My Favorite Homebrew Recipe: Scotch Ale

This recipe is for a Scotch type of ale, although it's not true to form for a traditional Scotch Ale as it does have a small amount of finishing hops for hop flavor and aroma. Nonetheless, I found it to be very flavorful and smooth.

This recipe takes you through the basic steps of homebrewing. The grain malts (chocolate, American Victory, crystal) add malt flavor to the beer. Good beer can certainly be made purely from malt extract, and if you don't want to bother with the grains, you can try the recipe with only the dry malt extract. Adding some grain malts enhances the flavor and balances the hop bitterness, and I recommend using them even when you're just beginning to learn the brewing process.

Attention to cleanliness and detail are important, but, as Charlie Papazian says, "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew." Panic and anxiety are not required for homebrewing.

Wash all of your equipment thoroughly, including the beer bottles. If you're using returnable bottles from the liquor store, clean them thoroughly with a bottle washer and inspect the inside of the bottles. If you can't get the bottle completely clean, don't use it. I recommend running the beer bottles in your dishwasher on the "sanitize" setting after you've cleaned them with the bottle washer, but some homebrewers don't care for this method.

Any equipment that will come into contact with your beer after the boil is complete (such as the strainer, funnel, fermenters, stoppers, fermentation locks, tubing) should be soaked for 10 to 30 minutes in a dilute bleach solution, made of 1 ounce of bleach per 5 gallons of water. Rinse the bleach solution from your equipment in very hot water before using, to deactivate the bleach.

Next: Equipment and Ingredients