Oatmeal mild recipe critique

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

starrfish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
1,978
Reaction score
37
Location
Florence, SC
My last Dark and Mild was tasty but a bit thin. So I'm upping mash temp & amount of specialty grains (victory and oats), also adding a good amount of molasses since I did enjoy that addition in a previous brown ale. Thoughts?

Oatmeal Mild
Grain Bill
4.00 lb Maris Otter
1.00 lb Flaked Oats
1.00 lb American Victory
0.25 lb British Chocolate malt
0.25 lb American Crystal 120L
6oz Molasses

Hops
0.75 oz Fuggles Pellet 60min
0.25 oz Fuggles Pellet 30min

Specs
OG 1.037
FG 1.009
IBU 21
SRM 16
ABV 3.6%

Procedure
Brew in a bag single infusion mash 60min @ 158°

Yeast
Wyeast Thames Valley II (washed and starter), S-04 or S-33 thoughts? leaning towards Thames Valley II like my 1850 whitbread porter or S-33 to push the malt profile up since hop rate is on high side.
 
If your last mild was thin, seems to me like uping the Crystal would be the answer. Isn't Victory fairly fermentable when mashed? I believe flakes oats will dry out too. Perhaps bump the Crystal 120 up a bit.
 
Oats have always done well for me in porters adding a silky mouth feel, but good call on upping crystal 120L may go another 1/4lb... could go a shade darker too.

I do have have some left over maltodex from a while back. 1/4 lb too much with upping crystal another 1/4lb (have 1/2 lb), or is it an either or? I don't want to get too sweet/ raisin since it is 120L.

Victory is in there this time more for depth of malty flavor that was missing last time.
 
updated Grain Bill
4.00 lb Maris Otter
1.00 lb Flaked Oats
1.00 lb American Victory
0.25 lb British Chocolate malt
0.5lb American Crystal 120L
6 oz Molasses
0.5lb Dextrin

OG 1.042
FG 1.011
IBU 21
SRM 18
ABV 4.0

Still basically in spec for style guide... OG a touch high and hops still on high end (just over) but I use a sputnik rig for hops so I lose a touch of utilization, so I aim just a bit high.

seems right with using both suggestions. Thanks Guys!
 
To be perfectly honest, that recipe doesn't look right to me and here's why.

First, victory malt isn't really necessary with a good quality MO and anything more than 0.25lb in a beer that small is going to be too much. You have 14% listed which is too much for any beer. Also, 3% crystal malt is a bit low for the style. Most milds use around 10-15% crystal, often with something like 7% medium and 3% or so dark. The chocolate malt usage is fine. If you are looking to add oats for mouthfeel, you can get a similar effect through more crystal malt and/or mash temp and yeast choice - or a little bit of maltodextrine. Regardless, I would not use 14% oats in a mild. Maybe 1/2 pound at the max. Also, while this is very subjective, I am not a fan of molasses in English style beers and almost always prefer to leave it out - it will thin the beer out more than you probably intend too. Invert Syrup, say No.2, would be a fine addition for a mild as it will add some of that complex caramel flavors and is not fully fermentable. Also, you have less than 60% of your fermentables coming from base malt. The hop schedule looks good and Thames Valley II is a true gem of yeast strains for milds or anything English.
 
To be perfectly honest, that recipe doesn't look right to me and here's why.

First, victory malt isn't really necessary with a good quality MO and anything more than 0.25lb in a beer that small is going to be too much. You have 14% listed which is too much for any beer. Also, 3% crystal malt is a bit low for the style. Most milds use around 10-15% crystal, often with something like 7% medium and 3% or so dark. The chocolate malt usage is fine. If you are looking to add oats for mouthfeel, you can get a similar effect through more crystal malt and/or mash temp and yeast choice - or a little bit of maltodextrine. Regardless, I would not use 14% oats in a mild. Maybe 1/2 pound at the max. Also, while this is very subjective, I am not a fan of molasses in English style beers and almost always prefer to leave it out - it will thin the beer out more than you probably intend too. Invert Syrup, say No.2, would be a fine addition for a mild as it will add some of that complex caramel flavors and is not fully fermentable. Also, you have less than 60% of your fermentables coming from base malt. The hop schedule looks good and Thames Valley II is a true gem of yeast strains for milds or anything English.

What he said: commercial milds pretty much all have some form of Invert Syrup added to get those dark fruit and sweet notes without the toastiness/dryness associated with dark caramel malts.

I remember mashing my last mild at around 158F. Even using S-04*, it came out with adequate body. Bob's mild recipe adds Special Roast instead of Victory and even in small quantities in the grist, that malt can add another subtle dimension to the party (sourdough, biscuit, cocoa, etc.).

