Born to be Mild

[orlando]

Out last night and had Old Hooky (first part was right way passed it's best), Summer Lightning, which was rubbish, probably down to how it was kept and finally, with little expectation at this point, Oscar Wilde Mild; it was fabulous. I'd never had it before and was unaware it was the champion beer of Britain last year (must stop brewing my own and get out more). I have had a little rummage in here but not found a recipe. From their website it tells me very little other than Challenger hops are used. Can anyone help with a clone of this?

[seymour]

The brewer of Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild tells us: ABV=4.7%, "A wonderfully mellow, moreish dark mild. Brewed using Maris Otter, Pale Crystal and Black malts and gently hopped with Challenger." So, here's my clone recipe:

Most drinkers remark about the coffee flavour, so in addition to the black patent malt, I'm calling for a spot of actual coffee. Oscar Wilde Mild has almost no hops aroma, which is why I only call for bittering and flavour additions. Many milds are described as fruity, but not so much this one. For that reason, I recommend a cleaner English ale yeast. This may be a stretch, but my first choice would be Safale S33 dry yeast, believed to be the old Edme strain, from Essex, same as Mighty Oak.

6 US Gallons = 5 Imperial Gallons = 22.7 Liters

85% ≈ 7 lb ≈ 3.18 kg, Maris Otter two-row pale malt
12% ≈ 1 lb ≈ .45 kg, Pale Crystal ≈ 10L
3% ≈ ¼ lb ≈ .11 kg, Black Patent Malt

Bittering hops: .25 oz = 7.1 g, Challenger, 90 minutes
Flavor hops: .5 oz = 14.2 g, Challenger, 30 minutes

Mash ≈ 67°C until converted. 90 minute boil.

OG ≈ 1.038, ABV ≈ 3.7%, IBU ≈ 16, SRM ≈ 17

Couple pinches of calcium carbonate in mash. Irish moss near end of boil for clarity. Ssssh!…this part is our little secret: buy or brew a cup of your favorite medium-dark roast coffee. Just one cup--mind you,--the way you like to drink it, and pour it into your fermentor. Prime with 1/3 cup brown sugar, boiled with some water.

[orlando]

Thanks Seymour, you like reviving old threads .

Well I have now brewed my own version (it's in the cask as I type). I like the idea of the coffee infusion and as part of the whole infusion thing I looked quite hard at the mash of this brew. I was reading Gordon Strong's book Brew Better Beer (really good book and at least a recent one compared to most) he made a telling point in the book about dark grains. His take is why mash grains with no diastatic power, if you do all you do is akin to putting a freshly brewed coffee on a hot plate for 90 minutes with the inevitable outcome of an over stewed bitter, harsh and acidic cup of coffee. I thought about that and decided he was right, it's not how I like my coffee and it's not how I want my beer. I decided to add the dark grains during the vorlauf and the result is particularly pleasing and mightily close to that creamy and flavoursome mild I experienced that night. When it pours from the cask it settles out like a Guiness it is absolutely lovely; you know what I'm going to get one now!

Thanks for the tips, got to go .

p.s. I called it Born To Be Mild!

[seymour]

Sounds delicious, orlando, thanks for the update!

[Wolfy]

Thanks Seymour, you like reviving old threads .

Well I have now brewed my own version (it's in the cask as I type). I like the idea of the coffee infusion and as part of the whole infusion thing I looked quite hard at the mash of this brew. ... When it pours from the cask it settles out like a Guiness it is absolutely lovely; you know what I'm going to get one now!

Since this is the Recipe forum, are you going to post the details of what you did?

PS I think Seymour must be bored today, lots of old threads brought back from the graveyard.

[stitch]

Doesn't amber malt impart something of a coffee flavour?

Can't say I've used it that much, and when I did it was probably drowned out by all sorts of other stuff, but it definitely smells of milky coffee in the bag.

[orlando]

Thanks Seymour, you like reviving old threads .

Well I have now brewed my own version (it's in the cask as I type). I like the idea of the coffee infusion and as part of the whole infusion thing I looked quite hard at the mash of this brew. ... When it pours from the cask it settles out like a Guiness it is absolutely lovely; you know what I'm going to get one now!

Since this is the Recipe forum, are you going to post the details of what you did?

PS I think Seymour must be bored today, lots of old threads brought back from the graveyard.

I didn't take pictures but will post up the recipe and some observations if you like, have to be tomorrow now.

[Cazamodo]

Just noticed this thread. I love a pint of Oscar Wild Mild, unfortunately its not usually avaliable around here unless theres a local ale festival on and they have a cask left over. Would be great to see your recipe or anoyeone elses and hear how it came out. Ive never brewed a mild before so why not try for something that resembles and ocsar wild mild

[orlando]

Away for a few days will post recipe next week.

[seymour]

Away for a few days will post recipe next week.

LIAR!!!

[orlando]

Blimey, guilty as charged I can hardly believe this was nearly a year ago. But OK a promise is a promise so here it is.

Recipe: Born To Be Mild
Style: Mild
TYPE: All Grain



Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 34.31 l
Post Boil Volume: 28.81 l
Batch Size (fermentor): 25.00 l
Bottling Volume: 24.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 50.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 19.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 64.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3.000 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 65.2 %
0.600 kg Crystal Malt (140.0 EBC) Grain 2 13.0 %
0.250 kg Torrified Wheat (3.0 EBC) Grain 3 5.4 %
0.200 kg Carafa I (880.0 EBC) Grain 4 4.3 %
0.100 kg Black Malt (1280.0 EBC) Grain 5 2.2 %
20.00 g Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] - First Wort Hop 6 17.0 IBUs
0.450 kg Brown Sugar, Light (15.8 EBC) Sugar 7 9.8 %
1.00 tsp Protafloc (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 8 -
10.00 g Fuggles [3.85 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 1.9 IBUs
10.00 g Fuggles [3.85 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 0.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 11 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 4.600 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 12.52 l of water at 74.9 C 68.9 C 45 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 27.64 l water at 75.6 C

Tasting Notes:

First sip after coming out of fridge, now placed in cellar at 16.9.

Not got full carbonation yet and was too cold for a proper evaluation but already there is a smoothness to the brew, with definite coffee like overtones. Bitterness was more apparent as you would expect at these temps so a weeks time once it has warmed up and possibly fermented a little more should prove very interesting.

15/8/12

Tasted again at 16c and this was much better, a creamier mouthfeel and of course a little sweeter. Bitterness was still a tad forward but I don't mind that. Carbonation is still low so putting in the fridge for a few days hasn't been enough. Wait a couple of weeks and then try again. Measured pH at 4.3 at 17c. Recommended range is 4.0-4.5 so happy with that.

24/8/12

Still very lively in the cask but as it is close to 18c in the cellar it's not surprising. The issue is that despite being lively it is still relatively flat but not in a horrible way. Amazingly the bitterness is a little too forward which at 19.7 IBU's is surprising so need to knock it back more. Could require cold conditioning in the fridge to get it carbed up properly. Flavour is good but probably still needs some more ageing. Think I should try steeping the grains next time.


_____________________________________________________

I thought it might be a little more interesting to include the tasting notes above as I had largely forgotten this brew. It reminds me of why I invested in a keezer and the cornies. Controlling conditioning and serving temperatures was becoming a major inhibitor to my beers.

This brew had me trying a few things that were new to me, I had top cropped a yeast from a previous brew and grown it up on a stir plate, I batch sparged adding the dark grains after the initial mash in an attempt to smooth out these flavour additions, I pumped to my chiller for the first time (didn't go well). I had some problems with attenuation but despite all this I note I was pleased with the outcome but remember that final few pints were not particularly memorable. I like Mild and have been trying to get something like Oscar Wilde Mild from Mighty Oak. I got closer with my next one, A Walk on The Mild Side, but will brew my next one in winter.

Hope this satisfies Seymour and my apologies for my tardy response .

[seymour]

No need to apologize, of course. I'm just teasing you. That's a really good-looking recipe, by the way. Thanks for sharing!

I've never used Carafa in a mild, nor have I added the dark grains after initial sparge, was that because you wanted the dark colour but not any toasty/roasty flavours?

Another question: it seems a lot of times when I see Goldings and Fuggles used together in a recipe, it's Fuggles for the full boil bittering addition, and Goldings for the later aromas additions. Would you say that's true, and do you know why that is? I see you switched that around. Is it because you prefer the flavour and aroma of Fuggles in dark ales?

[orlando]

No need to apologize, of course. I'm just teasing you. That's a really good-looking recipe, by the way. Thanks for sharing!

I've never used Carafa in a mild, nor have I added the dark grains after initial sparge, was that because you wanted the dark colour but not any toasty/roasty flavours?

Another question: it seems a lot of times when I see Goldings and Fuggles used together in a recipe, it's Fuggles for the full boil bittering addition, and Goldings for the later aromas additions. Would you say that's true, and do you know why that is? I see you switched that around. Is it because you prefer the flavour and aroma of Fuggles in dark ales?

I knew you were only teasing but never the less.....

Couple of points then. The use of Carafa was an experiment to see how it compared to a standard chocolate malt (English) the non-mashing was an observation by Gordon Strong who argued that as they don't need mashing why do it and, more pertinently, he argues that keeping potentially harsh tasting grains in hot water for 90 minutes is a bit like keeping coffee on a hot plate all day, eventually it leeches astringency and bitterness. By steeping the grains in cold water you smooth this out. I think you still get the roasty but not necessarily the burnt toasty flavour.

The bittering is I'm afraid a little lost in the mists of time. Traditionally hops were nearly always added at the beginning of the boil, late additions are a relatively recent phenomenon. My Goldings have more IBU's than the Fuggles so I chose to do it this way to cut down on the amount of "veg" in a longish boil. Can't really remember if this was important in the end as the amount was low as you would expect in a mild. Might make more of a difference in a lighter mild, don't know, never tried it.

Like I said it was a brew that explored a few ideas (too many to make sense really) which produced a very acceptable beer that I wish now I had bottled, the packaging choice let it down a bit.