2 row vs Mild Malt experiment

So I keep seeing this Mild Malt at my LHBS - and it is the cheapest grain they have.

Now that I ( finally ) have a keg system, I'm looking for a nice mellow mid ABV house ale. PLUS I love a reason to brew, so I decided to do an experiment.

Beer "A" ( "C" in Keg )
9 lbs 2 row
1 lb carapils

1 oz Nugget (13.7 AA ) 60 min
Primary until settled
Dry hop 1 oz Cascade one week

Beer "B" ( "D" in Keg )
9 lbs Mild Malt
1 lb carapils

1 oz Nugget (13.7 AA ) 60 min
Primary until settled
Dry hop 1 oz Cascade one week

Gonna bottle 2 gals of each, label them "a" and "b"

Keg the other 3 gals of each, label them "c" and "d"

Then try them on friends and myself to see if:

1) There is any great difference in taste,body, enjoyment
2) There is a preference when bottled
3) If folks figure out that "a & b" are the same as "c & d"
and
4) I can find the one that we like the most to then begin refining a house staple.

Will keep coming back to here with updates for those interested.

Can't wait. Pics.

You'll want to be careful with sparging and final boil quantities. Of course, keep everything exactly the same. Temps too.

Does your LHBS happen to be American Brewmaster? They have mild malt, which is the cheapest malt they have. I bought some there a couple months ago and used it as the base malt in a brown porter. I'm drinking the porter now, and it came out very nicely. I'll be interested to see what you think about the difference between that and regular 2-row base malt.

Never heard of "mild malt". Did they give you any description as to Lovibond, Diastatic power, total protein, 2 row, 6 row?

Normally 6 row is the cheapest base malt out there and it is sometimes called lager malt.

GrainCounter said:

Does your LHBS happen to be American Brewmaster? They have mild malt, which is the cheapest malt they have. I bought some there a couple months ago and used it as the base malt in a brown porter. I'm drinking the porter now, and it came out very nicely. I'll be interested to see what you think about the difference between that and regular 2-row base malt.

Click to expand...

Why Yes Yes it is....

passedpawn said:

Can't wait. Pics.

You'll want to be careful with sparging and final boil quantities. Of course, keep everything exactly the same. Temps too.

Click to expand...

Both Mashed with 3.5 gals @158 - 2 row ran out 2.25 gal, Mild ran out 2.00 gal

Sparged in two steps, 2.25 gals each , 168 degrees both times.

Stopped collecting when I hit 6 gals on second sparge.

2 ROW OG - 1.060
Mild Malt OG - 1.062

Both cooled to 70 and pitched with US-05.

Now we wait......

waldoar15 said:

Never heard of "mild malt". Did they give you any description as to Lovibond, Diastatic power, total protein, 2 row, 6 row?

Normally 6 row is the cheapest base malt out there and it is sometimes called lager malt.

Click to expand...

I only know the Lovibond is listed a 4.0.

Eh, might be Muntons, they list a Mild Ale malt on my locals web site.

The mild ale malt is bound to be a 2-row. Usually, it's in the 3-5L range, just like you have. To complicate maters, I think there's one maltster whose "mild ale" malt only clocks in at 2-2.5L or thereabouts, making one wonder how it could possibly differ from anyone else's "pale malt".

Anyway, neat experiment. Keep us posted.

I'm very interested in hearing results as I've eyed that mild malt several times, but never pulled the trigger.

KingBrianI said:

I'm very interested in hearing results as I've eyed that mild malt several times, but never pulled the trigger.

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Same here. I'm curious to hear the difference in flavor. I was buying Crystal at the LHBS on Saturday and saw bags of Mild Malt. Since I was buying the Crystal for a Mild Ale I couldn't help but wonder how Mild Malt would be for a base. I didn't buy it, but I wonder nonetheless.

Ok, so they both read 1.010 on Friday, and again this morning, so here they are thus far....

Up next, a little dry hopping - to the tune of 2.4 ozes of Cascade each of leaf hops, courtesy of Homercidal, from his 2009 Organic crop. *edit* Notice the microscope in the rear of the pic? My middle kid got it for Christmas. Ever seen a hop leaf up closes? Real cool- wish I could photo it. If you have access, you out to check it out!

looks great! the mild looks a bit darker. can't wait to see if they taste different

Very cool experiment. Keep us posted.

Nice experiment! Can't wait to see how it turns out. I have a machine at work that can see pretty close up. I should take a hops flower in and see what it looks like. I wonder if it can take pictures...

So I thought about these two all day - came in and got a "sneak thief" taste.

Yummy x 2 !

The Mild is well, milder. A slightly more malty, with nice hop presence.

The 2 Row is PALE PALE - almost clear, with a little more hop out front.

And these were from the secondaries!

SO Sunday I'mma rack into some kegs , add the sugar and hurry up and wait...of course, I'll take out a few ounces and update the pictures at that point.

Excellent! We'll expect pictures and tasting notes as soon as those bottles are carbed!

Wow - check out the difference so far....

2 row on left
Mild in middle
AHS Black Cherry Stout on right ( for reference )

BTW - used 2.05 oz corn sugar to shoot for 2.5 vols carb and kegged.

Time to wait again ......

Hannable1975 said:

Up next, a little dry hopping - to the tune of 2.4 ozes of Cascade each of leaf hops, courtesy of Homercidal, from his 2009 Organic crop. *edit* Notice the microscope in the rear of the pic? My middle kid got it for Christmas. Ever seen a hop leaf up closes? Real cool- wish I could photo it. If you have access, you out to check it out!

Click to expand...

Technically, they aren't leaves, they are cones, but I will have to try that myself. My kid has the exact same microscope.

So what happened? I'm on the edge of my seat.

Way to leave us all hanging.

I'm replying to ask OP to comment on the results, 2 years later.

Was one of them poisonous?

Btw, here in the UK Maris Otter tends to be the same colour as any other pale malt: 2-2.5L (4-5 EBC), and mild malt a tiny bit darker: 3-4L (6-8 EBC).