Small beer recipes

[MyQul]

G.Wheelers book BYBRA has go loads of mild receipes in it so I just picked one at random (Bass Mild) and changed it from 3.3%ABV to 1.5%. Pretty simple to do as most milds are and took me five mins. Its for 23L btw. If you like any particular mild I'm sure there's a receipe on the web that can be tweaked to you ABV% requirments

Original Gravity (OG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.004 (°P): 1.0
Alcohol (ABV): 1.57 %
Colour (SRM): 10.6 (EBC): 20.9
Bitterness (IBU): 11.0 (Average)

1.5kg Maris Otter Malt
0.070g Black Malt

9.5g Challenger (8% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
4g East Kent Golding (6.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)


Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes

Edit: Found the mega list of milds on JBK forum. See anything you like, and it can be tweaked. You'll notice most of them havent got hop additions but thats' not a problem either.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=56335&hilit=+mild+grainbill#p591869

 

[Twostage]

Gladiator must be an American maltster. The recipe looks bizarre though, seems to be more crystal than base malt. Toffee is probably a dark crystal. I'd pick a more regular recipe!

I was wondering if it would be possible to make a light beer by using very little base malt and loads of specialist malt.

 

[clibit]

You might have a point, but I'm not convinced!

 

[DerekofPriory]

Hi again all
I had a go at developing my own recipe, (very) loosely based on the Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild recipe,
1.5 Kg Marris Otter
450g Crystal Malt

Mash 90 min - Strike at 78c, 68.5c at start, 67c finish. Sparge 80c to 27 Litres

Boil 60 mins with;
Fuggles, 15g @ 60 mins 10g @10 mins
E.K.G 10g @60
Irish Moss @15 mins

Cooled to 20c and transfered to F.V. and GV 12 added. five days later and practically no air lock action, 10 mins per bubble the brew was racked to a pressure barrel and CO2 to about 8psi added.
A sneaky taste of the hydrometer sample revealed that the small beer wasn't as small as hoped/expected, OG 1030 FG1012, 2.4%ABVand through the newness the beer was lower in body/sweetness than I hoped.

I assume that the enzymes in the M.O. released more fermentables from the crystal than I expected so the next attempt will have a reduced level of M.O. (1.2 Kg) with 550 or 600g of Crystal with maybe just a little chocolate malt.

Cheers all and thanks for the suggestions and comments past and to come.
Derek B.

 

[Tony1951]

I'm interested in how this turns out Derek, because I am a fan of light weight beers for everyday drinking. I've knocked out twenty gallons of light beers in the last few weeks by adding only negligible extra fermentables to the single can Cooper's kits (IPA & English Bitter). They taste pretty good. Hope you'll keep us posted with how this experiment is for drinking when it is ready.

I like the way you seem to have avoided natural carbonation to keep the abv from going higher in the keg. I reckon 85g in 23 litres for carbing adds 0.2%ABV. Not a lot, but if you are going for a very light alcohol content it is a factor.
Cheers.

 

[MyQul]

I notice you used GV 12. That yeast is a high attenuator with typical attenuation in the iow 80%'s (if I remember correctly), which of course will leave you with less body/sweetness

Have you though about using a medium attenuator like Windsor or Mangrove Jack's dark ale yeast

Never used either myself but looking at other forums/results, Windsor will attenuate in the high 60%'s

 

[MyQul]

I assume that the enzymes in the M.O. released more fermentables from the crystal than I expected so the next attempt will have a reduced level of M.O. (1.2 Kg) with 550 or 600g of Crystal with maybe just a little chocolate malt.

Cheers all and thanks for the suggestions and comments past and to come.
Derek B.

You might have got a really high efficiency in the sparge. Whenever I make Milds I get really high efficiency. Think is might be that the grain has a lot of liquor to slosh around in ad therefore the liquor can wash the sugars off the yeast easily - not sure though, just a guess going on my efficiency results for low and higher OG beers

 

[Tony1951]

As a small beer fan, I am thinking of using the second half of my Geterbrewed kit (first half loooks like coming out at 7% ABV :nono: ) as the basis of a small beer of about 23 litres. I have 3.1 kg or thereabouts of malt left, 22g fuggles, 22g EKG and 22g of Challenger hops. I expect this might turn out a not so small beer with that much malt, but I could use a less attenuating yeast maybe to create body rather than alcohol. My main question is about the hopping. In the original English IPA kit the expectation was that 44g of each of these hops would be used in a brew of more or less 20l - 23l. Should I up the hopping in my small beer? I have more of all these hops in stock I think, or maybe I don't have Challenger - can't remember, but I do have Cascade and Citra. I like Citra a lot.

What do you think?

