AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

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Monkeybrew
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AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by Monkeybrew » Sat Feb 10, 2018 9:40 am

With both kegs running dry, the pressure was on to get a mash on and with a slim 6 hour window on Monday between 9am-3pm, I got cracking.

I wanted to brew a session style beer for my 20L Crusader keg + a few bottles, so decided on my first AG Dark Mild.

After a fair bit of recipe planning indecision, I read something that stuck in my mind, about a particular Dark Mild recipe being like a mini Porter (can't remember where I read this), so I put together the below recipe.

On the brewday morning, this recipe was just going to be known as 'Dark Mild, but as there was snow on the ground and in the air, it was christened 'Bleak Winter Mild' .

The brew went nice and smooth, considering I was constantly clock watching and my only concern was my mash pH reading being a bit high, but i read up on this while brewing and it seems that a higher pH can suit darker beers.

I will post some pictures when I return from a family break in Cornwall this week.

Bleak Winter Mild
Mild

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 24.0
Total Grain (kg): 3.980
Total Hops (g): 39.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.037 (°P): 9.3
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 3.34 %
Colour (SRM): 23.6 (EBC): 46.4
Bitterness (IBU): 24.1 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 74
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.985 kg Mild Ale Malt (75%)
0.398 kg Brown Malt (10%)
0.199 kg Chocolate (5%)
0.199 kg Crystal 120 (5%)
0.199 kg Crystal 80 (5%)

Hop Bill
----------------
16.0 g Northdown Leaf (9.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
23.0 g Progress Leaf (6.8% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
2.5 g Calcium Chloride @ 90 Minutes (Mash)
1.6 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 90 Minutes (Mash)
2.5 g Calcium Chloride @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.6 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
3.0 g Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 19°C with Danstar Windsor

Notes
----------------
Starting Alkalinity - 151ppm CaCO3
AMS @0.14ml/L
Treated Alkalinity - 122ppm CaCO3

Water Profile - Graham Wheelers Mild

Mash pH - 5.60

Pre-boil Gravity - 1.034 @19C

Mash Efficiency - 79%

Recipe Generated with BrewMate

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

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orlando
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Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by orlando » Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:47 pm

No reply yet!

Well I for one like the look of that MB, might steal it. :lol: If you have any Special B I would sub that in for the light crystal (just 100g though, powerful stuff), it will add a lot more complexity and maltiness to this, which is what Mild is all about. :beer:
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by Monkeybrew » Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:24 pm

orlando wrote:
Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:47 pm
No reply yet!

Well I for one like the look of that MB, might steal it. :lol: If you have any Special B I would sub that in for the light crystal (just 100g though, powerful stuff), it will add a lot more complexity and maltiness to this, which is what Mild is all about. :beer:
Damn it, I had 100g of Special B left in a bag, and had thought about using it when I was pondering recipes.

Ah well, will have to brew another at some point.

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by orlando » Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:54 pm

Well wait till this is in your mitt first, might just be what you want.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:45 am

Here are a few Brewday pic's.
20180205_091108.jpg
A bit chilly out here!
20180205_093417.jpg
The Mash looking a little lost in there
20180205_094344.jpg
Mash pH sample
20180205_120913.jpg
Waiting for the boil
20180205_141655.jpg
Running off into the FV
I checked the gravity last night and it is currently sitting @1.013, so about 3.20% ABV.

The flavour was a mix of toasty bread & mild coffee and the clarity looked fairly reasonable, considering I've used Windsor yeast.

I hope to keg and bottle a few later this week.

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

McMullan

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by McMullan » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:31 pm

That sounds lovely. Consider it nicked already :D

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by orlando » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:58 am

McMullan wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:31 pm
That sounds lovely. Consider it nicked already :D

Well I did warn you. :D Before I do mine I would like to know wat you think of the body on this, I think 68-69 for the mash temp. Yeast choice is interesting, only ever used it once but I understand it gives lot of body to a beer so could be a good choice.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

McMullan

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by McMullan » Tue Feb 20, 2018 7:18 pm

orlando wrote:
Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:58 am
McMullan wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:31 pm
That sounds lovely. Consider it nicked already :D

Well I did warn you. :D Before I do mine I would like to know wat you think of the body on this, I think 68-69 for the mash temp. Yeast choice is interesting, only ever used it once but I understand it gives lot of body to a beer so could be a good choice.
I'm going with WLP022/Essex Ale :D

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
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Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun Apr 01, 2018 10:24 am

I thought that I better update this post with a pint picture and my thoughts on the finished brew, now that it has been in the keg for 4 weeks.

I checked the gravity again before kegging/bottling and it was actually 1.014 and not 1.013, so it had finished at 3.10%.

This brew drinks a little bit bigger than it's ABV, due to a decent FG and some nice dark malt flavours. I would describe the body to be medium and very drinkable :beer:

I have been tweeking the serving temperature since kegging and sampling, and I find that 15C is the sweet spot for me and my taste buds, as it loses some flavour below this. PSI is set to approximately 8, and this delivers a moderate head that hangs around for a couple of minutes before flattening out.

The flavour is initially more bready toasty malt, but then it finishes with a more of a roasty edge than I was expecting, which is still nice, but I would probably use slightly less chocolate malt next time.

In conclusion, it is very easy to sink 2-3 pints on a Sunday afternoon and it looks a lovely deep dark red/brown, when held up to the light :)

Cheers

MB
Attachments
20180311_155003.jpg
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: AG#27 - Bleak Winter Mild

Post by orlando » Sun Apr 01, 2018 11:26 am

Well it certainly looks good. =D>
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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