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

[arbadarchi]

Also I only measured out half of the first addition (tired not drinking too much) so I added the rest of the first addition with the second and will boil an extra 10 mins or so

*brew pal says to boil an extra 3 mins to hit my target ibu. Never brewed with fuggles before so I guess I'll get a better look at it

 

[Damoxemus]

Got all the grains for this and will brew it tomorrow. For hops I have Willamette and EKG. Any recommendation on which should be for 60 and which should be for 10?

 

[arbadarchi]

Just bottled my batch. Drank 8 oz worth flat and it was really nice! Very nutty with hints of English chocolate. Really looking forward to it

 

[Damoxemus]

Just kegs mine. Drank the last bit from the racking cane and its seems like it's gonna be a gooder!

 

[eelgerg]

Brewing a 10g batch of this on Sunday. Increased the Maris Otter to 13 lbs which ups the ABV out of the style range, but I'm ok with that. Otherwise will brew exactly as this reads. Looking forward to it!!!!

Question - could you add oats or anything to help improve the mouthfeel to a bit of a creamier experience?

 

[jwalkermed]

Why not S-04 with this recipe if you are try to emulate the english style?

 

[arbadarchi]

Why not S-04 with this recipe if you are try to emulate the english style?

I used s-04 and it turned out great!

 

[eelgerg]

Brewed a 11 g batch of this today. Used 13 lbs of MO to up the ABV a bit, but only ended up hitting a OG of 1.025. Tasted it and it's not very sweet. I'm worried. It may end up tasting a bit thin. Not sure what went wrong - hit all my volumes pretty well (13.6 gal bee-boil)

 

[eelgerg]

Wow. So I decided that there is no way in heck and he'll that I could have been so waaaaay of with my process as to get such a low original gravity reading, and I got another hydrometer to check and sure enough the actual OG of the wort before fermentation was actually 1.044 instead of 1.025.

WHEW!

That is pretty close to what it should have been based on beersmith, minus a few changes to the sparking process. Which brings up some interesting questions:

- what causes a hydrometer to give such a different reading?

- how does one enter the actual sparging data. I did two batch sparges of 5 and 4 gal each to reach my target volume of 13.6 gal before boil. Would I just select "batch sparge, medium body, two stage" and enter the actual volumes?

 

[eelgerg]

Oh yeah and I made a hop switch and used US goldings instead of fuggles. Hope it works out. I assumed "it's English so it has to work for a northern mild!"

 

[eelgerg]

Before boil, using screwed hydrometer View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447904210.425459.jpg

 

[eelgerg]

OG reading using the GOOD hydrometer View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447905247.862817.jpg

 

[azscoob]

OG reading using the GOOD hydrometer View attachment 317061

Looks a smidge strong, still looks great though!

 

[arbadarchi]

Before boil, using screwed hydrometer View attachment 317058

My hydrometer was reading 4 points off on my last brew but is reading normal now... It's a mystery to me? I think it reads off if it has residue stuck on it?[emoji16]

 

[eelgerg]

Looks a smidge strong, still looks great though!

Remember I upped the MO content to 13 lbs for an 11 G batch........

Should be bang on what I was targeting depending on how well S-04 attenuated this beer - what is everyone's usual FG (1.010-1.015?)

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Wow. So I decided that there is no way in heck
- what causes a hydrometer to give such a different reading?

Temperature effects the hydrometer reading. Most are calibrated for 70f I believe, so if your wart was hotter than that than, the gravity would read low. You can take the temp and find an online conversion tool if you can't wait to get your gravity.

 

[eelgerg]

Looks a smidge strong, still looks great though!

Remember I upped the MO content to 13 lbs for an 11 G batch........

Should be bang on what I was targeting depending on how well S-04 attenuated this beer - what is everyone's usual FG (1.010-1.015?)

 

[azscoob]

Remember I upped the MO content to 13 lbs for an 11 G batch........

Should be bang on what I was targeting depending on how well S-04 attenuated this beer - what is everyone's usual FG (1.010-1.015?)

