Heather Ale

Wanted to make a Heather Ale, using fresh heather flowers and cuttings from my yard and dried heather bought at the LHBS.

Brewer: SchnauzerHaus Homebrew Email: -
Beer: Heather Ale Style: Big Scottish Export Ale
Type: All grain Size: 5 gallons
Color:
21 HCU (~12 SRM)
Bitterness: 29 IBU
OG: 1.065 FG: 1.015
Alcohol: 6.5% v/v (5.1% w/w)
Water: I use 5 gallons RO water, and the rest is well water.
Grain: 10 lb. British pale
8 oz. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
4 oz. British crystal 70-80L
2 oz. British chocolate
Mash: 80% efficiency
Mashed in at 154 degrees for an hour.

I used 10 pounds of Scottish Golden Promise grain.(Seen as "British Pale")
Boil: 90 minutes SG 1.041 8 gallons
Added 2 oz. dried heather at 60 minutes left in boil, plus one ounce Fuggle. At 15 minutes, added 2 oz. dried heather, all my fresh heather (about a normal bucketful) 1 oz. Fuggle and Irish Moss.
Hops: 1 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast: Nottingham dry yeast, fermented at about 62 degrees.
Log: I brewed this ale on March 20, 2010, left it in primary for 2 weeks, and in secondary for a couple of months.
Carbonation: I carbonated in the bottle. Used 3/4 cup corn sugar and I added a package of dry Windsor yeast to ensure carbonation.
Tasting: Very tasty, a beautiful red copper color, has a pleasant flavor that must be the heather. Would make again, and would maybe add something to aid in head retention.

Recipe posted 08/08/10.