Andy Deuchars from Renaissance Brewing is brewing up a Scottish-themed beer.

What beer are you making for GABS?
Double-oaked 70/- Scottish rye beer. (the “/-” symbol means “shillings” and denotes a strength range of Scottish beers, so “70 /-” equates to a “heavy” beer, according to those geniuses at Wikipedia – ed).

Does it have a name yet?
Double Oaked Scotch on Rye.

Where did the inspiration come from?
The requests from customers for a lighter version of our Stonecutter Scotch Ale.

How much effort goes into designing a beer for GABS?
Well… not a lot, we are coming out with a new beer so we just oaked some. At the required price point we were not able to spend too much on GABS.

Does GABS give you the chance to go a bit crazy and try something you might not normally brew?
Unfortunately, no. As my brew house is 2000L and GABS only needs 250L I can’t go too far off the leash as I will need to sell the rest of the batch in a timely fashion.

Does the spectapular bring out a competitive streak?
I don’t really have a competitive streak.

Explanation for the unaware: GABS is Great Australasian Beer Spectapular, a beer festival in Melbourne, Australia, from May 24-26 this year where brewers make a beer they’ve never made before and bring it along so the punters can try it. Cool, huh?