Braddock's Defeat Wee Heavyish

This brew was inspired by the historic event of Braddock's Defeat @ the beginning of the French & Indian War. I had recently re-read Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, so was thinking of doing a Scottish style brew. Never done one. My friend Shep came over for the brewing.

Grains used in the mini-mash.

Sparging the mini-mash.

A while later, a nice, healthy boil. I actually boiled this one for 2 hours, versus one, to really cook the malt.

This one took a looooong time to carbonate. Honestly, I wasnt getting good carbonated bottles until about 7 or 8 months after brewing. I also noticed an odd film on the tops of the early bottles (in older ones it eventually got worked out of the beer) - I wasnt sure what it was, but it didnt affect the taste @ all. I was thinking it may have been a food born bug transferred from my wooden spoon, but just not sure.

This was also my first time using Wyeast yeast, a smack pack. I much prefer White Labs.

Braddock's Defeat
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Malt
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12 lbs Extract
1 lb Two-Row (Maris Otter)
.75 lb Crystal 90L
.25 lb Roasted Barley

Hops
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1 oz US Goldings 4.9% (90 mins)
1 oz US Goldings 4.9% (60 mins)
1 oz US Goldings 4.9% (30 mins)

Other
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1 Whirlfloc tab @ 15 mins
1 Servomyces tab @ 10 mins

Yeast
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Wyeast Scottish Ale Yeast

Mini-mash one step @ 160 (45 min rest) - sparge water @ 170. Gentle boil for 2 hours.

OG: 1.085
FG: 1.026

7.6% alc/vol - This actually fermented a bit more after I took this reading, so most likely a bit higher, also I think it fermented a good bit more in bottle, eventually.