 

[Twostage]

As a small beer fan, I am thinking of using the second half of my Geterbrewed kit (first half loooks like coming out at 7% ABV :nono: ) as the basis of a small beer of about 23 litres. I have 3.1 kg or thereabouts of malt left, 22g fuggles, 22g EKG and 22g of Challenger hops. I expect this might turn out a not so small beer with that much malt, but I could use a less attenuating yeast maybe to create body rather than alcohol. My main question is about the hopping. In the original English IPA kit the expectation was that 44g of each of these hops would be used in a brew of more or less 20l - 23l. Should I up the hopping in my small beer? I have more of all these hops in stock I think, or maybe I don't have Challenger - can't remember, but I do have Cascade and Citra. I like Citra a lot.

What do you think?

I've recently made a mild with danstar Windsor, it attenuated to 60% so plenty of body left.

Do you use brewmate or beer engine. They are good for calculating the effect of different hop levels. With brewmate you can tell it what style you are making and it will tell you if it is over/under hopped etc.

 

[Tony1951]

Thanks Two Stage. I'll try using the software.

Cheers

 

[clibit]

Brewmate software is no longer available, it seems to have been bought out by Brewersfriend and people are saying it doesn't function well on their platform.

I think Austin owns Brewersfriend so maybe give him some grief? :-D

 

[Tony1951]

Brewmate software is no longer available, it seems to have been bought out by Brewersfriend and people are saying it doesn't function well on their platform.

I think Austin owns Brewersfriend so maybe give him some grief? :-D

I used Brewer's Friend. I'd need more hops than are left in the half kit I have left. Another 20 grams of something like Admiral for the 60 minute boil will put it at about 44 ibu which I like. Using the 3kg of grain left in the kit will bring it out at about 3% if I dilute to 20 - 21 litres. Because I only have a small pan, my plan is to do the mash and boil as 12 litre boil size / 10 litre brew coming out about 1062 like the last one, and then dilute the wort with cold water to about 1030 and then pitch the yeast. I reckon it will need about 20litres to get down to that sg. The higher gravity boil (pre dilution) will probably mess with my IBU guestimate.

BELOW ------ A Half of my kegged Cooper's English Bitter brewed as a mild with the can and 125g of Muntons BE to about 2.5% ABV.

 

[clibit]

That looks great. Let us know how the 1030 beer works out, it's good to see people trying things out. :thumb:

 

[Tony1951]

That looks great. Let us know how the 1030 beer works out, it's good to see people trying things out. :thumb:

It it wasn't for your Simple AG thread, I think there would be many fewer doing it with grains - me for one. The real spur in the thread is that all you need is your kit brewing stuff plus a pan and a couple of quid's worth of grain and hops. Here is the paragraph that 'hooks 'em in', I think:

If you've made a few kits and/or extract brews, why not have a go at a simple AG brew, to see the difference it makes? A small batch of AG beer is not difficult and you will discover the difference and feel the joy and pride of making it from scratch. All you need for 5 litres is 1kg of Maris Otter, or other pale malt, a packet of hops, and a sachet of yeast. You just need a thermometer, a decent sized pan and something to strain the grain from the wort.

 

[clibit]

Cheers Tony. I've been teaching for many years and written a lot of learning materials, often for beginner learners, including primary school kids, so my focus is very much to simplify and clarify things so that everybody is included as far as possible.

 

[Twostage]

The higher gravity boil (pre dilution) will probably mess with my IBU guestimate

Yes, the higher the gravity the less the IBU. What volume of boil are putting into BrewersFriend ?

 

[Tony1951]

Yes, the higher the gravity the less the IBU. What volume of boil are putting into BrewersFriend ?

I've ordered one of the Ace insulated boiler, mashing gadgets (see thread on them) so I am going to start again with my calculations. I'll work it all out again as a full volume small beer or mild and come back again tomorrow and say what I have come up with. The boiler should be here early next week so I will do it after then. I should have a fermentation vessel free soon, maybe about Tuesday if the birthday present stout is done then (14days). Can't keep them empty, can you? :)

 

[LarryF]

Great looking beer Tony. Now having to beat my thirst down until it's allowed its Friday night rampage, roll on home time tomorrow.

 

[Twostage]

I've ordered one of the Ace insulated boiler, mashing gadgets (see thread on them) so I am going to start again with my calculations. I'll work it all out again as a full volume small beer or mild and come back again tomorrow and say what I have come up with. The boiler should be here early next week so I will do it after then. I should have a fermentation vessel free soon, maybe about Tuesday if the birthday present stout is done then (14days). Can't keep them empty, can you? :)

The Ace looks good and a good price with the proper tap and strainer. Double wall will mean you don't have to mess about with blankets or anything to mash in it (I BIAB mash in my burco and just put a jumper over the top as there is always a small gap round the lid).

 

[Tony1951]

Great looking beer Tony. Now having to beat my thirst down until it's allowed its Friday night rampage, roll on home time tomorrow.

Enjoy Larry.... Only eight or ten hours to wait now. :)