Dark Mild Session Mild (E)

[MrInternet]

The recipe doesn't state, but I assume we're racking on top of the missing water in primary?

 

[Bob]

What are your thoughts on using 4oz Rauch malt instead of the special roast? I don't have the special roast on hand and want to brew tomorrow. Have all other ingredients but that.

My thoughts? Don't.

Special Roast is a unique malt. I'm going to paste Briess's own copy here, because it's correct: Toasty, Biscuity, Sour Dough, Tangy. Whoa! This is one complex malt. With its characteristic and bold sourdough flavor, it will contribute an exciting layer of flavor to Nut Brown Ales, Porters and other dark beer styles.

Rauch malt is a completely different animal.

If you don't have Special Roast, sub in Biscuit or Victory. That'll get you much closer than Rauch malt.

MrInternet,

You are correct.

Regards,

Bob

 

[MrInternet]

MrInternet,

You are correct.

Regards,

Bob

Thanks! I plan on banging this out next week in between Thanksgiving cooking...

Anyone have a picture of what this looks like poured?

 

[Pete79]

NQ3X,

I am planning on making a partial mash version of this recipe using Marris Otter. What do you think? Should I just make the extract version?

 

[Bob]

Partial mash it all you like! Maris Otter is an excellent malt for the recipe and will taste really good.

Good luck!

Bob

 

[cd38]

not really on topic with the beer but on carbonation is there a style guideline as to how many "volumes of CO2" each style of beer should have. I have only carbed with the 3/4 c of corn sugar?

 

[Bob]

There is and there isn't. For example, any style of beer served as Real Ale should have a low carbonation level, whether it's Mild, Bitter, Porter, whatever. A bottled version of the same Porter should have a much higher level.

Here's a very rule-of-thumb set of guidelines to get you started (from BYO magazine and modified slightly by me):

Cask ales and bottled barley-wine
1.5 to 2.0 volumes
Bottle-conditioned craft ales
2.3 to 2.6
European lagers
2.4 to 2.6
North American beer, craft or otherwise
2.5 to 2.6
Wheat beers
3.0 to 5.0

Calculating volumes is fairly straightforward; I can't think of any brewing software that won't calculate bottle-conditioning sugar for you to reach a certain target.

Bob

 

[cd38]

ok very cool thanks

 

[fuma218]

Ok. Been lurking for a while and now I believe it's time to post something on here. I made this beer as my first brew back on November 11th. Sat in primary till the 18th when I bottled it. My OG was 1.041 and the FG was 1.015. It has a roasted coffee taste, but there is also an odd after taste that I can't quite figure out. It's not bad, just different. Anyways, enough chit chat and here are some pics.

 

[Bob]

There will be a roasty-toasty quality to the beer; the Chocolate and Special Roast combine.

The "odd after taste" I can't figure out without a better description.

The color in the images seems too dark, but that might be a function of the camera; most beers appear too dark without specialist photography equipment. Is it that black "in person"?

Bob

 

[fuma218]

Yea, the beer is that dark in person. When holding a light behind it, very little to no light shines through the beer itself. The after taste could just be that I notice could be just me not knowing this style of beer. I'd be willing to send a bottle so you can see for yourself.

 

[Bob]

Yea, the beer is that dark in person. When holding a light behind it, very little to no light shines through the beer itself. The after taste could just be that I notice could be just me not knowing this style of beer. I'd be willing to send a bottle so you can see for yourself.

Weird. Shouldn't end up that dark. If you'd like to send a bottle off, that's fine; I'm pleased to offer what feedback I can. I'll PM you my address.

Bob

 

[brewguy52]

Hi Bob
Why do use Hallertauer instead of a traditional English variety?
Bob

 

[Bob]

Because I had a pound of it in my fridge.

You can use any variety, really; the full boil will get rid of the vast majority of flavor/aroma constituents. Just use a low-alpha variety.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[brewguy52]

Good reason. I like your style.
Cheers,
Bob

 

[BHam]

I have an extra ounce of Hallertauer in the fridge, any thoughts on using it? I don't want to mess with the recipe much, and seeing as you had a pound on hand, I thought you may have dabbled.

