Sunday 5 April 2015

AG#17 - Mild times again.....

Yes, yes, I know. It's been over a year since my last post. A lot has happened in that time; not least the ripping off of the old kitchen and much of the back of the house, and the grafting on of a new extension. Therefore, brewing was a tad difficult  all the way through summer, and, for one reason or another, I never got back to it until a month ago.

At least in the new configuration of the downstairs there is something of a separate utility space, where I can store brewing stuff and brew without much hassle! And I haven't been beerless...oh no. From our annual Christmas Crawl around the city (not as successful in beer terms as previous visits, I thought), to a number of festivals, via acquiring a new book or two (Greg Hughes' recipe book and John Palmer's epic 'How to Brew'), and attending an AG brewing course at Brew UK. The latter showed me that I wasn't getting it all wrong and that BIAB was almost as good a technique as real AG brewing, particularly at my low volumes.

So, I sit here, writing away, supping on my first two pints of Greg Hughes' 'Mild' recipe. And it's pretty good. I didn't quite hit my gravities, so the beer comes in at 3% only, but it's toffee and chocolate just as you might expect from the crystal and chocolate malts. The hops might be a bit much for a true mild, but they come in at the end, so that keeps your palate going for the next sip.

The one major difference with this was that after talking to a few old hands on the course, and brewers at the newly formed Butcher's Hook Brew Club (attached to our fantastic micropub in Southampton), I used plain old tap water. I did adjust for alkalinity, which I can measure at home, but that was about it. And can I spot the difference? No, not really, unless the fact that it's not bad is an improvement!!

Might try and beef this up to a richer, stronger mild next,

GREG HUGHES' MILD

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Mild
Boil Time: 70 min
Batch Size: 9.5 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 18.5 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.024
Efficiency: 67% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.036
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 3.3%
IBU (tinseth): 29.35
SRM (morey): 17.69

FERMENTABLES:
1.498 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (83.3%)
0.25 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (13.9%)
0.05 kg - United Kingdom - Chocolate (2.8%)

HOPS:
11.2 g - Northdown, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8, Use: Boil for 70 min, IBU: 29.35
10 g - Bramling Cross, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 6, Use: Aroma for 0 min

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 18.5 L

YEAST:
White Labs - English Ale Yeast WLP002
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 66.5%
Flocculation: Very High
Optimum Temp: 18.33 - 20 C

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name:
Ca2: 0
Mg2: 0
Na: 0
Cl: 75
SO4: 0
HCO3: 0
Water Notes:
23.7 ml of CRS

Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2015-04-05 21:07 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2015-04-05 21:06 UTC