Dark Mild Recipe Critique

I brewed AHS Jester King Commercial Suicide Dark Mild clone a while ago and loved it. This recipe is based off of that with some modifications. I look forward to all critiques!

Also, I debated trying a no-sparge mash with this one. Do you think it would be a good idea? How would I need to adjust the grain bill? I've never done no-sparge so I'm not for sure how my efficiency would change.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.19 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.034 SG
Estimated Color: 19.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 61.5 %
1 lbs Crystal Light - 45L (Crisp) (45.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.4 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.7 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Red (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 4 7.7 %
1.00 oz Willamette [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.1 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 7 -
8.0 oz Brown Sugar, Light [Boil for 15 min](8.0 Sugar 8 7.7 %
1.0 pkg West Yorkshire Ale (Wyeast #1469) Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 6 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 7.50 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 6.29gal) of 168.0 F water

Will ferment at 68 F. Shooting for 3.5% abv.

 

Bump

 

Seems like too much crystal and chocolate. I put 8 oz of chocolate in a brown that was 5.5 ABV and it was almost to overpowering. Dial both back so the total is about 15% of the grain bill.

Also, why brown sugar? That's going to contribute hardly anything to flavor. Just add more Maris Otter to make up for that volume.

 

It looks fine, maybe a bit heavy on the crystal. I usually use carapils instead of wheat there, but I m sure the wheat would be nice!

What does the sugar do for you in this one? I am thinking it may be unneeded

I am not familiar with the yeast, but it sounds like a match.

 

"Designing Great Beers" talks about it being "traditional" for the style so I was thinking about trying it. I'm not set on it though. I think when I added it I took out some Marris Otter and didn't think about needing to take out some of the darker malts, too. I might just forgo the brown sugar and up the Marris Otter again instead. Would I still need to pull the darker malts down a bit? Thanks for your advice!

 

Your gonna end up with a really high FG, my guess would be around 1.018 if you keep it that high. If that's what you want then go for it, otherwise I'd tone it down to 1 lb between the 2 specialty grains. You definitely don't need that much chocolate.

 

I would bring down the chocolate slightly so its not too roasty, but I think the crystal is fine. Reapers Mild uses a pound and a half, and I didn't think it was too sweet. Finished at 1.013. Although I've also done Bob's Session Mild and it is only 8 oz of 55L, and it was pretty tasty. Bob's has some special roast in it which gives a slightly tart edge.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys! I have changed the recipe to:

5 lb Marris Otter
1 lb Crystal 40
4 oz Chocolate
8 oz Red Wheat

OG: 1.034

The only problem now is instead of it being around 20 SRM, it's now down to 14. I was hoping for around 20. Can I use darker crystal or would that change the flavor too much? Any other options for getting that darker color?

 

Darker crystal will be fine, you can even split like 80/120. You'll be fine on flavor, I actually think that'll get you a better flavor for the mild cause you may get a bit of that plum flavor in it.

 

Yes, you can definitely use C80/100/120, but that would be the top. Above 120 (C150, Special B, etc) you'd get wine-plum-etc flavors.

MC

 

Another consideration is to add some uk mild malt inplace of some of the mo

Mild malt is often used as the base malt for mild ale, and is similar in color to pale malt. Mild malt is kilned at slightly higher temperatures than pale malt in order to provide a less neutral, rounder flavor generally described as "nutty".

Use as a base malt or high percentage specialty malt
• Typical style inclusion would be Mild Ale, Brown Ale, Belgian Ale, and Barley Wine
• Slightly darker with a higher dextrin level than Pale Ale Malt
• Will lend a higher residual maltiness / mouthfeel

 

I've made a top-notch UK Mild, as such:

75% UK Pale (Optic, in my case)
19% UK Crystal 65L
3% Wheat
3% UK Chocolate

13 IBU's of EKG or other English hop, 60min
0.5oz (for 10-gal) of EKG 15m
1oz (for 10-gal) of EKG 0m

Mash 154F, OG was 1.037

My friends WOLFED two kegs of it in no time.

MC

 

I agree with the saying back down on the crystal. Mild is supposed to be really drinkable and personally I really dislike mild that is syrupy and sweet from too much crystal.

I like sugar in a stronger mild but I have found that in lower gravity beers I have not had good results. I'm sure it can be great but it would take a better brewer than me to pull it off.

 

Thanks for all of the replies! I decided to try some Mild Malt and Crystal 120 as suggested. Is this an ok ratio of MO to Mild or did I put in too much mild? Also I kept the crystal at 15%. I was looking back at the first mild I brewed and it had crystal at 15% and it didn't come out real sweet.

3 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 44.4 %
2 lbs Mild Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 2 29.6 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 14.8 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Red (Cargill) (2.9 SRM) Grain 4 7.4 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.7 %

 

Looks good. don't be afraid to go higher on the mild malt keep the hops low and don't over carbonate. my basic recipe for a mild is very simmilar

4.00 lb Mild Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 51.6 %
2.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 25.8 %
1.00 lb Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 12.9 %
0.50 lb Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 4 6.5 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt Pale (Thomas Fawcett) (215.0 SRM)

 

Yessir! Only 0.481 IBU/SG. Carbonation might be slightly difficult because I keg but I'm going to try and shove my 5 lb tank into the kegerator to have the mild at a lower carbonation level than my other beers.

