Scotch Ale vs Scottish Ale

I always thought Scotch ale was just another way of saying Scottish ale and that "Wee Heavy" is just a bigger or imperial version.

Anyways, make sure to try Orkney Skull Splitter if you can get it. It's one of the beers that got me into craft beer. (I only originally bought it for the name). Also, founders Dirty bastard is solid and easy to find if you can get 3Floyds, and Backwoods bastard is amazing. Try Alesmith Wee Heavy as well if you can. I honestly wish Wee Heavies were a more popular style.

 

i've learned over the 6 years i've been on this site that most of the style categories here are to be taken with a heaping of salt. don't take them too seriously. most veterans from the UK itself will tell you the whole scottish sub-section of "beer styles" on this site isn't worth the electrons it's encoded in.

 

Scottish Ale-simply brewed in Scotland. Same sorts of beers as English or Welsh. "Scottish Ale" is an American invention based on myths , misconceptions and misunderstandings.
Scotch Ale is a distinct style, very similar to Burton Ale.
Wee Heavy was a name used by Fowler's to describe their wee (small) bottles of Heavy. The actual brew was Twelve Guinea Ale.I am told that no brewing records exist for this style.

 

That's true Marquis but the Belgian/American invented 'Scotch Ale' is now a recognisable style. In may not have a long and well documented history but it exists in the same realm as French fries, or 'craft' beer.
There's no need to go all David Hume on this topic.

 

Scotch Ale is an ancient and well documented style still brewed - see Younger's No 3. Usually simply sold as "Strong Ale" in Scotland and Scotch Ale elsewhere.
Ron Pattinson has some recipes for this style.Notice the massive hopping
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/lets-brew-wednesday-1868-william.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/lets-brew-wednesday-1868-william_22.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/lets-brew-wednesday-1879-william.html

 

I've heard of Scotch ales being brewed with a decoction mash. Is that a necessity for the style?

 

No offence but the 19th century isn't really "ancient"

 

Here's the Scottish/Irish ale section of the BJCP Style Guidelines. Notice these are outdated as of 2008, but they give a good indication I think:

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style09.php

Scotch is only listed as Strong Scotch Ale, and as synonimous to Wee Heavy. I guess that means a Scotch Ale is supposed to be higher alcohol than a regular Scottish Ale. Scottish Ales are comparable to English bitters, but they're maltier, less hoppy and use a longer, cooler fermentation. They also seem to distinguish themselves through the use of exclusively Scottish ingredients.

A common theme in the Scotch ales also seems to be the kettle caramelization, which gives it its distinct sweet and roasty caramel flavor.

The whole "Scottish Ale = brewed in Scotland" is not necessarily true, since there are no trademarks involved if I'm not mistaken. I think you can brew your own Scottish Ale if you stick to the guidelines somewhat and make a slightly maltier English bitter.

I'd go as far as to say that, as per the guidelines, every Scotch Ale is a Scottish Ale, but not vice versa.

 

People will say that some of the styles on this site are redundant. A friend of mine who is obsessed with German beers claims that the term "Dunkelweizen" was completely made up by this site and is not a recognized style in Germany. I of course have no idea.

Or at the very least, with some styles the differences are so small that they technically could fall in the same category. Just a thought.

 

I just think that's a good term for a dark wheat beer, for obvious reasons. A different way of saying Weissbier-Dunkel, which I assume is recognised in Germany as it's written on 3 bottles in my fridge.

 

I don't know who made it up, but it predated this website.

"Darker, copper-red or brown versions (of Weizenbiers) are also made. They are sometimes identified as Dunkelweizen." --- M. Jackson, The New World Guide to Beer, 1988. ​

Jackson also mentions a beer labeled "Dunkelweizen" brewed in the US by WI's Hibernia Brewing Co. (formerly Walters) in the book.

 

It isn't a matter of trademarking per se, it's a matter of misrepresentation.
Scottish should really mean " from Scotland" or if you relax a bit "as from Scotland or in the style of" yet these listings quite simply don't do justice to the excellent beers from that country. On the whole they have nothing in common with what you would get if you visited.
There is no reason to believe that they are maltier, less hoppy and fermented cooler than English beers. Brewing records simply don't support this myth.As for exclusively Scottish ingredients, until relatively recently they were brewed entirely from English malt and imported hops.They are still importing the hops by the way.

 

Ahhh another machination on the semantics of beer. That's why I joined this site. Well that, and the whole beer is awesome thing!

 

If you use the term Scottish Ale to describe beers which have no connection with Scotland,what word can you use to define ales actually brewed there?

 

Although people here in Scotland, and the rest of the UK in general, would disagree with your last two paragraphs I think many people in the States and other places would concur. But its funny, Scotch Ale 'Wee Heavy' was always virtually impossible to find in Scotland and, given recent changing drinking and brewing patterns, the stereotypical lighter weight style 'Scottish Ale' may be soon going that way as well. If it ever existed in the first place. There has been some significant changes in Scotland since 2005.

 

Comparable in that they are both beers, but that's where it ends.

That bit is a piss poor guideline

 

You can tell your friend that I was at a small festival in Würzburg in the early 90s where I approached the beer servers to inquire what was available. In no uncertain terms they told me Dunkelweizen was one of the choices. I drank it all afternoon.

 

Perhaps I will.

 

There are quite a few styles that have been marketed as Scotch Ale, so all are legitimate.

19th century Scotch Ale was pale and very strong with original gravities often over 1.100.

The term Scotch Ale became essentially a marketing term. William Younger of Edinburgh sold his No 1 Ale as Strong Ale in Scotland, Scotch Ale in England and Barley Wine in Ireland.

Belgium became an important market for Scotch Ale, with Belgian bottlers commissioning brews from Scottish (and English) breweries. This is the best known style today.

But not all Scotch Ales are strong. There were also weaker beers like Younger’s No 3 which by the 1970s had dropped to slightly over 4%, and the even weaker session-strength “Scotch“ ale sold in the North-East of England.

Wee Heavy is Strong Scotch Ale packaged in a small (wee) bottle, preferably 7oz or half a pint and certainly no more than 330ml (sorry Alesmith). The name comes from Fowler’s Wee Heavy, the brand the marketing people applied to the brewery’s Twelve Guinea Ale in the 1960s after it was taken over by a bigger conglomerate.

Scottish Ale is an American style based on 1980s’ homebrewers’ ideas of what Scottish beer was like, embroidered with myth and made-up nonsense.