Since I aerated the Scottish Ale with heather using the Williams Oxygen aeration system, and pitched with a solid yeast starter, the beer was ready to be racked to secondary after just three days. Trub formed a solid one inch cake, a mixture of spent yeast and some stray heather flowers. Maybe in a case of not leaving well enough alone, I went through with adding three ounces of StaVin smoked American oak cubes, that I've been soaking three months in Kentucky Bourbon. If the brew ends up tasting weird, I will chalk it up as an experiment. But I will begin to learn about the combination of a couple of age old brewing & conditioning techniques the only way I can. By trying them out. If the brew tastes great, it will give me inspiration to find other ingredients I can forage from the local high country.
I'm really feeling my Scottish heritage come forth in this brew. Archeologists have found traces of a fermented beverage containing heather dating to 2,000 BC. More recently, an English law aimed at Scotland from 1711, threatens to throw anyone brewing with heather into the Tower of London for life, or charging them a fine of 200 Pounds. The law was intended to make citizens of Scotland buy only English hops for making beer. The law still stands.
Here's a background video I first found while looking for inspiration one night searching YouTube on our TV.
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