 

[Bob]

That's what I used in the original recipe. Didn't seem to impact the beer adversely.

Go for it!

Bob

 

[kylegoodmaster]

I made this partial mash, and its so f-in good. BS told me it came to 2.7, so i'm going all grain and gonna boost it up a bit. think it'd be good with coffee in it? breakfast beer yknow? )

 

[kylegoodmaster]

another question..

its been in bottle for a month now. it seems to be getting sourish? kinda bright tasting. is this normal?

 

[Bob]

I really couldn't say. I've never had that problem. Though I must say I've never had it last much more than a month, and I usually keep it on draught these days.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[kylegoodmaster]

yeah i figured its just a result of not being drank fast enough.

 

[pauly71]

Sure! I most often package this in 5L minikegs with built-in taps.

Bob I'm curious what Minikegs you are using and having so much success with.

 

[Bob]

They're small kegs which hold 5 liters of beer. You have to have seen them in your local beer store; they're popular for European beers like DAB, Warsteiner, etc. Heineken also ships a LOT of beer in 5L kegs. Some American microbrewers ship 5L kegs, too, like Bell's and Rogue.

Unfortunately, new 5L kegs and spare parts are getting rarer and rarer in the homebrew supply chain. It seems that homebrewers just never took them on, preferring 5-gallon soda kegs instead. I think that's a shame.

Listermann has a supply of spare parts, and their website says they're getting more kegs in the Autumn. Any homebrew store serviced by Crosby & Baker - and that's damn near all of them - can order kegs and parts (or at least C&B used to carry those). Alternately, you can buy 5L kegs full of good beer, drink the beer, and reuse the container.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[tagz]

I'm going to be brewing this soon. Excited to try out a mild recipe. Great style. I was curious about the steeping procedure. It looks like you basically mash the specialty grains; 155 for 60 min and sparge with 170. I can definitely manage that, but does sparging bring any benefit to grains like chocolate and special roast? I'm a bit tentative with using higher temps on dark grains because I made a horribly astringent porter a while back. While it could have been due to bad milling of the black patent (or perhaps chlorinated tap water), I'm second guessing the 170 temp on the chocolate malt. What do you think? Any risk of astringency?

 

[Bob]

Well, given as my procedure has worked for me over and over without astringency issues, I'm blithely unconcerned.

I don't hold the grains at a specific temperature like mashing - it's not as though I steep in an insulated container. I simply observed the temperature drop I get from immersing a cheesecloth bag full of crushed grain in a given volume of hot liquor.

Then I "sparge" with hotter liquor to reach my desired pre-boil volume. Basically this "sparge" involves pulling the grain bag and resting it on a colander, then pouring on-the-cool-side-of-boiling liquor over the bag and letting it drip. I get all the nom nom noms from the specialty grains without a lot of mucking about.

Much of my brewing with extracts is "eye of toad, tongue of newt" when it comes to exact temperatures.

See, I do enough historical brewing without instruments that I can tell what's "mash" or "sparge" temperature by looking at the surface of the liquor.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[tagz]

Thanks for the quick reply and reassurance. Guess I'm just a little gun shy on the dark grains. I'll take the plunge back in and post my progress in a few weeks.

 

[Bob]

I look forward to reading your results!

Bob

 

[Valcarde]

I think I've found my next recipe to try.

Sounds great!

EDIT: If I'm unable to get my hands on the Briess, what could I use in its stead?

 

[Bob]

I think I've found my next recipe to try.

Sounds great!

I wish you every success!

EDIT: If I'm unable to get my hands on the Briess, what could I use in its stead?

There's really nothing which works as an exact substitute. You could try Biscuit malt. In fact, I encourage you to do so. Make it your own!

Cheers,

Bob

 

[MrWiggles]

I think I'll be brewing this tomorrow, although I have one quick question.
My stock pot is only 12quart and I've just been doing 2.5 gal boils... I know you specified that this is for a 3.5gal boil, How can I get around this?
Could I steep the grains in 1.5gal and sparge with another gallon or would this adversely affect the recipe?