Dark Mild Mild Mannered Ale (AG) (E) UK/US

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Brewed on a frozen lake?? You ice fishers are nuts.

It was a great day. Ice fishing in my lederhosen, and hacked a hole in the ice with an ax to cool the wort. I got a great cold break... talk about an ice bath

 

[Sudz]

It was a great day. Ice fishing in my lederhosen, and hacked a hole in the ice with an ax to cool the wort. I got a great cold break... talk about an ice bath

Now that had to be the mother of all cold breaks.....

 

[Rushis]

Orfy,

Just brewed a 5 gal AG batch of your mild today. Being very new to all grain brewing, the small grain bill was a perfect compliment to my limiting stovetop methods (thanks deathbrewer! ). So far this has been my most "successful" brewday yet.

Thanks for sharing this recipe, I can't wait till fermentation finishes up.

 

[Sudz]

Orfy, I'm preparing to reproduce your 6.5 recipe exactly. I'm a little confused as to the water requirement.

You strike with 10.18 liters (2.69 gal) heated to achieve the 158 degrees F mash temp.

Vorlauf and drain after an hour.

Then sparge with enough water to hit your preboil pot volume which for you is 30.50 L (8 gal). I assume the sparge water was around 185 degrees.

Is this a correct understanding of what you did with your 6.5 batch.

 

[Orfy]

I normally go for 80°C 175Fish

If you batch sparge then the Temp isn't critical. If you go too hot there's a risk of excess tannin extraction. Strike out isn't realy relevant.

 

[Sudz]

I normally go for 80°C 175Fish

If you batch sparge then the Temp isn't critical. If you go too hot there's a risk of excess tannin extraction. Strike out isn't realy relevant.

Thanks for the prompt response Orfy. I appreciate the help since I want to nail the critical parameters you used with this recipe.

"Strike" is probably my poor use of the term. I was referring to the initial introduction of the 10.18 liters of water to facilitate the mash. I'm assuming you rinse the grain bed with the remaining water at the termination of the mash schedule. And I believe the goal is to hit around 168 F at this time.

I "think" this what folks refer to as a "single infusion" but I'm not certain.

Is this what you shoot for?

 

[Sudz]

Have any of you primed this with DME and if so did it make any difference?

 

[Orfy]

Sorry probably be not being clear.

You want to mash at 70c for 60 minutes. (158c)
To do this I add water at 80c (176C)

Your system may Differ but it's the grain bed temp whilst mashing that is important. (Mash High for more Body)

I batch sparge at 80c

You want to sparge as high as possible with out removing to many tannins.
The higher temp helps with sugar extraction and starting the boil.

 

[cbird01]

So I hear about drinking this early. Who thinks I could get away with Kegging on Day 7 and drinking on Day 8?

 

[Orfy]

In all honesty.

It is better if you leave it a bit.
Try it though and see what you think.

 

[cbird01]

Yes, that would be the prudent thing to do. I think 7 days seem good in the primary though. The activity has pretty much ceased in there after 5 days. I think I will bottle on late day 6. Does anyone think that I should put it in a secondary if I need to use the yeast cake for another brew on Day 7?

thanks

 

[2-0turbo]

So, I brewed this on Jan 6, being my first all-grain batch using brew-in a bag technique on the stovetop. I hit 1.040 on my OG and finished out at 1.010. I left it in primary for 3-weeks as I don't like to rush my beers. Hydro samples tasted quite good, very nutty is the best way I could describe it.

I carbed at 2.0 volumes to stay with style and found it took a while to get there. I tested after 2-weeks and it was still quite flat. I keep all my beer at room temp in my apartment, which is a pretty constant 70°F. After 3-weeks it was getting better, the carbonation was better, but it didn't really hit its stride until 4-weeks in the bottle.

Now, it tastes great! It is a "lower" alcohol brew (3.9% by my calculations) and is great session beer. All my friends really like it and comment on how crisp it tastes (although I think it tastes a bit malty). So, a definite hit that I will definitely make again. It will be added to my list of usuals that I want to keep on tap (once I get the keg setup).

So, thanks for the recipe. I really like it...as do my friends!

 

[Hermit]

I'm thinking of doing this as my next batch. I try and label the bottles with the name, brew date and bottle date. I'll have to shorten the name since I just label the caps. Maris Otter and Fuggles... MO-Fuggle should work.

 

[geoffny25]

Just wondering, others who have brewed this - Are your ABV levels around 3.7%?

Thanks,

Geoff

 

[2-0turbo]

3.9 for me..

 

[T2P]

Alright folks. I am pretty new to homebrewing (only about 6 batches in) and my brew partner and I have only done extract kits. This will actually be the first one we are putting together ourselves. So here's the deal. I think we have everything down on ingredients with the exception of malt extract and yeast for the 5 gallon extract recipe. So my questions are this.

1) Is the malt in the recipe DME or LME?

2) Would Pale Chocolate Malt work ok instead of the Chocolate malt or should we try another LHBS to get the Chocolate?

