AG#9 Greg Hughes Mild

[matt76]

Pg.164 if you're playing along at home.....

Brewed this last night - pretty much just halved the recipe in the book for a ~12L brew, except for a few minor changes in Brewers Friend. I also changed the hops to first gold as I have a load in the freezer from AG#8:

1.35kg mild malt
250g dark crystal
50g chocolate malt
150g flaked barley

9g first gold 9.16% 70 mins
5g first gold 9.16% 5 mins

8x2L = 16L Tesco Ashbeck water

Half a protofloc tablet

I built a starter earlier this week from 1/3 pack of Wyeast 1028 so in that went at the end.

All went smoothly, no drama - last time out I started using some very fine weave grain and hop bags and once again these seem to be capturing a lot of crud so hopefully this will reduce the amount of trub.

I'm pretty sure I've never tried Mild so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out!

 

[Clint]

I'm brewing today....I considered this one but think it'll be an English style IPA or maybe a BIPA. I like a mild. It should be ready pretty quick too.

 

[matt76]

I'm brewing today....I considered this one but think it'll be an English style IPA or maybe a BIPA. I like a mild. It should be ready pretty quick too.

Well it's certainly gone off like a rocket!

 

[MyQul]

I like a mild too. I have a recipe (Olde Albion Mild, in the completed recepies forum) that I keep going back too. I making the GH Smoked Porter today but 5L 30min mash/30min boil and am using challenger for all the hops as that is what I have

 

[matt76]

I like a mild too. I have a recipe (Olde Albion Mild, in the completed recepies forum) that I keep going back too. I making the GH Smoked Porter today but 5L 30min mash/30min boil and am using challenger for all the hops as that is what I have

Might have to see if I can find some Banks Mild in the supermarket for comparison as I've no idea how it should taste! Sounds similar to bitter, but different - possibly milder! Interested to find out though...

I'll be interested to hear how your porter turns out - I have the regular GH porter in the FV, probably ready for bottling now.

 

[MyQul]

Might have to see if I can find some Banks Mild in the supermarket for comparison as I've no idea how it should taste! Sounds similar to bitter, but different - possibly milder! Interested to find out though...

I'll be interested to hear how your porter turns out - I have the regular GH porter in the FV, probably ready for bottling now.

Ive made the smoked porter before a couple of years ago. It was really nice. The smoky flavour is restained, in the background

A mild (if you've used chocolate) isnt like a bitter. It's more like a weaker porter or brown ale

 

[matt76]

A mild (if you've used chocolate) isnt like a bitter. It's more like a weaker porter or brown ale

Ah, good to know, thanks Actually now you say it, that kind of fits with the look and taste of the wort (and yes there was a little chocolate in there)

 

[matt76]

Update on this, it's slowed down but still ticking over in the FV.

I noticed the trub line is just over the 1L mark on FV, a marked improvement over the 2-3L trub I've been getting hitherto. Added bonus, despite the darker grains used, as far as I can make out the trub seems to have a definite pale yeasty colour too

 

[matt76]

Bottled this today - final yield was 20 x 500ml bottles so very happy with that.

(Although it's becoming clear that all the level marks on my FVs and bottling bucket are total bobbins!)

Went for around 1.5 vols CO2. FG was 1.012 giving me 3.6% ABV.

I was pleased to find there was relatively little trub - a good sign as I've been working to reduce trub lately. And just beneath the trub was a nice layer of yeast which I've harvested for later brews.

Will be interested to try it once it's ready for drinking - haven't found any mild in the supermarkets so it will be a very open minded not to mention very blind tasting!

 

[terrym]

There's two sorts of mild, light and dark. I was never much of a fan of light but did used to drink the dark stuff. It was certainly a big favourite in the West Midlands when I lived there years ago.
Whilst doing some research for an upcoming brew I saw Timothy Taylor do a light and a dark mild so if you live in the Yorkshire area you might get chance to sample some for comparison.
https://www.timothytaylor.co.uk/beer/dark-mild/
https://www.timothytaylor.co.uk/beer/golden-best/
And you can sometimes get Banks Mild in supermarkets but I have no idea what that's like.

 

[Portreath]

Almost 1 in 3 of my brews are Milds. Grew up on Ansells, M&B and Bank's mild, lovely session beer all year round. The GH recipe looks sounds enough, so you should have a good brew there. GW also has a couple a great Mild recipes in his book, Bank's and Hanson's version, these are well worth a go too.

