Mild Recipe Advice

[Digby Swift]

Here is my first draft at a mild I am planning on brewing next week. I've never made a mild before so am after the input of the resident gurus as to whether I ought to adjust the recipe :-

5 Gallons
OG:1.045 at 80% efficiency

Pale Malt 2450 grams 57%
Mild Ale Malt 730 grams 17.1%
Munich Malt 610 grams 14.3%
Torrefied Wheat 215 grams 5%
Sugar 120 grams 2.9%
Crystal Malt 120 grams 2.9%
Chocolate Malt 41 grams 1%

Fuggles 90min 20EBU

Mash: 68C
Yeast: Windsor


I thought about the sugar after reading an old post by Aleman as to his usual mild grist in order to thin it out a bit whilst leaving the dextrins from mashing at a high temperature, basically I have stolen this recipe from him . Any thoughts on the type of sugar? I am after a nice easy drinker with a good deal of body. I have never used mild malt or windsor yeast so I am unsure what this will turn out like really. Will there be much malt flavour? Will a late aroma addition confuse the tastes of the malt? I've never made a beer without an aroma addition.

Any thoughts and suggestions extremely welcome,
Thanks

[floydmeddler]

Digby Swift
6-B Blonde Ale

Size: 23 L
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 137.21 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.041 (1.038 - 1.054)
Terminal Gravity: 1.010 (1.008 - 1.013)
Color: 4.58 (3.0 - 6.0)
Alcohol: 4.06% (3.8% - 5.5%)

Ingredients:
2450 g English 2-row Pale
730 g English Mild Ale
610 g Munich TYPE I
215 g Torrified Wheat
120 g Dextrose
120 g Crystal 15
41 g Chocolate (dark)

Looks good. It fits into the Blonde Ale category pretty perfectly. I would ditch the sugar idea and add some delicious honey instead. 500g either at the last minute of the boil or 3 days into fermentation should do the trick!

Cheers

[Digby Swift]

Thanks for the advice. I am surprised it qualifies as a blonde ale. Unfortunatly I am not a fan of honey so I don't fancy doing that, nice idea though. Have you got an opinion on using brown, demera or whatever other fancy sugars there are about? do you reckon there will be much flavour coming from that grist?

Interesting name you have for your hobgoblin clone I don't think it would sell all that well

[boingy]

That's quite a high OG for a "modern" mild (typically mid-30's). Mild ales of old used to be stronger though so it's a personal preference thing
If it was me I would either drop the OG or boost the IBU by 5 points or so.

[Digby Swift]

That's quite a high OG for a "modern" mild (typically mid-30's). Mild ales of old used to be stronger though so it's a personal preference thing
If it was me I would either drop the OG or boost the IBU by 5 points or so.

Is that because you think it will be too sweet? Its hardly going to be a monster at 4-4.5%

[boingy]

Is that because you think it will be too sweet? Its hardly going to be a monster at 4-4.5%

Like I say, it's a personal preference thing.

[Digby Swift]

Fair enough. I was just going for low hopping to see if I could get a quick maturing beer on.

[floydmeddler]

Haven't really experimented with sugar too much apart from Molasses. Drinking a pint now in which I put 100g in. 100g imparts a stinging aniseed quality. Made a note to self to only use 70g in future as 100g is just a tad too much.

Not a fan of honey?

[floydmeddler]

Interesting name you have for your hobgoblin clone I don't think it would sell all that well

Lol... Believe me, that brew was a nob worth gobbling!!

Oh, and no Brighton jokes please!

[Digby Swift]

Oh, and no Brighton jokes please!

missed that opportunity.

Perhaps I don't like honey as I've never really eaten it, I find most things I can develop a taste for if I keep eating them.

Looks like i'll just give that recipe a try as soon as some ingredients get delivered and see what happens.

[floydmeddler]

Go for it. Keep us posted.

[colonial]

Personally, I think that the higher mash temperature will round out the maltiness with a hint of sweetness. It's the way that I like a mild to be.

Just my .02p.

[mashweasel]

The best milds I've had (commercially) and made are done with a good portion of dark invert sugar. I prefer the No. 3 but if you can't get ahold of that then use some treacle. Its really hard to get that much dark fruity character out of grain w/o making the beer overly roasty/ acrid.

[Philipek]

Sorry, can I barge in on this?

I was thinking of making a mild this weekend, and Norman's Mash tun mild fits my ingredients.

viewtopic.php?p=79837#p79837

Mashweasel, you say that the best milds are made with sugar. Could I add sugar to this recipe? If so, how much? It goes in the boiler right? I only ask because the St. Peter's Honey Porter has the honey go in the ferementer as fermentation gets under way.

Thanks

Phil

[O'Henry]

I recently brewed and AG mild and it didnt turn out quite as I expected. It was much fruitier. Is Mild usually like this? (having never actually drank English Mild)
My recipe was:
4kg pilsner malt
500g crystal malt
30g fuggles full boil
safale S-04 yeast.

It was fermented at around 25-28C as it was high summer in Australia at the time. Could this have had the adverse affects?