3) For liquid Wyeast would the London Ale III (1318) work alright?

Thank you all so much in advance!

 

[SwampassJ]

My hydrometer blew off the side tray on my grill and shattered so no OG or FG. Turned out really water in my opinion, flavor hits nice and roasted and then dissipates and finishes clean as a whistle. I think its pretty good have a pair during lunch and go back to work beer but I wish it was a bit more body and after taste.

But then again its only been in bottles for 1 week and 5 days, going to periodically taste and compare the results.

 

[steakandale]

Orfy, I think this is a REAL winner you got here!
My hydrometer sample tastes awesome, I'm just waiting for it to tell me its done.
It's a wonderfull color like rich dark roast coffee.
I can't wait to taste the finished product.

 

[T2P]

Well it looks as though it was supposed to be LME and not DME. We never got a response here so went with DME because the amounts were typical for what we usually use in extract brewing. After getting the boil done our SG reading was 1.044 not 1.034 as suggested despite filling the remainder of the 6 gallon carboy with distilled water. The result was that yesterday we had a carboy blowout. So for everyone who has asked, my guess is that LME is what the 5 gallon extract kit is supposed to be. Otherwise the SG is not supposed to be 1.034.

 

[Sudz]

Just tasted my first after three weeks in the bottle. This is very smooth and malty which is exactly what I was wanting. Nice brew. Thanks Orfy.

It's is a little thin on carbonation for me and I did expect a low effect because of the type of brew. I targeted 2 volumes for the priming sugar (demerara). Maybe 3 weeks is a tad early?

Also this was the clearest brew I've ever made. Crystal clear as a result of crash cooling and some gelatin in the last few days. So maybe my yeast count fell in the dirt and priming is just a challenge?

Comments anyone?

 

[Grousebane]

Just brewed this today-my first all grain! anticipation is building already...

 

[HalfPint]

So I've got a question. I'm going to brew this up pretty soon, but I won't have room in the kegerator for a while. I've read that this brew is best at about a month, but does it really begin to get worse after longer than that? This is kinda a newb question, but should I pull say a cream ale out of the kegerator to put this one on tap.


This is what I'll have on tap

On tap - cream ale and wheat
kegged - Ipa and Mild

which do you think would be better to pull out of the kegerator (which one would age better), the cream or the wheat?

Thanks,
Jacob

 

[Sudz]

So I've got a question. I'm going to brew this up pretty soon, but I won't have room in the kegerator for a while. I've read that this brew is best at about a month, but does it really begin to get worse after longer than that? Jacob

I've had this brew in bottles for months, some close to a year and have never lost a bottle ( I always save some of each batch for later comparisons). I've never lost a beer to shelf life and some are approaching two years in the bottle. I'm told this is primarily a function of your sanitation technique which I do strive to maintain.

Anyway, for whatever reason, this hasn't been an issue for me with this brew and I've made more of this than any other beer.

 

[HalfPint]

I've had this brew in bottles for months, some close to a year and have never lost a bottle ( I always save some of each batch for later comparisons). I've never lost a beer to shelf life and some are approaching two years in the bottle. I'm told this is primarily a function of your sanitation technique which I do strive to maintain.

Anyway, for whatever reason, this hasn't been an issue for me with this brew and I've made more of this than any other beer.

Sorry, I should have worded that better. I'm not worried about my beer going bad due to infection, but more about the fact that it's such as small beer and it won't age well. Have you noticed a big difference in flavor from when it's young to old? Does it taste better at either of those?

Thanks for the reply,
Jacob

 

[Sudz]

Have you noticed a big difference in flavor from when it's young to old? Does it taste better at either of those?

Thanks for the reply,
Jacob

I like the beer more now but I don't think that's from the brew getting better. The difference from start to finish isn't noticeable in my opinion. That's not to say there isn't a change, just that what change there is doesn't make a significant difference to me. Finishing up the tail end of one batch moving into the start of another isn't dramatic... in my humble opinion.

 

[SwampassJ]

Gave a bottle to my paramedic instructor. To quote him "I think you have something, can you make more?"

 

[pcollins]

Tagged for brewing.

 

[skunkmeister]

Just finished brewing this. It's in the fermenter and should be bubbling soon.

I managed to keep my mash temp at 157F for the duration so was very happy with that. However, my OG turned out to be 1.033. Was aiming for 1.036 or better so I'm a little disappointed that the efficiency was only 60%. In a bit of denial over that. Still, looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Also my first time using dry yeast - this is only my ninth brew to date in my very young brewing career, if I can call it that.

Will update on how it turns out. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[cbird01]

No worries skunk. It is just a few gravity points. I hit 1.034 on mine. This recipe is a no brainer. Everyone likes it. Just work these practices in as you move forward - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/maximizing-efficiency-when-batch-sparging-77125/

 

[HalfPint]

I've got mine on the boil right now! It smells great! Thanks for the recipe Orfy!