 

[matt76]

Update:

Had a sneaky first taste of this last night, and yeah I know, it's only been 2.5 weeks since I bottled it...

Well it tastes a bit young. I'd say it's carbonating but not carbonated.

More troubling though was the taste - really quite sweet, like a malty coca cola (ok not quite that sweet). Reminds me of my first ever brew, the only kit I ever did which never improved...

That said, I've never had mild before so don't have a reference point. I get that it's mild and not bitter, and it's only 23 IBUs.

Maybe that's just how it is, or maybe it'll improve significantly with a few weeks more in the bottle.

Any pearls of wisdom appreciated!

Cheers,

Matt

 

[matt76]

Update:

It's been in the bottle over 4 weeks so I had another try of this last night.

To be honest it's not changed much - it's better carbonated now but still quite sweet, but as I said above I have no point of reference for mild.

Can anyone out there describe what mild should taste like?

 

[ACBEV]

Milds come in varying forms, but I'd say they can be on the sweet/malty side, fruity with a slight roastyness in some cases.

The combination of mild malt and crystal is typical for mild ales and they tend to bring out some sweetness.

I'm a big fan mild ale aka tasty and can be drunk by the gallon.

 

[Sandimas]

I do like a good mild, not in the Midlands so had no idea what one was when I was growing up. In fact, stood at the bar in my local 80s trendy pub aged 20 or so and a guy comes up to the bar and asks for a pint of mild, everyone starts laughing as they have no idea what it is.

A local brewery round here does a mild with Bramling Cross and I've attempted to clone it, comes out well.
https://www.hillsidebrewery.com/product/over-the-hill

 

[Zephyr259]

My mild was based on this recipe except instead of chocolate rye I used a 50:50 split of pale chocolate and CaraAroma. It's nice but a bit thin and too roasty so it's hanging about in the cupboard rather than getting drunk. Going to try another with lots of crystal as per the Greg Hughes Mild or this Ruby Mild since it seems like it'll turn out a bit Hobgoblin-esque, that or the Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild from Wheeler's book, folks speak highly of that one.

 

[matt76]

Milds come in varying forms, but I'd say they can be on the sweet/malty side, fruity with a slight roastyness in some cases.

The combination of mild malt and crystal is typical for mild ales and they tend to bring out some sweetness.

I'm a big fan mild ale aka tasty and can be drunk by the gallon.

Yeah, I think that's it - sweet and malty

Certainly doesn't taste bad or off, just they I'm not sure what to expect. Will try another one and think a little more about the malts.

 

[ACBEV]

I try to avoid adding to much roast malt for colour, back in the day breweries didn't use any or very little. Almost all the darkness was due to crystal malt, dark invert sugar and brewers caramel colouring. The BJCP style guide for dark mild is way off the mark, I think some American thought using chocolate or black malt for colouring was how to get the right colour, hence the reference to roasty flavour. Paler versions of mild just didn't have so much invert and/or colouring added.

I brew several differing milds, but my favourite is my "Unconventional Mild", which wouldn't fit the BJCP style guide...

23L Batch
3.5% ABV
29 IBU
30 EBC
67c mash
72c sparge
90 minute boil

2500g Mild Ale Malt
50g Chocolate Malt
300g Crystal 100 (EBC 100)
100g Crystal 200 (EBC 200)
450g Pale Rye Malt
200g Flaked Barley
200g Wheat Malt
30g Blackstrap

14g Bramling Cross @ 90 mins
21g Fuggles @ 30 Mins
14g Bramling Cross @ 20 mins

 

[foxy]

Yeah, I think that's it - sweet and malty

Certainly doesn't taste bad or off, just they I'm not sure what to expect. Will try another one and think a little more about the malts.

I love a good mild, don't know where I read about using Vienna as a base malt in a mild but it certainly worked for me.
Vienna 73.2%
Crystal 140 16.3%
Flaked corn 8.4%
Midnight wheat 2.2%

Williamette 5g
Nth Brewer 6g
Fuggle 6g
Styrian Golding 8g All at 60 mins

Fuggles 10g At 15 mins

 

[Zephyr259]

I love a good mild, don't know where I read about using Vienna as a base malt in a mild but it certainly worked for me.

I've seen that too, mostly because it's that little bit darker like mild ale malt but easier to get. I was thinking of doing the same in future as I have a few kgs of Vienna that needs using.

@ACBEV recipe looks interesting, might have a go sometime.