Guilding the lilly - "IBA"

[macleanb]

Hi

I have a few kilos of mild ale malt which I picked up v cheap. Now I have never realy had much in the way of brown ales (except newkie) and never touched a drop of mild as far as I know.

From what I have read, both these styles seem to focus on malt flavours, but I am a lover of more hoppy styles & IPA (yes SteveD I know there not really IPA's)

I was considering making a more IPA like recipe with plenty of both bittering and late hops (oh and then some more hops) - but with mild ale malt rather than pale malt - any views on this/recipes?

Will I end up with to much going on?

Also I seem to be confused re diastatic activity, some seem to say its lower, but some higher (not that I am thinking of adding any adjucts bar a little wheat) just curious.

Please note this will be only AG #2 or #3 - so go easy with me.

cheers & ttfn benm

[Barley Water]

Why don't you make what we call over here an American Amber Ale or maybe an American Brown Ale. An American Amber is really a pale ale with more crystal than an American pale ale (it tends to be maltier than an American pale ale). It does however have the big hop bitterness and flavor that you like. An American Brown ale is basicly an English Brown ale that has been souped up (we tend to do that to everything over here). The beer is bigger in every way than an English Brown, more malt, more hops and of course more alcholol. Both these styles probably need an O.G. in the 1.050 to 1.060 range.

To tell you the truth, I like malty beers better so I have not actually messed with either of these styles myself. Both are pretty basic beers so you should not have any trouble making them (simple single step infusion mashing at normal ale temperatures). Take that first big step and come up with your own formulation using the many available clone formulations as a guide to get you into the ballpark. This hobby is even more fun when you come up with your own unique product, good luck.

[macleanb]

Many thanks Barley Water for the encouragement - any comments on (from anyone):

9.00 lb Mild Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 8.89 %
0.75 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 6.67 %
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [2.80 %] (90 min) Hops 10.8 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (90 min) Hops 10.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
1.50 oz Styrian Goldings [2.80 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.10 oz Burton Water Salts (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
5.00 gal London, England Water
1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale