Mild Recipe Advice

[Philipek]

Wow! 28C
You're supposed to avoid high temperatures because the yeast produce esters which taste of bananas among other things, so that's probably where your fruit are coming from. I don't know though. I'm new to this game. However, esters are feature of some beers. I've read that if you leave the beer to condition in the bottle long enough, the yeast will clear up those esters.

I'm lucky, I'm in Canada and it's bloody freezing.

You should try the t-shirt over the fermenter sitting in a basin of water trick.

I used to drink mild that I had bought in cans from Morrisons for a ludicrously low price. It was cheap because it was very low in alcohol - 2.5 or 3, something like that - and it tasted great. It was perfect because I could drink it on a weeknight without getting drunk, and it was cheap - score! It did not taste of fruit. From what I remember (this was over 3 years ago) It was like a session porter. It was toasty malty coffee. No fruit.

If you like the fruit it's not really a problem.

[O'Henry]

I thought the temp might have had something to do with it. I did have a wet towel over the brew but the temp outside and in the house was 35-40C most days so there was not much I could do. It didnt get much cooler in the night time, so it was quite elevated for the whole brew. How long will the esters take to clear up, if at all?

[Philipek]

Mate, all I know is what I've read on forums much like this one.

There was a post on another forum titled "Don't ditch your beer" or something like that. The temperature hit 35 degrees in the crucial stage of the fermentation. When it was supposed to ready it tasted of bubblegum. Two months later, the bubblegum taste had considerably diminished but was still there. 8 months later the bubblegum taste had completely disappeared!

That post stuck in my head and made me feel a lot better about all the little piddly mistakes (and some of the larger mistakes) I've made. I'll see if I can find it again and post you a link if you want to read it for yourself.

So, if you don't like fruity mild, put it away (at 21 degrees if that's possible) and brew again. How about frozen bottles of water in the water basin with the fermenter? Swap 'em out when they're completely melted. That works quite well according to what I've read.

Wow! 40 degrees. -40 I'm familiar with. I can't even imagine what +40 feels like.

[mashweasel]

Guys,

Fruity esters are produced at lower tempertures not high which is where you get the higher alcohols (banana) and spice.

[mysterio]

No.3 Invert sugar? Is there a commercial name for that?

[Philipek]

Mashweasel, thanks for putting me right. It's nice to have a qualified beer judge weigh in.

Is it a good idea to leave the beer to sort itself out as I suggested?

I love your avatar, by the way.
If someone beats you in a homebrew competition, does he or she get to unmask you?

Phil

[clogwog]

Yup, 40ºC + is not unusual in Aus in summer.

That's why I can only brew by fermenting in my beer fridge with a TempMate to control the temperature.

I haven't brewed for about 7 weeks, so I'm hanging out for it, but tomorrow is definitely "brew day".
I have a starter of WY1968 on the go at present.

This is the plan, don't know it's a true "Mild", but it's about 1 to 1½% ABV lower than my usual results, which is all I'm after.

Not Wild Mild
Brewer: Robert Asst Brewer: Elsie the Pug
Style: Mild TYPE: All Grain
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 25.83 L
Estimated OG: 1.043 SG
Estimated Color: 24.1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 21.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

3500.00 gm Pale Ale (5.9 EBC) Grain 82.16 %
390.00 gm Crystal Medium (145.0 EBC) Grain 9.15 %
220.00 gm CaraMunich II (120.0 EBC) Grain 5.16 %
150.00 gm Amber Malt (85.0 EBC) Grain 3.52 %
35.00 gm EK Goldings [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.5 IBU
20.00 gm Willamette [4.60 %] (10 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Starter

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion 68ºC, Batch Sparge