Batch #18: Mild Brown Ale

The first in a flight of British-style ales, this one will hopefully be ready quickly to join the Belgian pale on tap, and be a good starter for the subsequent brews. The yeast is a top-cropper to make re-use easy.

The recipe is a variation on Northern Brewer's mild recipe, with double the amber malt and a different yeast.

Recipe

Grain Bill

6.5 lbs. Crisp Maris-Otter
8 oz. Crisp Amber Malt
4 oz. Crisp Brown Malt
2 oz. Chocolate Malt (unknown origin -- an ex-brewer's leftovers)

Hops

1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.7% AA) @ 60 min

Yeast

WLP022 Essex Ale yeast. Pitchable tube, no starter.

Mash

Single infusion mash, 60 minutes at 156F. Mash-out for 10 minutes at 167F.

Vitals

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.012
Calculated IBUs: 24 (Hops purchased late Sept '02, so IBUs probably much lower)
Carbonation: 12 PSI @48F

Timeline

Brew day: May 3, 2003

11:43 am: Mash-in 156F with 3.25 gallons 170F water +/- a quart
12:43 pm: Add 2 gal boiling water to raise temp to 167F
12:55 pm: Add 2 gal "sparge charge" @170F
1:05 pm: Begin runoff (no sparge). Runoff stuck because of fast flow rate and high head pressure (very full mash tun). Stirred and re-recirculated at a lower speed to un-stick.
1:32 pm: Runoff finished, 5.5-6 gallons collected. Boil gravity 1.036.
2:28 pm: Boil starts
2:38 pm: Add hops.
3:00 pm: Add chiller and Irish moss.
3:38 pm: Cut burner and start chilling.
3:55 pm: Chilled to 73F, whirlpool.
?? pm: Rack and pitch.

About 24 hour time to krausen. Fermented at 66-68F (pantry).

Racked to secondary (and low 60s basement) May 8. S.G. 1.012.

Kegged May 24. Force carbonated.

Tasting notes

5/28/2003

Dark reddish-brown, clear, and lightly carbonated (for now). Rich, toasty malt foundation is balanced by a mild hop bitterness and an assertive roasted grain bitterness. Yeast character is visible in a light breadiness which accentuates the smooth malt flavors. The only flaw is a kind of bitter harsh/stale chocolate malt flavor in the finish. If I were to do this again, I'd probably use a touch of black patent for the color, and maybe all amber malt instead of the amber-brown cocktail....

6/16/2003

OK, the chocolate has finally mellowed, and it's a good beer. Six weeks from brewday, and it's ready :-/

Very malty, with a smooth toastiness, light bitterness, and a dry, biscuity finish. Hops disappear, contributing little more than a clean balancing bitterness. Yeast character brings out the soft malt flavors. Definitely a keeper. It's not the 2-4 week mild, though. That will be a different recipe.

7/21/2003

Aroma and flavor have settled into a mixture of raisin and cocoa notes, with more cocoa evident in the flavor. Flavor is full, but gives way to a bone dry finish, and a lingering flavor of cocoa powder. Hops are not evident at all, except that the beer is very far from sweet. Dry, crisp, and chocolaty, this is a definite quaffing beer at this point, with not much subtlety to contemplate. [Which is good, since I just blew the last half-growler from the keg :-)]

For next time, the beer could use a little more sweetness, or a fuller body. Crystal malt, protein-rich adjuncts, or a sweeter yeast strain would help. The chocolate malt seems to have fouled up this brew -- by the time the chocolate harshness mellowed to a drinkable extent, all the other flavors had faded. Perhaps it should be replaced by a smaller amount of black patent or a larger amount of crystal.

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