 

If you want a production brewery's recipe, you might want to give a listen to CYBI http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/843

Not saying you should brew that, but it may give you some pointers.

 

Thanks for the link! I already ordered the recipe I posted above but I'll definitely give it a listen for some mashing and fermentation pointers.

 

Brewed this today. I went no-sparge because I was having trouble figuring out my water otherwise (pH wrong/OK minerals or pH good/minerals way out). I might just not understand water chemistry enough but no-sparge solved the mash pH problems while keeping the minerals in the generally agreed upon as acceptable range. Got 5.25 gallons at 1.032 for an efficiency of 68.3%. I was shooting for 1.034 so no big deal. The last time I brewed with a similar grain bill I got an efficiency of 82.0% (one batch sparge). It's good to see how no-sparge effects the efficiency of my system. Anyway, the wort tasted great! A little roasty with some chocolate/coffee and toffee sweetness. Maybe a little plum/raisin but only a trace if it really was there. I can't wait to see what this yeast adds to it!

 

I hope it turns out well. I'll be brewing a mild this weekend so i have something till my xmas ale is ready

 

Finished at 1.010. The taste is pretty similar to the wort but muted and much drier. Hopefully the carbonation will liven the flavors up and bring out some of the yeast character. Color came out very nice.

 

It looks like commercial suicide. Did you put it on gas or naturally carbonate? How close would you say it came to CS? I am going to brew this soon and use some cultivated yeast from a bottle of CS.

 

On gas. I have a 5# bottle and regulator that I managed to jam into my kegerator so I could carb this one to about 1.5 volumes.

I've never had an actual commercial suicide. My original recipe was based on the AHS Commercial Suicide clone recipe.

This beer came out ok. It had a thin body and was generally bland. I think my main problem was over pitching. I did a starter which was probably not really needed. Didn't get much in the way of typical English esters and the caramel and chocolate malts didn't really come through much even for a mild. I eventually bumped the carbonation up to about 2-2.5 volumes. Higher carb helped the flavor/aroma some.

As you can see from the thread, the recipe I actually brewed was different from what I first proposed. It was suggested that I cut back significantly on the caramel/chocolate or they would be overwhelming. I cut back as suggested. I would like to brew this again with my original recipe to see how it turns out because IMO the caramel/chocolate character was so low.

Anyone with more experience brewing milds feel free to chime in. I am by no means an expert.

 

You mentioned you had some issues with ph and water? Can you share your adjustments? I think that water can really contribute to the perceived body in a low gravity beer.

I added some flaked barley to my last mild and enjoyed it. Seemed to give it a fuller mouthfeel.

 

My water profile was
Ca 60.4
Mg10.8
Na 0
Cl
77.3
SO482.4
CO3 0

It was my one of my first times using EZ Water and I could get my predicted pH in range without doing no sparge. I haven't looked into it again but I imagine my inexperience kept me from doing something more reasonable. Also I didn't understand that I could just add acid/lime to adjust pH after the mash settled in.

I appreciate any insight you can give me. I really enjoyed the AHS CS clone I made with bottled water from Wal*Mart. I'd like to play with the water profile but it might be better to not play as much. Since I've started paying attention to my water more I have learned the KISS method a little better.

 

I'm no expert, but that water looks pretty good. I was wondering if you had hon crazy with the gypsum or something. Doesn't look like it, though. You might try removing all the gypsum and keeping the CaCl levels the same and see how you like it. You and I are of the same mind regarding the KISS approach to water.

I think you might be on to something with your pitching rate. Maybe by keeping their growth period so short, you lost some character. I forget what your attenuation was, but if it was really high, maybe try a different yeast. I had luck with London ale 3.

Your recipe seems right in the ball park. I'd try to play with the yeast rather than fix it with crystal malt. But I've been on a kick of reducing it in my recipes, so take that advice with a grain of salt.

Low gravity beers are really challenging. I think they are fun. Anyone can make a decent IIPA. A good mild on the other hand...

 

Yeah. I think I'll stick with just calcium chloride additions next time. Just enough to get a good amount of calcium then adjust pH with acid/lime.

I think the yeast was the biggest culprit for sure. That beer was so small I think I could easily get away with just pitching a single vial straight n to the wort. I started to do that but got scared and made the starter.

I hope I can get it tastier next time. Even though it was sub par I really enjoyed having a low abv beer around.

 

I can't just have one beer knockouts in the fridge. I too am a fan of the Mild style beers. I just used up what I had in the garage to make a beer. I used Qbr*w software and it said I had just made a Mild. With oatmeal. What a concept! I added the oatmeal to hopefully give a better mouth feel. This beer should finish at an ABV 3.5%. I'll know if sucks or not in about a month... My house yeast is London ESB 1968.

 

I would love to try my hand at making a mild soon. I've been trying to get on the lower abc bandwagon with a hot summer ahead. I just did my first low grav brew with a session IPA in preparation for my wedding next may. I'm going to make a best bitter here soon.

I'll chime in and say that 1968 ESB yeast is great. I've used it for two batches of ESB, and it had a nice character without being too in your face. I'll be using it for my best bitter, too, and I suspect it'll end up in any future mild I make.