Scottish Heavy Ale

Historical Development

For most American drinkers, the thought of calling a beer between 3.2-3.9% ABV a "heavy" is a little odd. I remember when I first heard the term and confused it with a Wee Heavy, which actually is a big beer. All of these are clearly relative terms, but what's more than that, there were periods when this would have been a bigger, more decadent option than was usually available. As we've mentioned regarding a lot of the English and Scottish beer styles, the beginning of the twentieth century wasn't kind to beer in northern Europe. The wars and temperance wreaked havoc on food and grain supplies, leaving the people in Scotland and England with weaker beer that they kept around after the war. Of course this wasn't the only historical trend that led to the popularity of comparatively small beer in the British Isles. Country brewing tradition that favored "table" or "small" beer played a huge role in shaping these styles, as did the takeover of lager during the nineteenth century.

One of the peculiarities of Scottish beer that has stuck to it is an antiquated naming system. Though it's fallen from common use, it does still get tossed around every once in a while, so it's important for anyone interested enough in beer to make it this far into a blog post on Scottish Heavy to know about it. During the nineteenth century, brewers would label their beer based on the cost that would be charged for a barrel of it. The Shilling, whose indicator in writing was "/-" was the most common currency charged at this point (though Guineas were previously used for larger beers), so the names of the beers produced would follow their respective ABV. A 60/- ale ("sixty shilling ale") would have been what we now refer to as Scottish Light, while a 70/- ale would now be called a Scottish Heavy, and an 80/- ale would now be called a Scottish Export.

Even the BJCP, the most commonly cited style guideline, still made reference to Scottish beer by this measure until their 2015 Style Guidelines were published. One of the neat things about Scottish and English brewing practice is the use of the Parti-gyle system, which isn't often used outside the British Isles (we do a fair amount of it here at Black Flannel). Brewers will rinse the grain after mashing it for a bigger beer to make smaller beers, sometimes more than once. This means that the beers brewed from second and third runnings carry much of the same malt character as the higher ABV brews, but with lower finished alcohol. What that amounts to for us is a designator just like any other. Most of these beers have nearly the same profile among the light, heavy, and export versions, but the smaller the shilling number, the lower the ABV.

Modern Evolution