Let's Brew - 1939 Maclay SA Strong Ale

As a very typical Scottish brewery, in addition to their three different-strength Pale Ales, Maclay also brewed a Strong Ale. Though, depending on where you were, it might have been called Scotch Ale.

And, in typical Scottish fashion, the Strong Ale was produced from a parti-gyle with a Pale Ale. In this case, PA 6d, the middle of Maclay’s three. In this particular batch, there were 23.5 barrels of Strong Ale and 80.6 barrels of PA 6d. Maclay wasn’t a huge brewery, as those batch sizes make clear.

It’s pretty similar to Drybrough Burns Ale, though with a slightly higher OG. No surprise there as the two beers were intended to satisfy the same group of drinkers.

The grist is the same dull combination of pale malt, flaked maize and No. 2 invert sugar. Maclay couldn’t have been the most exciting place to work as a brewer. They had just the one recipe for all their beers and it remained the same for years on end. Though the war did force Maclay to change its recipes somewhat, as ingredients like flake maize became unobtainable.

I assume this was a bottled beer, though you can never be sure in Scotland. There were some ridiculously strong beers sold on draught – Disher’s, for example – between the wars.

1939 Maclay SA Strong Ale
pale malt	14.50 lb	77.33%
flaked maize	1.75 lb	9.33%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.50 lb	13.33%
Cluster 150 min	1.25 oz
Fuggles 60 min	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1089
FG	1030
ABV	7.81
Apparent attenuation	66.29%
IBU	44
SRM	11
Mash at	148º F
After underlet	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale