Black & Extra Mild

Today's brew completes the trifecta of session ales. First I brewed an extra hoppy Bitter American clone that was like a hop shot to the brain. Then I brewed an extra funky and spicy session Saison with a strong yeast personality but low alcohol presence. This time I will be highlighting some sweet and roasty malt by brewing an English Mild.

My first attempt at brewing an English Mild in early 2013 was less than stellar since I bottled either before fermentation was complete or with too much priming sugar. Either way it was very overcarbonated and made me feel not so 'Mild.' I was very excited having the opportunity to brew with Mad Fox's house yeast but this time I decided to go with the more familiar Nottingham ale yeast. I do intend to try brewing again (maybe several more times) with the yeast from Mad Fox but that will be a yarn for future tales.

I wanted to double the amount of chocolate malt in the recipe to give it more charred flavor than a typical mild but without the harsher bite a black malt can contribute. So the extra chocolate will put the 'black' in 'black and mild.'

Recipe Notes
Style: Mild

Batch Volume: 4 gal.
Color: 28 SRM
Target Bitterness: 24 IBU
Target OG: 1.035

Grist
3 lb. 2-Row
1 lb. Crystal 60L
11 oz. Crystal 40L
8 oz. Special Roast
8 oz. Chocolate Malt

0.5 oz. Fuggles 5.3% (60 min.)
0.5 oz. Fuggles 5.3% (30 min.)

Nottingham Ale Yeast

Brew Notes
Brew Date: 8/3/14
Mash Temp: 152F
Mash Time: 75 min.
Boil Time: 60 min.
Fermenter Volume: 4.75 gal
Measured OG: 1.030
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71%

The big mistake I made with this brew regarded water calculation. I decided to do a 4 gallon brew instead of a 5 gallon to help speed up the process and to go through the keg a little faster. However I used the same amount of mash water that I usually do anticipating I would add less water after the mash.

So I started with 5.5 gallons of water and after the mash ended up with 5 gallons of wort, losing about 0.1 gallons per pound of grain. The hour long boil only reduced that by 1/4 gallon so I ended up with 4.75 gallons of wort for the yeast to munch on. This lowered my gravity from the calculated 1.035 to 1.030 turning this into an English EXTRA Mild. On this up side this might be my first brew the clocks in at under 100 calories per bottle.

So for an average 4 gallon brew I should be using slightly less than 5 gallons in the mash. For these session ale's I've been brewing a lot of lately it'll be maybe 4.75 gallons.

Update 8/13/2014 - Racked the now 1.009 SG Mild to secondary - my 'ole oak whiskey barrel. Put a 1/2 gallon of water in the whiskey barrel (which hasn't seen use for a few months) and it was leaking all over the place. I guess this enforces the importance of rehydraing your barrels. Brought 5 gallons of water up to 180F, dumped it into the barrel, and let it sit for 60 minutes. This should help sanitize the barrel and swell the wood to seal up any gaps. It worked like a charm. The water I dumped out of the barrel smelled great. Nice and woody with the sweet whiskey/bourbon aroma and a bit of roasty char. Hated to see it go down the drain. Racked the mild into the barrel and plugged with a rubber stopper. No airlock.

Update 8/18/2014 - Pulled a sample with Mrs. DrewsBrew's autosiphon. Nice and roasty with a little char character. Not much contribution from the whiskey yet. Will sample again in another week. Gravity is 1.008.

Kegging Notes
Measured FG: 1.008
ABV: 2.9%
Calories: 98
Carbonation: 2.3

Update 8/26/14 - Kegged today after 13 days in the whiskey barrel. Tastes oak-y and with a dry aftertaste but roasty and sweet initially. Definitely enough time for this petite mild. Tastes pretty good uncarbonated at room temperature. I'm actually afraid of losing some of the flavor once it's chilled and carbed.

English Mad Mild

Fermentification

So you like beer but feel trapped in a world of high ABV extreme craft brews? Me too. I've been on a very brief quest (barely left the Shire) for a good low ABV beer to accompany days of lawn mowing, snow shoveling, etc.

After cruising around the forums at HomeBrewTalk.com I came across this little recipe from a poster named Orfy. His Mild Mannered Ale has received 33 pages(!) of reviews and recommendations. I decided it's a shoe-in for my next brew. Low ABV beers also lend themselves well to the Brew In A Bag (BIAB) method so it works well with my small setup. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Mad Fox's Ale Yeast

My first step on my low-ABV journey led me to Mad Fox Brewing Company, in Falls Church, VA. I've been enjoying their <4% Mason's Mild for some time now and ordered one on a particular Saturday in November. Fortune smiled upon my wife and I when our server asked if we'd like a behind-the-scenes tour of the brewery. Hell yes!

Our tour guide, Charlie Buettner, asked if there were any homebrewers in the crowd and I sheepishly raised my hand. I had been brewing for about three weeks at this point and could barely tell a ball valve from a bung hole. Charlie mentioned they regularly dispose of 40lbs. of yeast per batch and would rather give it to homebrewers than dump it down the drain. After taking him up on this offer I went home the proud parent of billions of little ale yeast cells.

The Grist + Willamette Hops

Now with an English yeast in hand and most of the ingredients in inventory it was time to craft a recipe. I was able to obtain all of the grains from my local homebrew store but had to substitute Willamette hops for the Fuggles called for in the recipe. Since I've never used an English style hop before I imagine I won't taste much difference.

After noticing a bit too much trub in the fermenter from my last brew I decided to increase the mill gap to 0.028" from 0.025". The BIAB method lets me use a finer crush than a traditional mash and lauter system because there's no worry of stuck sparges.

Makeshift Mash Tun

The BIAB method isn't all upsides though. One problem we have with this method is retaining heat during the duration of the mash period since the brew kettle serves as our mash tun. One great suggestion I found online was to wrap the brew kettle in an old sleeping bag (remove from stove first...).

Over the course of the 60 minute mash I lost only four degrees and that includes stirring the mash every 15 minutes. This brew was mashed at 158 degrees to promote a more dextrinous wort to give this low ABV mild a little substance.

Fancy Cooling System

After mashing I ended up with a pre-boil gravity of 1.048, waaaay over what I was shooting for with this 1.037 OG mild. Future brews will need to account for these epic ~95% BIAB efficiencies. After calculating a 1/2 gal. water addition during the chill phase I ended up with a 1.037 OG on the money! That also helped reduce my chill time which is pretty... chill.

At the end of the day my 4 gal. recipe ended up yielding 5 gal. after overestimating evaporation and low-balling my efficiency estimate. Free beer!


Recipe: Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale

Brew Date: 1/27/2013
Style: English Mild
Batch Volume: 4 gal.
Type: All grain
Boil Time: 60 min.
Color: 21.6 SRM
Target Bitterness: 24.7 IBU
Target OG: 1.037
Target FG: 1.009

4.5 lb. Maris Otter Malt Recipe
1 lb. Crystal 60L
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
0.75 oz. Willamette Hops (Bittering)
0.75 oz. Willamette Hops (Flavor)
8 oz. Ringwood Ale (Wyeast 1187) yeast slurry

Brew Notes
Mash Temp: 154 - 158
Mash Efficiency: 96%
Pre-Boil Volume: 4.75 gal.
Preboil OG: 1.048
Post-Boil Volume: 4.5 gal.
Post-Boil OG: 1.044 (Why is this lower than pre-boil? Measurement error?)
Water Added: 0.5 gal.
Dilluted OG: 1.037
Dilluted IBU: 19.1
Brew Time: 4h50m (1 hour to heat mash liquor)
Actual FG: 1.012
ABV: 3.3%
Calories: 123

2/2/2013 - Pulled a sample to test gravity. SG is 1.013. Mash temp was a little high so not surprised if this is about as low as it gets. Plan to bottle next weekend regardless. Tastes pretty good, a little chocolaty and sweet. Julie detects a coffee aftertaste but she's a coffee bloodhound.

2/10/2013 - Pulled a sample. SG reading 1.012.

2/16/2013 - FG finished out at 1.010. Collected 4.75 gal. from carboy, yielded 47 bottles. There was a lot of flour/grit on the side of carboy after racking. Probably need a coarser grind. Not much appeared to transfer into the bottling bucket though. The roasty finishing character mellowed out a bit. Julie finds it a little more pleasing. I'm leaving these bottles on the main floor where it's a little warmer for one week to carbonate then plan to cellar.