Heather Ale

Wanted to make a Heather Ale, using fresh heather flowers and cuttings from my yard and dried heather bought at the LHBS.

Brewer:	SchnauzerHaus Homebrew		Email:	-
Beer:	Heather Ale		Style:	Big Scottish Export Ale
Type:	All grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	21 HCU (~12 SRM)		Bitterness:	29 IBU
OG:	1.065		FG:	1.015
Alcohol:	6.5% v/v (5.1% w/w)
Water:	I use 5 gallons RO water, and the rest is well water.
Grain:	10 lb. British pale 8 oz. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils) 4 oz. British crystal 70-80L 2 oz. British chocolate
Mash:	80% efficiency
	Mashed in at 154 degrees for an hour. I used 10 pounds of Scottish Golden Promise grain.(Seen as "British Pale")
Boil:	90 minutes	SG 1.041	8 gallons
	Added 2 oz. dried heather at 60 minutes left in boil, plus one ounce Fuggle. At 15 minutes, added 2 oz. dried heather, all my fresh heather (about a normal bucketful) 1 oz. Fuggle and Irish Moss.
Hops:	1 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast:	Nottingham dry yeast, fermented at about 62 degrees.
Log:	I brewed this ale on March 20, 2010, left it in primary for 2 weeks, and in secondary for a couple of months.
Carbonation:	I carbonated in the bottle. Used 3/4 cup corn sugar and I added a package of dry Windsor yeast to ensure carbonation.
Tasting:	Very tasty, a beautiful red copper color, has a pleasant flavor that must be the heather. Would make again, and would maybe add something to aid in head retention.

Recipe posted 08/08/10.