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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


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