English Mild (Please Comment)

Revere's Regret

4 lbs Maris Otter Malt
2 lbs Mild (British) Malt
1 lbs Crystal 50-60L (British) Malt
.5 lbs Carastan (British) Malt
.5 lbs Chocolate (British) Malt

.5 oz UK Fuggles 60 mins
.5 oz UK Fuggles 30 mins

WLP037 Yorkshire Square ale Yeast

OG: 1040
Estimated FG: 1010
IBU: 12.5
SRM: 24.9
% ABV: 4%

RogueBrewer92 said:

Revere's Regret

4 lbs Maris Otter Malt
2 lbs Mild (British) Malt
1 lbs Crystal 50-60L (British) Malt
.5 lbs Carastan (British) Malt
.5 lbs Chocolate (British) Malt

.5 oz UK Fuggles 60 mins
.5 oz UK Fuggles 30 mins

WLP037 Yorkshire Square ale Yeast

OG: 1040
Estimated FG: 1010
IBU: 12.5
SRM: 24.9
% ABV: 4%

Click to expand...

It seems like a lot of crystal to me, and I'd cut the crystal 60L in half (carastan is basically the same thing.). I like a little bit of darker crystal in mine, like .25 pound of 120L, but that's just my taste. I think .5 pounds of chocolate is too much- that would come across as pretty roasty to me. I'd go wtih .25 pound or less of chocolate.

So take out the Medium dark crystal and replace it with Extra dark Crystal 120L?

RogueBrewer92 said:

So take out the Medium dark crystal and replace it with Extra dark Crystal 120L?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't replace it one-for-one, though. I think it's too much crystal. I'd go with something like .5 pound of the medium (60L) and the same amount or even a bit less of 120L, like 6-7 ounces.

Second try, I'm sticking with this one.

4 lbs Maris Otter Malt
2 lbs Mild Malt
.5 lbs Thomas Facett Pale Chocolate Malt
.5 lbs Crystal 50-60L (British) (English Medium Crystal)
.25 lbs Crystal 135-165L (British) (Extra Dark Crystal)
.25 lbs Crystal 120L

.5 oz UK Fuggles 60 mins
.5 oz UK Fuggles 30 mins

WLP037 Yorkshire Square ale Yeast

OG: 1038
Estimated FG: 1009
IBU: 12.8
SRM: 18.8
% ABV: 3.7%
75% efficiency

I LOVE the pale chocolate malt! That's a great replacement.

The only further suggestion I have is to consider moving the 30 minute fuggles to earlier in the boil. I might like more like 18-20 IBUs in that beer.

I increased it to 1 oz at 60 mins and kept .5 oz at 30 mins which gave me a IBU of 20.

RogueBrewer92 said:

I increased it to 1 oz at 60 mins and kept .5 oz at 30 mins which gave me a IBU of 20.

Click to expand...

That sounds perfect! I wish I could be there to drink it- it looks like a great mild!

Looks great. Brewed my first mild at the end of summer and had it for this fall - it was a great beer to drink Similar recipe. Brewed it again about 4-5 weeks ago, and it should be on tap later this week One of the more popular brews with my friends as well.

I dont have any of my equipment on me right now and I have no cash so I have to wait a while before I can brew anything. This will definitely be my first all grain brew though. Any thoughts on how I should mash it?

Really high to try and get as much body as possible 156-158. If you can get it to finish 1.010-1.012 i think youll be really happy. Also if your going to bottle condition try and shoot for a lower carbonation.

I heart milds. I agree that its too much crystal. Maybe keep it to 12-16oz total. Another thing you could look into is dark invert sugar. Most commercial recipes I've seen include them. I also think its more about the fermentation than the recipe with this style. The best one I ever made was a 2nd runnings beer with MO, crystal 75, chocolate and homemade invert syrup made of turbonado sugar. (inspired by this recipe http://barclayperkins.blogspot.ca/2012/05/lets-brew-wednesday-1987-boddingtons_23.html) Whatever happened with that repitch just turned out awesome.

I've had some issue with mashing with Mild Ale malt although in my case it was from Briess. Less conversion than I expected and another time got a much higher final gravity than I expected compared to just Maris Otter when mashed high at 158F for 60 minutes. To get the conversion or improve fermentability, you might want to consider lower temps for longer time. Of course, for the first time just brew to standards and take readings and notes as this is most important in all-grain brewing. You have more control knobs than extract brewing so you'll need to begin learning how to use them.