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

[Dr. Francois]

I will... I'll do the 3 days in a row hydrometer thing (I usually just wait a month in primary and then bottle). It went from 1.035 to 1.012 in 2.5 days, so I think I'm getting down pretty quick.

I would cold crash as soon as you hit FG. It will clear the sucker right up before bottling.

 

[grimstuff]

I would cold crash as soon as you hit FG. It will clear the sucker right up before bottling.

It's finishing around 1012... to be expected with the WLP005, I guess. I can only drop the temp to 60F degrees, though, because I only have a water bath to work with. Good news is it'd pretty damn drinkable straight from the fermenter!

 

[BenjaminBier]

Great brew Orfy. This is my new house favorite.

 

[grimstuff]

Just wanted to update on mine... it's been conditioning about 6 weeks now and it tastes better and better. It's my go-to lunch beer! And the 2.5-3.0% abv actually affects me more like a 4%, so it's really not an issue.

 

[Soldevi]

So....My LHBS only has US chocolate and crystal. They DO have Maris Otter.

Would this turn out ok? The chocolate is 500 Lov. And we're talking normal Nottingham not windsor right?

 

[Dr. Francois]

So....My LHBS only has US chocolate and crystal. They DO have Maris Otter.

Would this turn out ok? The chocolate is 500 Lov. And we're talking normal Nottingham not windsor right?

I've found Briess crystal and roasted malts to be inferior to British counterparts for English-style ales. I'm not sure about other maltsters.

For example, Fawcett Crystal II (about 57-65L) is uniformly coloured and rich in flavor. Briess crystal 60 is mottled and not uniform; it looks very much like a blend of darker and lighter crystals were blended to get the right "balance."

Most English chocolate malts are the requisite 375-450L while Briess standard chocolate comes in at a pallid 350L. If I have to use Briess chocolate, I usually have to use more or add some de-bittered black malt to color-correct.

All of this said, you will still make a lovely mild with U.S. ingredients...I would venture a guess that a large percentage of US brewers who brew this recipe use domestic specialty grains.

To your yeast question, yes, use Notty. Windsor, by many reports, takes a long time to clear, and this beer is very good very young.

 

[Soldevi]

Brewed this on the 26 of Oct. So tomorrow will 13 days. I cant decide if I should keg this tomorrow and have it ready for the weekend or wait another week.

Help me decide. lol

 

[Echoloc8]

Brewed this on the 26 of Oct. So tomorrow will 13 days. I cant decide if I should keg this tomorrow and have it ready for the weekend or wait another week.

Help me decide. lol

As has been said elsewhere, this recipe drinks best when young. I know when I made it the first two weeks from the keg were the best, and after that it was merely good-to-OK.

-Rich

 

[evandena]

I'd like to give this recipe a shot this weekend, but I'm going to have to attempt it with a little bit different grains, due to availability. Would any of these be viable replacements? I tried doing some L to SRM calculations, and ordered the following grains:

Briess Chocolate Malt
Thomas Fawcett Pale Chocolate Malt
Briess Caramel Malt 60L
Bairds Medium Crystal Malt

I'm also going to have to use GWM Northwest Pale Ale Malt in place of Maris Otter, not sure if that will change the above recommendation.

Which combination would you recommend? I'm not planning to use all of them, but I ordered a few pounds of each so I would have the option of choosing.

Thanks!

 

[evandena]

I'd like to give this recipe a shot this weekend, but I'm going to have to attempt it with a little bit different grains, due to availability. Would any of these be viable replacements? I tried doing some L to SRM calculations, and ordered the following grains:

Briess Chocolate Malt
Thomas Fawcett Pale Chocolate Malt
Briess Caramel Malt 60L
Bairds Medium Crystal Malt

I'm also going to have to use GWM Northwest Pale Ale Malt in place of Maris Otter, not sure if that will change the above recommendation.

Which combination would you recommend? I'm not planning to use all of them, but I ordered a few pounds of each so I would have the option of choosing.

Thanks!

Anyone? I'm running out of time.

 

[Dr. Francois]

I'd like to give this recipe a shot this weekend, but I'm going to have to attempt it with a little bit different grains, due to availability. Would any of these be viable replacements? I tried doing some L to SRM calculations, and ordered the following grains:

Briess Chocolate Malt
Thomas Fawcett Pale Chocolate Malt
Briess Caramel Malt 60L
Bairds Medium Crystal Malt

I'm also going to have to use GWM Northwest Pale Ale Malt in place of Maris Otter, not sure if that will change the above recommendation.

Which combination would you recommend? I'm not planning to use all of them, but I ordered a few pounds of each so I would have the option of choosing.

Thanks!

I would go with the Baird's crystal and the Briess chocolate. If you can get an English chocolate (not pale), use that. You might add 10% more chocolate to get closer to the color of the original...Briess chocolate is obnoxiously light.
I like English specialty malts quite a bit more than Briess, across the board.

I see no problem with the base malt swap.

 

[evandena]

I would go with the Baird's crystal and the Briess chocolate. If you can get an English chocolate (not pale), use that. You might add 10% more chocolate to get closer to the color of the original...Briess chocolate is obnoxiously light.
I like English specialty malts quite a bit more than Briess, across the board.

I see no problem with the base malt swap.

Thanks for your reply. I did exactly your recommendation. I'm excited to see how this one turns out!

 

[artwk]

This is awesome.

Almost a month old here. I did force carb some 2 liters at 12 days....i think those tasted a little better, nice and "fruity". The chocolate seems to come out a little more now. Delicious.

I never topped off with water, so this is a little stronger.
OG 1.046
FG 1.009

 

[bruderbier]

I just tried this one. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Ended up at 1.042 OG and 24 IBUs. Hope I taste the Notty at that gravity. I'll definitely try again to try and hit the lower gravity.

