Mild Ale

I just poured a sample of the mild ale to check the gravity. Gravity stands at 1.012 right now. It hasn't bubbled in a days, so I think it's done. I'll check again tomorrow night, but if it's done I'm kegging it.

The sample has a nice toasted biscuit malt backbone with a hint of sweetness. A mild toasted aroma with a bit of earthy hops. The bitterness is just up there enough to provide balance, but is otherwise unnoticeable. This is a delicious session beer. I think this one's even better than the first all grain bitter I brewed. YUM! Can't wait to have it kegged, chilled and carbonated.

Mild Ale: Quick Update

It has been twelve days since the Mild Ale was brewed. The fermentation took off really quickly that night and was vigorous for a few days. There is still activity currently, though it is slow. I will keep an eye on it and once I've noticed the fermentation completely trail off, I will take a gravity reading. It would be nice to get this beer in a keg early this week; I've needed a kegged session beer for a while now. This beer should end somewhere around 4%ABV.

Brew Day: Mild Ale

I was looking for a new session beer to put on tap and decided to brew a Mild Ale. The revised recipe is below:

Mild Ale

-4 lbs Mild Ale Malt
-3 lbs Maris Otter
-.25 lbs Chocolate Malt
-.25 lbs Crystal 60L
-.5 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 60 minutes)
-.25 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 30 minutes)
-.25 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 5 minutes)
-Wyeast #1968 London ESB yeast

Mash at 154F for 60 minutes.
Original Gravity: 1.042

The gravity was higher than I expected, based on my usual efficiency, so the longer sparge time I had today must have helped get me some extra extraction from the grains. The volume was dead on, as was the mash temperature, so today was a really good brew day. Hopefully, with the starter going strong yesterday, this brew should be done fermenting by the weekend and should be ready for the keg sometime next week. That's the beauty of low gravity beers: quick turn-around! :)

Now to plan the first real summer beer. That's probably gonna be a Witbier.

Homebrew Recipe: Mild Ale

Alright, with the brown porter keg kicked, I need a new session beer to put on tap. I'm thinking a mild ale would be nice. The recipe I have tentatively put together is below. If anyone has suggestions let me know.

Mild Ale

-4 lbs Mild Ale Malt
-2 lbs Maris Otter
-.25 lbs Chocolate Malt
-.25 lbs Crystal 60L
-.5 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 60 minutes)
-.25 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 30 minutes)
-.25 oz Kent Golding hops (4%AA 5 minutes)
-Wyeast #1968 London ESB yeast

Mash at 150F for 45 minutes.

The next beer after that is most likely going to be a wit style as the summer quickly approaches.