Dark Mild Reaper's Mild, 1st place 2011 HBT Competition

[Coldies]

I just did this with different hops I used northern brewer and willamette and only had 4 oz chocolate do you think it will be close

This is funny, I just used those exact hops this weekend, Willamette for bittering and Norther Brewer for aroma. Kept my chocolate the same but also used Pacific Northwest Wyeast. Should be interesting. I have brewed the original recipe a lot and wanted to change it up. Will let you know how it comes out in 2 weeks.

 

[nghtmre4u]

I will be kegging mine on the first I will let you know too.

 

[seatbelt123]

I just did the original recipe. 5.5 gallons using my eBIAB rig. Easy and cheap ($17 w/o yeast).


I used Wyeast British Ale 1089 mi noticed the recipe a while ago and had it on my list to brew. Then I started a starter for the white house honey ale AND learned that I needed to have a keg ready for the weekend of 11/17. Ding! Perfect excuse to do your recipe. After decanting about 800ml of starter I topped it up and will have enough for my originally planned beer in a few days.

Anyway, I'll be able to report on the low end of the grain to glass range.

FYI - I used Crisp Pale Chocolate malt which is ~ L260 and described as good for milds. Perfect.

 

[christopherrburns]

seems like a really small grain bill for a 5 gal batch. Did I miss something or am I just in a hurry to spend more money and my brew shop??

 

[azscoob]

seems like a really small grain bill for a 5 gal batch. Did I miss something or am I just in a hurry to spend more money and my brew shop??

This is an English brown mild, it is a low gravity session ale, so there is less grain in it than a higher gravity beer, the beer has big flavor from the malts used in it, so you get a great tasting beer with a lower ABV so it won't mess you up too bad, perfect for enjoying when you still need to get things done.

 

[christopherrburns]

Sounds like a winner. Going to use this as a base for a gingerbread beer for the holidays.

 

[Haputanlas]

Yummmm, that looks fantastic! I have been adding a bit of debittered black to this lately, I love the flavor it adds when used in small amounts!

How much have you been adding? Just curious because I was thinking of adding some as well.

 

[azscoob]

How much have you been adding? Just curious because I was thinking of adding some as well.

I substitute an ounce or two of the chocolate malt for the debittered, still working out an exact amount.

 

[seatbelt123]

I just did the original recipe. 5.5 gallons using my eBIAB rig. Easy and cheap ($17 w/o yeast).


I used Wyeast British Ale 1089 mi noticed the recipe a while ago and had it on my list to brew. Then I started a starter for the white house honey ale AND learned that I needed to have a keg ready for the weekend of 11/17. Ding! Perfect excuse to do your recipe. After decanting about 800ml of starter I topped it up and will have enough for my originally planned beer in a few days.

Anyway, I'll be able to report on the low end of the grain to glass range.

FYI - I used Crisp Pale Chocolate malt which is ~ L260 and described as good for milds. Perfect.

I kegged mine today. It sat at 1.015 for a few days so I considered it done. I wasn't able to cold crash it because my fermentation chamber is occupied, but the samples were so clear I felt okay skipping this step. Also, the samples tasted very nice. I've never had a true mild (11A) but the sample definitely seemed pointed in the right direction. I did notice that mine lacks the described "fruity" aroma - I'd probably blame that on the Wyeast 1098 which is supposed to be pretty neutral.

Anyway, I'll post another update in a few days when it's carbed. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[JKaranka]

My batch of this beer has a strong burnt flavor as well. In my case I'm thinking that it is due to the "dark chocolate" malt I was provided by my LHBS in an attempt to meet the 350-550 L that azscoob specified in the recipe. It has an almost ashy flavor. If I do this again, I'll definitely tone that back. I do however, find that the burnt flavor is actually less noticeable if I drink it warm.

Milds should definitively be drank on the warm side. Often pubs keep the milds at the same temperature as other beers and, as with bitters, you have to give them a few minutes to warm up for the maltier flavours (that in this case are pretty much all the flavours there are!) to come up.

Btw, I'll give a go at messing with this recipe on my fourth or fifth batch, I'm a big mild fan as a break from hoppy styles. Knowing me I'll probably end up adding some crystal rye

 

[jclark1299]

First Mild and first time hitting over 80% efficiency. Looking forward to the results, no tweaking of the recipe and it smells glorious!! Also the Cowboys won which makes today a great day!

 

[Haputanlas]

First Mild and first time hitting over 80% efficiency. Looking forward to the results, no tweaking of the recipe and it smells glorious!! Also the Cowboys won which makes today a great day!

I know... Shocking, isn't it?

Anyways, please post your results from the first tasting. Looking forward to it

 

[sgraham602]

trying to decide which yeast to use. WLP 002 English Ale or WLP 039 Nottingham. any experience with either of these?

