Scottish Ale is a lighter version of Scotch Ale, brewed for centuries in Scotland. (If you're curious about the history of these styles, go here.)

We wanted to brew our Scottish a little different than many other examples of the style out there today. We theorized that if we turned on the brew kettle and heated it up before we sent the wort...

<you know wort, the sugary liquid result of the mashing process? You may not be familiar with the term, but you've probably heard the classic by Marvin Gaye, and never gave a second thought to its meaning. You know, "Wort's Goin' On?">

...to the kettle, it might just carmelize.

We were right, and lucky for us, the kettle didn't crack. The result is MacLenny's Scottish Ale. It's even a little famous...

On page 108 of Michael Jackson's Beer Companion, he writes, "In 1994, I tasted the orangey, toffeeish Scottish Ale, made by an interesting process of carmelization,, at Barley's brewpub in Columbus, Ohio. The kettle was turned on while still empty, then the wort was added. This is a potentially dangerous procedure: don't try this at home."

If it's good enough for Michael Jackson to mention, that's good enough for us. ust be for you too--it's our number one seller.

MacLenny's Scottish Ale

Style Guidelines: You want to do WHAT? When we first brewed this beer we didn't know what would happen when we turned our brew kettle on while it was empty, in order to scorch the malt. We liked the results so much that Scottish has been on tap ever since.

Rotation Schedule: always on tap at both locations

Food Pairings: beef stew, leg of lamb; pizza; turkey and other fowl. Not bad with nachos, either.

Body: medium

Color: copper

Grain: British pale, carapils and wheat

Bittering Hops: American Cascade

Finishing Hops: American Mount Hood and Tanzanian Pride of Ringwood

Original Gravity: 1.066

IBUs (estimate): 14

Alcohol By Volume: 6.6%

First Tapped: October 1993

Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub Ale House No. 1xx 467 North High Street Columbus OH 43215

Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub Ale House No. 2 1130 Dublin Road Columbus OH 43215