Walk on the Mild Side

[El Pistolero]

Director's Note: Please feel free to spin an old Lou Reed platter while perusing this post.

So I'd been having a horrible case of brewer's block lately...I just couldn't seem to get going on any of the new projects I had planned, and couldn't even be bothered to bottle the one's I already had in secondary (I had one in secondary since 11/21 - almost six weeks ). Anyhow, I figured maybe something easy would help, so I brewed up an English Mild. A little bit of grain, a little LME, hops I already had, and a wyeast smack pack without a starter. Talk about just the tonic I needed...a quick brew session and quick cleanup, fermentation took off quick even without the starter, and it finished quick too (brewed 1/7, looked done yesterday, 1/10). This one was so much fun I'm beginning to wonder why I really want to move to all grain.

Black Cat Real Lancashire Ale
(Adapted from Beer Captured)

9 oz. British Chocolate Malt
7 oz. British 55°L Crystal Malt

4 lb. 10 1/2 oz. Alexander's Pale LME
8 oz. Invert Sugar
1 pkg. Burton Water Salts

1.5 oz. Fuggles @ 4.2% AA (4.2 HBU) (bittering)

1/4 oz. Fuggles (flavor)
1 tsp. Irish Moss

Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Yield: 5.5 gallons
OG: 1.037
FG: 1.006
SRM: 65
IBU: 18?
ABV: 3.4%

So, everyone sing along now...Hey Babe, take a walk on the mild side.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Sounds great to me. I switched to all grain because that's what I do...follow all hobbies to their natural or unnatural conclusion. I like it, don't really mind the time/effort outlay (which is only different on brewday). Fabricating the equipment is fun, and I get a nice sense of satisfaction from taking grains to beer. Sure don't see anything wrong with extract brewing or the occasional quick brewday, though.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

Sounds great to me. I switched to all grain because that's what I do...follow all hobbies to their natural or unnatural conclusion. I like it, don't really mind the time/effort outlay (which is only different on brewday). Fabricating the equipment is fun, and I get a nice sense of satisfaction from taking grains to beer. Sure don't see anything wrong with extract brewing or the occasional quick brewday, though.

i like a British mild. don't know why i don't brew more???

i'm like BeeGee. i take things to an extreme when i do em. like pizza for example, i love pizza. i make and proof my own dough, make my own marinara, use fresh basil, fresh local italian sausage, etc. call me a purist, not an extremist

 

[El Pistolero]

i'm like BeeGee. i take things to an extreme when i do em. like pizza for example, i love pizza. i make and proof my own dough, make my own marinara, use fresh basil, fresh local italian sausage, etc. call me a purist, not an extremist

I'm the same way...and sometimes it gets in the way. You mention pizza...it takes me two weeks to make pizza, because I have to go to the meat market for pork shoulders so I can make the sausage and age it before I even start on the pizza dough. Then since I'm at the meat market, I might as well get a couple more shoulders to smoke, and if I'm gonna fire up the smoker I might as well get a few chickens too. By the time I'm done that slice of fresh homemade pizza has cost me $150 and 96 hours cooking. It's always good pizza tho.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

we all have too much in common :~)

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

We should start a support group. With homebrew and homepizza.

 

[BlightyBrewer]

This one was so much fun I'm beginning to wonder why I really want to move to all grain.

"Decide you must what to serve your brewing best. If you leave now, help your brew you could but you would destroy all for which they on the forum have fought and suffered."

"Strong are you with the brew"

"You must complete with your training!"

...wise words indeed....

 

[El Pistolero]

"Decide you must what to serve your brewing best. If you leave now, help your brew you could but you would destroy all for which they on the forum have fought and suffered."

"Strong are you with the brew"

"You must complete with your training!"

...wise words indeed....

Wise you are master...endeavor to endure will I.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

"Decide you must what to serve your brewing best. If you leave now, help your brew you could but you would destroy all for which they on the forum have fought and suffered."

"Strong are you with the brew"

"You must complete with your training!"

...wise words indeed....

i didn't know Yoda was also a jedi brewmeister

 

[Kaiser]

By the time I'm done that slice of fresh homemade pizza has cost me $150 and 96 hours cooking. It's always good pizza tho.

Wow, And I thought I'm going pretty far by making my own dough (like DBR).

I gues that's why we are here in the first place, the love of cooking and making the stuff we like from scratch.

I thought about this last night and realized that I'm actually able to make all the foods I like from scratch:
- Beer
- BBQ
- Bread
- Sausage
- Pizza
- Pastry (especially Back Forest Tart, yum)

Speaking of the simple brew. I had the same thoughts when I made a HB Berchtesgadener Hell clone on Sunday. Though I have been doing lots of partial mashes lately, I decided to follow the extract+steeped grain version of the receipe. 3 hrs and I was done. I even has 2 cups of yeast to pitch from a previous batch which means I had fermenation going 2hrs after pitching. I guess that was my most perfect brewday so far

Kai

 

[BlightyBrewer]

i didn't know Yoda was also a jedi brewmeister

Wasn't he brewing in "The Empire Strikes Back".

"When 900 years you reach, brew as well you will not"

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

Wasn't he brewing in "The Empire Strikes Back".

"When 900 years you reach, brew as well you will not"

as a matter of fact he was.....

nice call oh jedi master Blighty!

 

[david_42]

In the last year, I've done two all extract, two with specialty grains, three mini-mashes. two all grains and a couple ciders. Most of my IPA's are extract, since I'm playing with the hop profile, all of my heavies are mini-mash (although the grain bill for the last barley wine mini-mash was bigger than my latest all grain).

I could use a good hot, spicy Italian sausage recipe. New York deli-style hot, not Texas chili hot. No one in Oregon makes a decent Italian hot.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

I could use a good hot, spicy Italian sausage recipe. New York deli-style hot, not Texas chili hot. No one in Oregon makes a decent Italian hot.

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