Lucci Cup Scottish 80 Schilling Brewday

This beer is for the Lucci Cup, Frank Barickman’s intra-club challenge for the SODZ British Beer Fest. While I’m not an official SODZ member, I’ll be driving out there to judge. So I consider this my official gate-crashing self-invitation to participate. Plus, since the Lucci Cup is the basic format Jeffrey and I stole for the Rockit Cup, it just feels right. Because it is always easier to steal someone else’s idea than to come up with a good one on your own. Word to that.

108. Lucci Cup Scottish 80 Schilling
Mash:
8 ½ lbs. Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter
½ lb. Weyerman Dark Munich
½ lb. Flaked Barley
½ lb. Dingemans Cara 45° L
½ lb. Gambrinus Honey Malt
¼ lb. Muntons Crystal 135-165° L
¼ lb. Crisp Pale Chocolate

Mashed @ 158° F w/4 ½ gallons of RO water for 70 minutes; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.064; pulled one quart to boil/reduce to caramelize sugars
Batch sparged @ 168° F w/3 ½ gallons RO water for 20 minutes; collected 3 ½ gallons @ 1.024

Collected 6 gallons; added 1 quart for 6 ¼ gallons total; brought to a boil (80 minute) and added:

w/60 to go: 1 oz. Sonnet leaf 4.1% AA
condensed caramel syrup from reduced quart of first running

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

Chilled, racked to carboy, and pitched mason jar of White Labs WLP 028 Edinburgh Ale from 104. Rockit Cup Scottish 60 Schilling

Brewed: 2/5/2012 @ 68° F
Secondary: 2/11/2012 @ 1.024
Bottled: 2/16/2012 @ 64° F w/ 2.65 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.024

Tasting Notes: (4/18/2012) While this beer didn’t win me the Lucci Cup, it did make it to the mini-BOS, which is a victory in itself, since there were seventeen 80 Shillings alone. I will have to say, the 60 and 80 Shilling beers have surprising revelations for me—while they are malt forward, they are light, drinkable, and complex. Lucci Cup 80 Shilling pours a burnished copper with orange highlights. It is clear while the head is tan and has decent staying power—it never quite disappears from the center. The nose is sweet, but also lightly crisp; there is caramel and a touch of honey sweetness mixed with hints of chocolate—sort of the slight brown character you get in British beers. Flavors start with a drier bread and almost cracker malt character before the sweetness picks up in the middle, with chocolate and caramel, and also a touch of Munich malt. The carbonation bite cleans the palate, leaving a light chewy bread malt on the tongue through the finish—it ends clean and almost even crisply. The body is medium while the carbonation is light to medium, and the mouthfeel is rounded, lightly chewy, and silky. I think the addition of flaked barley has really helped solidify the mouthfeel—I’ll certainly be using it again in the next version of this beer I make. The restrained complexity makes this beer stand out—I’ll actually be sad when I run through the last six-pack, as this beer is delightful.