale with a little more body and malt depth than the light, still centered on caramel and light toast. Bitterness stays low enough that the finish reads faintly sweet rather than crisp.

Flavor

What a Scottish Heavy should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Hops stay in the background: none of their character belongs.

Malt

Grainy, caramel and sweet/honey, with room for bready/biscuit, toasty, dark fruit or coffee/roast.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for fruity esters.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Scottish Heavy has classically been brewed with.

Nothing else on character: the hops here are there for bitterness and balance, and any variety whose aroma you would notice is out of place.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.