Scottish and Irish
Wee Heavy
The strong Scottish ale: rich, malty and sweet, with caramel and dark fruit from a long boil and almost no hop character to balance it. Sweetness is the style rather than a fault.
Vital statistics
Each bar is drawn against the full range of all 98 styles
Original gravity
1.070 - 1.130
1.070 - 1.130
Final gravity
1.018 - 1.040
1.018 - 1.040
Bitterness
17 IBU - 35 IBU
17 IBU - 35 IBU
Colour
14 SRM - 25 SRM
14 SRM - 25 SRM
Alcohol
6.5% - 10%
6.5% - 10%
Colour also 28-49 EBC
What goes wrong
Peat smoke. Traditional wee heavy is not smoky, and even a small amount of peated malt dominates it completely.
Commercial examples
Reference examples of the style, as listed in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Availability varies by market and year.
Vital statistics as published in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Not yet checked against the published guidelines: treat these ranges as a planning aid and read the source at bjcp.org before entering a competition.
The rest of the scottish and irish family
Plan a batch to these numbers.