* Sorry bierhaus, I remember you hating the SafAle, but it worked with this beer :D
 
better?
56.5 % 4.00 British Two-row Pale
7.1 % 0.50 Flaked Oats
3.5 % 0.25 American Victory
3.5 % 0.25 American Chocolate
7.1 % 0.50 American Crystal 120L
14.1 % 1.00 American Crystal 60L
3.5 % 0.25 Dextrin
4.7 % 4oz Molasses

OG 1.039
FG 1.010
IBU 21
SRM 19
ABV 3.7

Just need to order a lb of lighter crystal. I don't have any in reserve. I've done several american browns with molasses, and like what it's done for depth so I want to keep that in but backed it down a bit. I haven't used victory in a long time and went with the max as it's up to 15%, but cut that way back.

Thoughts again on revised? milds are tough, and I think your right more crystal is needed.
where do you get invert syrups?


thanks again!
 
Better, but I would still remove the victory, oats and molasses, but that's just me. I dug through my notes and here is the last mild recipe I brewed (I went on a big mild kick*) :

1.035 OG

87% MO
6% Muntons Medium Crystal
3% Bairds Extra Dark Crystal
4% Uk Chocolate

Fuggles for 18 IBU
Mash 158F

SafAle S-04 for yeast.

If I were to brew this again, I would try to sneak in some treacle or invert sugar at the expense of the Bairds Extra Dark for authenticity's sakes, but it was a fine brew nonethless. Just going with a single dark crystal would also yield positive results I reckon.

* Note that this is the best recipe, the others were weird attempts at very low gravity ales that never got past decent imho.
 
Still a lot going on there. Dextrine, oats, and victory are not really necessary, though the oats would make for a nice mouthfeel. I would brew something like this though sub the molasses for invert - which is actually easy to make at home. (http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert).

70% Maris Otter
10% Crystal 60L
7% Flaked Oats
5% Crystal 120L
3% Chocolate
5% Molasses

Though experimentation is one of the joys of brewing. Good luck with the brew!

Edit: It should be noted that some very good, complex milds can be made with a lot less ingredients. Pale, crystal, and chocolate with a full flavored yeast makes for a great mild too.
 
great! thanks!

For this experiment goal was to use oats in a mild so that needs to stay. If I can find treacle or invert sugar I'll sub that out. and as for the victory, I haven't used that in a long time and have a pound that needs at least some used. ( I put that in my IPA too in .25 lb-.5 lb amounts and like what it does there)

I'm going through that same mild kick myself and have a few bigger beers going or on deck, and always like to have something lighter on tap #2. brewed some all grain mild kits and trying to formulate a unique mild of my own using elements from other beers I like. tough build!~

thanks for the help!
 
Still a lot going on there. Dextrine, oats, and victory are not really necessary, though the oats would make for a nice mouthfeel. I would brew something like this though sub the molasses for invert - which is actually easy to make at home. (http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert).

70% Maris Otter
10% Crystal 60L
7% Flaked Oats
5% Crystal 120L
3% Chocolate
5% Molasses

Though experimentation is one of the joys of brewing. Good luck with the brew!

thanks for the invert recipe! That recipe sounds better with upping MO like both you guys said.

Thanks again. putting order in for more MO and some 60L crystal.

Milds are tough to play with as the wiggle room is so slight.
 
great! thanks!

For this experiment goal was to use oats in a mild so that needs to stay. If I can find treacle or invert sugar I'll sub that out. and as for the victory, I haven't used that in a long time and have a pound that needs at least some used. ( I put that in my IPA too in .25 lb-.5 lb amounts and like what it does there)

I'm going through that same mild kick myself and have a few bigger beers going or on deck, and always like to have something lighter on tap #2. brewed some all grain mild kits and trying to formulate a unique mild of my own using elements from other beers I like. tough build!~

thanks for the help!

I have found that brewing/creating a recipe for a good mild is WAY more challenging than brewing a good bitter, namely because we don't have access to antyhing that ressembles a mild this side of the pond and that the commercial examples seem to be all over the place as far as recipe goes (ie. using brewer's caramel to darken the colour instead of roasted malts, huge amounts of invert, etc.).

Bitters and pale ales are usually more straightforward and we have access to more info. Plus, getting the malt and mouthfeel to shine in a sub 1.050 brew is a technical challenge. In a bitter you can always fall back on hopping to keep things interesting.
 
EXACTLY! the kits for milds have been ok, but missing something... which is why I went with oats. taking victory out. and going with invert recipe.

I love this board! Wish I had it when I started brewing back in the 90's the first time!

thnks again! Will post final recipe specs and critique in the recipe forum with kudo credits to you.
 
Starrfish, did you end up brewing this and, if so, how did it come out? I am thinking of adding oats to a mild that I will brew this weekend and hoping for some thoughts.
 
If you want more body use UK mild malt in place of maris otter or a blend of both
 
Back
Top