 

[azscoob]

trying to decide which yeast to use. WLP 002 English Ale or WLP 039 Nottingham. any experience with either of these?

I have used both with very good results, the Nottingham is called for in the recipe, but the 002 is quite delicious as well

 

[sgraham602]

awesome. thanks. I got the 039 which is labeled the East Midlands Ale, but I've read that it is the liquid version of Nottingham.

 

[nghtmre4u]

Here it is

 

[sgraham602]

well. it was a fairly successful brew. Had to stop my second batch sparge short because it went below 1.008, so I topped up the kettle to get my volume. Ended up with a OG of 1.032. can't wait for it to be in the keg.

 

[royal1911]

This is an English brown mild, it is a low gravity session ale, so there is less grain in it than a higher gravity beer, the beer has big flavor from the malts used in it, so you get a great tasting beer with a lower ABV so it won't mess you up too bad, perfect for enjoying when you still need to get things done.

azscoob, thanks for the recipe and inspiring me to brew something other than pale ales and ipa's. I just got my grains in and plan on brewing this tomorrow. I ordered EKG and willamette instead of fuggles. Which one should I use for bittering?

 

[azscoob]

azscoob, thanks for the recipe and inspiring me to brew something other than pale ales and ipa's. I just got my grains in and plan on brewing this tomorrow. I ordered EKG and willamette instead of fuggles. Which one should I use for bittering?

I personally would use the wilamette for your 45 minute bittering addition and the EKG for flavor/aroma addition, this is simply because I love the flavor of EKG hops later in the boil, one of my favorite hops!

 

[user 131481]

Thanks for the recipe and tips. I brewed this a 3.5 weeks ago with ingredients I had left over from various other batches throughout the year. I ended up toasting some pils malt in my oven as well. It's been carbonating in bottle for 10 days and I sampled one last night. Pretty awesome for such a young beer... Again thanks for the great recipe!

 

[royal1911]

I personally would use the wilamette for your 45 minute bittering addition and the EKG for flavor/aroma addition, this is simply because I love the flavor of EKG hops later in the boil, one of my favorite hops!

Awesome, thanks.

 

[sudbuster]

Azscoob, dude. How could I have missed this thread? Oh, I remember now. I wasn't reading HBT then. Anyway, belated congrats on the win and the recipe looks great. I copied it for my future brews. Thanks...

 

[Haputanlas]

Any recommendations on water profile for this brew? I typically use RO water and build up from there.

 

[topshelf331]

This is my first attempt at a home brew. All my numbers came in dead on throughout the process. (Im an airplane mechanic, so following directions to a T is ingrained in me). Unfortunately I didn't have a tube for my Hygrometer on brew day. So I'm just going to let it sit on the cake for 3-4 weeks, cold crash, prime and bottle. Oh, and my local home brew supply didn't have WLP002, so I used WLP005. Cant wait to see how it turns out. Im marking this one up to a learning experience. As long as its not contaminated, Ill be happy. Ill just watch the FG in a few weeks and make the transition.

 

[JKaranka]

topshelf: traditional mild wouldn't be let to sit for that long, as you drink it a bit more 'green' than other brews, anyway, neither conditioning it those extra two weeks will hurt nor not doing it and crashing after two weeks

 

[topshelf331]

Okay, thanks for the info. I may just go ahead and bottle it after the 10 days then. Since im a noob, I'm kind of blind sided by how short of time this beer can be ready. Im cool with that though. Its the quicker I can brew the next. I absolutely love brewing beer so far. I think its all the variables.

 

[Haputanlas]

Brewed this yesterday with a few tweaks.

- Used Crisp UK Pale Ale malt
- Only one addition of EKG hops at 45 minutes (5.8% AA)

 

[Haputanlas]

Just out of curiosity, can anyone tell if the 15 minute addition makes any difference on a beer with such low IBUs?


In addition, this style is supposed to have little to no hop perception. Would a 45 minute addition be enough to keep this beer tasting the same as the original posted recipe?

 

[jfrank85]

Just out of curiosity, can anyone tell if the 15 minute addition makes any difference on a beer with such low IBUs?

In addition, this style is supposed to have little to no hop perception. Would a 45 minute addition be enough to keep this beer tasting the same as the original posted recipe?

The difference between a 60 and 45 minute shouldn't be too noticeable, maybe a touch more flavor from the 45, not much. 60 will bitter more though. A 15 minute will add flavor and a bit of aroma to the beer.

 

[Haputanlas]

The difference between a 60 and 45 minute shouldn't be too noticeable, maybe a touch more flavor from the 45, not much. 60 will bitter more though. A 15 minute will add flavor and a bit of aroma to the beer.

I get that, I'm just wondering if this 15 minute addition will actually do anything with this small of a beer and with that small amount of hops with such low alpha acids.