I tend to finish at 1.011-1.012 with s-04

 

[arbadarchi]

Mine finished at 1.017 with s04 taken straight from a previous batch

 

[eelgerg]

Checked the gravity after 10 days in primary and it's at 1.014. Gonna give it another week and see if it can get down to 1.010. Still bubbling so I figure yeast are still eating something.

I wouldn't say that it tastes AWESOME right now - kinda light but my experience is that flavour comes out as it gets carbonated. Hoping to pull my first pint in 10 days from now.

 

[Damoxemus]

Mine finished at 1.010 (OG was 1.044 iirc).

 

[Zepth]

Brewed this up a few weeks ago. Well a variation using Goldings and S-04 to be exact. OG spot on, FG 1.013.

First impression was that it was bland with an almost sickly sweet aftertaste. Check recipe, check brew notes, review what % non-base malt to use as general recommendations. Confused as h3ll. About 2 weeks after the first impression, damn! Completely unrecognizable from before. Nice body at first, almost no aftertaste, a damn fine pint. I've heard that milds are supposed to be ready to drink young, but I may have pushed the envelope on that one. All I can say is that it's on tap now and as soon as I tap the second keg I'll be starting another batch to make sure there's a couple ready when it kicks.

FWIW fermented at 18C. Didn't get much flavour from the yeast IMO at that temperature. Next time around I'll probably raise it to the questionable 20C mark for S-04 and see if it becomes more English-y.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Brewed this yesterday afternoon. Happily fermenting right now.

MC

 

[azscoob]

Brewed this up a few weeks ago. Well a variation using Goldings and S-04 to be exact. OG spot on, FG 1.013.

First impression was that it was bland with an almost sickly sweet aftertaste. Check recipe, check brew notes, review what % non-base malt to use as general recommendations. Confused as h3ll. About 2 weeks after the first impression, damn! Completely unrecognizable from before. Nice body at first, almost no aftertaste, a damn fine pint. I've heard that milds are supposed to be ready to drink young, but I may have pushed the envelope on that one. All I can say is that it's on tap now and as soon as I tap the second keg I'll be starting another batch to make sure there's a couple ready when it kicks.

FWIW fermented at 18C. Didn't get much flavour from the yeast IMO at that temperature. Next time around I'll probably raise it to the questionable 20C mark for S-04 and see if it becomes more English-y.

I've drunk more pints of this than any other beer I brew, it's a year round favorite! I've been hitting 1.010 on my gravity for about a year now. With the carbonation set to 1.05 volumes, I just nudge the perlick faucet open and essentially "sparkler" the beer to get a nice creamy head. Magnificent! As for waiting, I have gone grain to glass in 7 days, and I've also waited a month, all different flavours depending on age but I really like 2-3 week range for my tastes. mmmm!!!!

 

[Malty_Dog]

Brewed this up this past Saturday, really smooth brew day. Hope that's a sign of good things to come in 2016. Hit the numbers nicely, now fermenting a bit cooler (62-ish), but will transfer to 68-ish in a day or two.

 

[deere322]

Bottled this one up today, 1/2 pint sample was very tasty.
Looking forward to 3 weeks from now, but I know just as well I won't be able to hold off that long.

 

[nackedei]

Brewed ten gallons of this (only changes were I used the Willamette and WLP002 I had) over the weekend.

60 hours at 66f, went from 1.034 to 1.011, with fermentation all but stopped. Ramped it up two degrees over the next 12, and it dropped another point. Will keep it here for another day or two before I get around to kegging it.

Look forward to enjoying it for the Super Bowl, will report back.

 

[motobrewer]

I've drunk more pints of this than any other beer I brew, it's a year round favorite! I've been hitting 1.010 on my gravity for about a year now. With the carbonation set to 1.05 volumes, I just nudge the perlick faucet open and essentially "sparkler" the beer to get a nice creamy head. Magnificent! As for waiting, I have gone grain to glass in 7 days, and I've also waited a month, all different flavours depending on age but I really like 2-3 week range for my tastes. mmmm!!!!

Mine always goes on nitrous
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1452713150.037332.jpg

 

[thunderwagn]

Holy crap that looks delicious!

 

[azscoob]

Mine always goes on nitrous
View attachment 329804

Ooooh I need to get set up for nitro pours, how's the mouthfeel?