Thanks for the recipe Orfy.

 

[natureboy68]

Brewing 10 gallon batch now!

 

[zeprock2]

I got all the ingredients for this brew last week but won’t be able to brew until tomorrow (12/21.). I was hoping to have it ready for my new years party. Do you think the beer will be drinkable in 10 days?

 

[evandena]

I got all the ingredients for this brew last week but won’t be able to brew until tomorrow (12/21.). I was hoping to have it ready for my new years party. Do you think the beer will be drinkable in 10 days?

Yes, that's what OP says.

 

[Orfy]

Drinkable yes. At it's best? probably not.
It'd be a shame to kill the keg at day ten but if you have no alternativr then it's not a bad option.

Some comercial micro brewers are sending beers out at day five but then they are cellar conditioned for up to a week.

 

[zeprock2]

Drinkable yes. At it's best? probably not.
It'd be a shame to kill the keg at day ten but if you have no alternativr then it's not a bad option.

Some comercial micro brewers are sending beers out at day five but then they are cellar conditioned for up to a week.

Thanks. I'll try kegging it early and see what happens.

 

[evandena]

I think this beer might be my 2012 MVP. It's cheap, fast, easy, and boy does it taste good.
It's flavorful, yet refreshing.

 

[zeprock2]

Kegged this on day ten so I could have it on tap for NYE. Everyone really liked it even though it was still a little green. Even converted a strict coors light drinker that never drinks my "hipster beer" lol.

 

[rpg]

I was inspired to try making a dark English mild after tasting Yards Brewing Company's Brawler. I didn't necessarily want to clone it, but I wanted something pretty similar. To that end, I settled on Mild Mannered Ale. I'm not a fan of strong roasty flavors, so I made two versions of the recipe based on ingredients I had on hand, substituting some Special B for some chocolate malt in the second version.

Version 1
3.25 gallon batch.
3.75 lbs Bairds pale
1 lbs crystal 60
3 oz English chocolate (adding during last 15 minutes of mash)
0.6 oz US Goldings (4.9% AA) 45 minutes
0.6 oz US Goldings (4.9% AA) 15 minutes
S-04

Version 2
2.5 gallon batch.
2.75 lbs Bairds pale
0.75 lbs Crystal 60
3 oz Special B
1 oz English chocolate (adding during last 15 minutes of mash)
0.45 oz US Goldings (4.9% AA) 45 minutes
0.45 oz US Goldings (4.9% AA) 15 minutes

Both times I did a 158 F mash for 60 minutes as a BIAB (so I lost a few degrees during the mash), and I hit OG was 1.041 and SG was 1.010 both times.

Attached is a picture. From left to right: Version 1, Version 2, and Brawler.

I must have messed up somewhere, because Version 1 still tastes a little off (like some weird green beer flavor) despite being in the bottle for 8 weeks. Version 2, on the other hands, makes me happy. It's light, but has some flavor. Compared with Brawler, the color is almost dead on (slightly darker), it's not quite as malty, and its hop flavor is ever-so-faintly stronger. A more refined palette would probably detect more specific differences.

I'm quite enjoying Version 2, and I'm sure I'll make it again.

Cheers for the original recipe!

 

[rpg]

I forgot to mention that I used US-05 for version 2.

 

[bruderbier]

It is amazing how this little beer changes over time. I can understand why cellarmanship is such a skill on these lower gravity Real Ales. Mine (OG 1.042/24IBU) peaked in flavor after 4 weeks in the keg. I didn't care for it at week 2 (roastiness was too harsh, dead and thin finish), week 3 was meh, and week 4 was delicious! (turned to malty chocolate with a rounder mouthfeel). Now it's gone!

 

[themcnabs]

1

 

[Dr. Francois]

I just kegged my half batch last night. OG 1.038, FG 1.014.

I mashed at 160F for maximum body.

I also used Crisp chocolate, which is several degrees darker than most. I can detect the extra roast.

Fermented with S-04 (I'm a fanboy for Fermentis) at 64F for 6 days, cold crash at 40F for 2 days, and into keg for 12 hour 30PSI carb followed by several days at 7PSI.

Thanks again for the recipe, Orfy. And thank you to the community for the informative discussion!

 

[kryolla]

Since I did my 1st all grain 5 gallon batch with this recipe I also did my first 10 gallon batch today. Split it wit nottingham and s-04

 

[rico567]

Knocked out my first batch of this today, inaugurating my Spring brew season on April Fool's. As I don't brew in Summer nor Winter, I was expecting the usual suspects to "fool" me after a four-month hiatus, but pretty much everything went pretty smoothly.
The results, however, were somewhat "too good" for what's in this recipe. When all was finished, I ended up with an OG of 11.2 Brix, which comes out to @ 1.045, significantly high for this recipe. I suppose that could be accounted for by just getting higher efficiency. The weight of grist (@8.5 lbs), as well as everything else, were pretty much right on the money....although the morning was cold enough that it threw off my mash temp, which was 3F low at 155F....but I don't see these factors giving me that big a beer. Oh, well, there goes my dream of a sub- 4% mild, at least this time around. As popular as this beer appears to be, we'll see what happens in the next batch.

 

[rico567]

This is day 10, and I went from 1.045 to 1.014. Well, this seems to be the experience of several people in this thread, so I'll check the FG again Monday and bottle.

 

[JKaranka]

I made a somewhat similar mild last Wednesday. It almost finished fermenting by Saturday, so I casked it on Sunday (without priming). It's to be drank in its entirety on Friday, which makes it 9 days. Fingers crossed!