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Barley’s Scottish Ale

Barley’s Brewing Co. | www.barleysbrewing.com

Barley’s Brewing Co.

467 N. High St.

Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 228–2537

First brewed: 1993

Style: Scotch ale

Alcohol content: 6.6 percent

IBUs: 14

Available: Year-round on draft

IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:

• Smokehouse MacLenny’s Scottish Ale

• Millersburg Doc’s Scotch Ale

• Thirsty Dog Twisted Kilt Scottish Export Ale

• Market Garden Wallace Tavern Scotch Ale

• Fifty West Going Plaid

BARLEY’S HEAD BREWER Angelo Signorino Jr. still remembers his boss’s response when he mentioned his plan to create a Scottish ale. Signorino, then the assistant brewer, wanted to make a beer similar to MacAndrew’s Scotch Ale from Scotland. To do so, he was going to fire up the gas burners to preheat the brew kettle and scorch the wort for a full half-hour, caramelizing it and getting the strongest malt flavor possible. The bottom of the brew kettle at Barley’s just happens to be flatter than most, making it difficult to clean but perfect for scorching wort evenly.

Former head brewer Scott Francis, though, initially was a little skeptical about the process. “Do you know how much that brew kettle costs?” he asked at the time.

Signorino reassured him that the plan was to keep the bottom of the kettle covered in water right up until sending in the wort, so the long scorch wasn’t going to damage the equipment. At least he didn’t think it would.

The beer—made with pale malts, British carapils, and a little bit of wheat—turned out to be a winner. Since that first batch in late 1993, it has always been on draft and has become Barley’s flagship beer. For years, the ale was called MacLenny’s Scottish Ale, but it was renamed Barley’s Scottish Ale in 2015. All the caramel flavor and color comes from that scorching, which caramelizes the sugars in a way similar to the process of making crème brûlée.

Signorino has never varied that time-consuming, half-hour process.

“After all these years, you look for ways to shave minutes off the day, get home to your family sooner, but it’s not a compromise that we’ll make with the Scottish,” he says. “We’ll continue to scorch it for that full half an hour because the results make it worthwhile.”

For years, Signorino also brewed at the nearby Smokehouse Brewing Company in Columbus and made a Scottish ale there. But it just wasn’t the same, given the different makeup of the brew kettle.

“This brewery’s version is one of a kind for sure,” Signorino says.