Mild Ale Malt

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bradsul

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Has anyone had any direct experience with this malt type? I've recently become enamoured of mild as a style (it's historically very interesting) and the current BJCP style guide really doesn't do it justice (granted they are representing it in the present so I'm not at all complaining).

I've been making mine with Maris Otter pale malt as the base but I'm wondering about mild ale malt. My local suppliers don't carry anything labeled as mild malt so I've been doing some reading and I happened to come across a reference in BYO 150 Clones of all places.

They suggest a 50/50 mixture of pale malt and vienna or pale malt and light munich. Given the properties of Maris Otter I'm thinking the pale malt they're probably referring to would be North American - the vienna would be supplying that small 'nutty' flavour that North American pale malt is missing over Maris Otter. The munich just didn't sound right at all as I've never thought of even light munich as being 'nutty' (but this may just be my palette).

So I'm looking for opinions - is Maris Otter by itself fairly close to mild malt or should I be looking to make a mix of MO/vienna or MO/munich or even 2-row/vienna or 2-row/munich to get the flavour I'm shooting for?
 
Interesting topic. I was looking into this as I am brewing a mild next. I was lstening to the Jamil show discuss milds, he was saying that this was the traditional malt (or whatever), but is very hard to find these days.

Northern Brewer carries it: http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=Pauls+Mild+Ale&x=0&y=0
They say it is 2.9L which is lower than the Marris Otter they sell.

I will proably try to buy some the next time I order from NB, but I too am interested in hearing if anyone has tried this malt.
 
Northern Brewer carries it: http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=Pauls+Mild+Ale&x=0&y=0
They say it is 2.9L which is lower than the Marris Otter they sell.

I will proably try to buy some the next time I order from NB, but I too am interested in hearing if anyone has tried this malt.

I made a batch of mild from that malt and it tastes like the extract batch of mild I made a earlier in the year. I have not had a commercial mild before, but I very much enjoyed the extract batch and am currently enjoying the AG batch from that malt.

Another mild will likely be the next batch I make...
 
I have never used it but I called the guy at my LHBS and he said this.

"Its a light Specialty grain that people put in brown ales, the srm is 4.0 and it is sweeter then a base 2 row"
 
I knew there was a reason I liked you, Brad. Mild is probably my favourite style.

Know from the beginning that I've never used it, personally, but Pauls Malt Ltd makes a pale malt specifically for mild ale.

From http://www.specialtymalts.com/pauls_malt/descriptions.html:

Mild Ale (Dextrin Malt) (3.5° - 4.5° L)
Pauls Mild Ale malt is best suited for infusion mashing. Due to the kilning regime this malt goes through, the wort produced is higher in dextrin content than Pale Ale, resulting in a sweeter finished beer. Best used in Mild Ales and Brown Ales.​

From http://www.brewingtechniques.com/bmg/pauls.html:

Best mild ale: Mild ale malts are often made from two-row winter malting barleys. Standard mild ale malt typically has nitrogen levels below 1.65% (10.3% protein), and best mild ale malt has levels below 1.6% (10% protein). The grain is steeped to 45% moisture and germinated cool to produce a well-modified malt. Kilning starts at 140 °F (60 °C) and rises to 212-221 °F (100-105 °C) to encourage color formation. The kilning process produces a wort with a higher dextrin content than that of pale ale malt, resulting in a sweet beer regardless of whether it is mild ale or the bottled version, brown ale. Suitable for infusion mashing using top-fermenting yeast. Odor of mash: normal. Degree of clarity: clear. Rate of filtration: normal.​

I've made excellent Mild Ale with Maris Otter, and you have also reported excellent results. Muntons Maris Otter tends to finish around 3°L, slightly lower than Pauls Mild, but that's nothing that can be noticed save with expensive scientific instruments.

I think the crucial difference is this:

The kilning process produces a wort with a higher dextrin content than that of pale ale malt[.]​

Maris Otter could be used just the same; it would require a hotter mash, that's all. In other words, I don't think you need add Vienna or Munich or anything like that. On the contrary, from the descriptions above, you'd think CaraPils/Dextrin Malt would be the appropriate addition! Since Pauls Mild malt already has those qualities, the process becomes simpler - mash as normal and add nothing!

Anyway, it's worth the experiment. Perhaps it'll encourage people to simplify their too-complicated Mild Ale grists - just mild malt and a little chocolate or roasted barley for colour. I already have too many batches scheduled (and too little free time) to participate, or I'd be on this like a shot!

Cheers,

Bob
 
Thanks for the info Bob, I agree it sounds like a dextrin malt would be a better mix than vienna or munich. I can't get mild ale malt from my suppliers and ordering from the US is a pain so I'm torn on what to do.

I'm thinking my next mild I'm going to stick with the MO but mash higher (maybe 154F instead of my usual 150F).

I just did a side-by-side taste test between vienna and MO (I use Muntons as well) and the MO definitely has a much 'fuller' flavour that would benefit the mild so I don't think I'll be adding any vienna, in fact I think the affect would be the exact opposite of what was desired. I could definitely see the vienna benefitting if you only have standard 2-row as your base however.
 
So, Mild Malt could actually be made from Marris Otter. Since it is only process that distinguishes the Mild Malt and Marris Otter is just a cultivar of barley.
 
According to Mild Ale it's usually made with Triumph barley (which is another winter barley like MO). Though that's for English made versions, I imagine the stuff made in the US is just whatever standard 2-row can be readily obtained by the malter.
 
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Take a look at my Mild Mannered ale.

It's a classic Northen English dark Mild. Like it should be.
That is a fantastic beer Orfy, no question. I've made it a number of times and it's what got me hooked on Mild as a style. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Mild ale. :mug:
 
According to Mild Ale it's usually made with Triumph barley (which is another winter barley like MO). Though that's for English made versions, I imagine the stuff made in the US is just whatever standard 2-row can be readily obtained by the malter.

I'm certain Briess's Mild malt is made from the stuff they buy by the ton.

A search yielded a Canadian source, sort of. Gambrinus lists what they call "ESB Pale" malt, which has the characteristics of both Briess and Pauls Mild malts:

ESB Pale - 4.0% moisture - 3-4L - 11.0 total protein - 82.0 extract (dry minimum)

Perhaps this is more readily available through Canuck supply houses. Might be worth a try!

I still think you could make a reasonable facsimile by just mashing Maris Otter to a higher temperature.

Cheers,

Bob
 
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I gave it some more thought last night and I think a dextrin malt along with MO is the way to go. If you run the whole mash higher I think you'll get far more dextrins in your wort than you would actually want. I'm going to track down some dextrin malt for my next batch and see how it turns out.
 
I gave it some more thought last night and I think a dextrin malt along with MO is the way to go. If you run the whole mash higher I think you'll get far more dextrins in your wort than you would actually want. I'm going to track down some dextrin malt for my next batch and see how it turns out.


Have you also considered mashing for a shorter period of time? Another variable to consider.
 
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