# Mid Strength Suggestions Wanted



## gavor (10/10/06)

Hi,

My last couple of beers have been pretty good but sweet and very strong. Mistakes aside, my biggest problem is the strength. A couple of longnecks and i'm ready for a lie down!

I've had a bit of a look around the forums but nothing looked quite like what i'm after.

I would like to make a dryer, fairly hopsy, refreshing mid-strength using a kit of some description. I've only hopsed one of my brews; by steeping a tea bag and throwing it in before pitching the yeast, so i'm not very familiar with other methods. I haven't boiled an extract either because there are so many conflicting methods and opinions. I'm easily confused!

I don't mind using a grain but I haven't tried it before so make any suggestions simple. 


Thanks!


Shane


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## Stuster (10/10/06)

Not sure exactly what you mean by mid-strength, but the Country Brewer wetpacks or the Grumpy's Masterbrews will give you a nice easy introduction to boiling up some extract as well as using grains and hops. The Country Brewer American Pale Ale kit is good, as is the Grumpy's Boston Cream and both will give refreshing hoppy (relatively anyway  ) beers. Both these made up to 23L will make beer of around 4%.


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## Millet Man (10/10/06)

gavor said:


> Hi,
> 
> My last couple of beers have been pretty good but sweet and very strong. Mistakes aside, my biggest problem is the strength. A couple of longnecks and i'm ready for a lie down!
> 
> ...



Shane,

Might help if we knew how much of what ingredients you put into these brews and what your batch volume was, from there you could work out a rough ABV.

As for a mid strength recipe, my Dad loves Carlton Mid so I when I brew a batch for him I use the following ingredients. Comes out about 3.5% ABV and he loves it.

Batch Volume 23 litres

1 can (1.7kg) Cascade Golden Harvest lager
250g Coopers light dry malt extract
20g Hallertau hop pellets

Boil the dry malt extract and hops in about 2 litres of water for 10 minutes.
Add the kit after boil has stopped.
Add 15 litres of cold water into a sanitised fermenter.
Pour in the hot stuff and top up to 23 litres with cold water.
Ferment at 15C (the kit yeast in this pack can go down to 13C)

Cheers, Andrew.


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## barls (10/10/06)

i do one close to a coopers mild ale
1 wals pale/coopers pale
1 light boaster
250g of pale grain steeped
12g of cascade 
mix to 22L and ferment


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## tonydav (10/10/06)

Stuster said:


> Not sure exactly what you mean by mid-strength, but the Country Brewer wetpacks or the Grumpy's Masterbrews will give you a nice easy introduction to boiling up some extract as well as using grains and hops. The Country Brewer American Pale Ale kit is good, as is the Grumpy's Boston Cream and both will give refreshing hoppy (relatively anyway  ) beers. Both these made up to 23L will make beer of around 4%.



I can't speak for the Grumpy's kit but in my experience the Country Brewer Wetpak is a fair bit higher than 4%. I do the APA kit quite regularly and it's generally around 5% made up. Not as high as some of the guys here like them, but certainly not what I'd call a mid-strength (although drinking with a big Tongan a few weeks ago her certainly drained it like a lite beer. 

It is a nice drop though.

But back on topic, Pistol Patch made a midstrength Kilkenny clone in the Brew in a Bag thread which he swears is great. I'll be trying it as one of my first BIAB brews as like you I have trouble making a good mid-strength brew and I personally find the commercial ones I've tried to be crap.

tony


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## Stuster (10/10/06)

You are right, tony. Looking at my notes the APA came out to 4.4%. The bitter though came out to only 3.6% which might be about right. I'd say if gavor hasn't tried using grain or hops before, this might be an easy step on the road to eventual BIAB, but millet man and barls have recipes that might be the goods too. :super:


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## Snow (11/10/06)

If you ask Doc what midstrength is, he'll say around 6%  

- Snow



Stuster said:


> Not sure exactly what you mean by mid-strength, but the Country Brewer wetpacks or the Grumpy's Masterbrews will give you a nice easy introduction to boiling up some extract as well as using grains and hops. The Country Brewer American Pale Ale kit is good, as is the Grumpy's Boston Cream and both will give refreshing hoppy (relatively anyway  ) beers. Both these made up to 23L will make beer of around 4%.


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## gavor (18/10/06)

As to the ABV, I'd be looking for between 3.5 and 4%

I always make up 23L and I use a simple formula to work out a rough ABV, taking into consideration extras like DME etc.

Cheers for the suggestions. I enjoy both Carlton Mid and Coopers Mild so these recipes sound fantastic. I wouldn't mind trying the Carlton Mid but I don't think I have the means to keep it around 15C. (i have a spare fridge but no way to adjust the temp yet)



Appreciate the input!


Shane


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## colinw (19/10/06)

I quite like Coopers Mild as far as quaffable mid-strength Aussie beers go. Not it the same class as Rogers Beer, but certainly fills a gap in the Coopers range and far superior to the normal midstrength lagers.

If you start with a Coopers Pale Ale clone based on the infamous whiteboard shot, then get rid of the sugar, drop the IBUs to 20 or so and add a little saaz for flavour/aroma, I reckon it would come close.

In any case, when I want to make a Coopers Mild Clone the attached recipe is what I intend brewing. It is based on the coopers whiteboard grain bill for Coopers Pale Ale. 

View attachment 7x_coopers_mild.html


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## RobboMC (20/10/06)

My stock Pale Ale that isn't overly strong goes like this:

1 can Coopers Pale Ale kit
somewhere near 500g Light Dry Malt
somewhere near 250 g Brew Enhancer

25g of your favourite variety of hop

Boil about 2 litres of water with a few big spoonfuls of dry malt.
Add half your hops for between 20 and 30 minutes.
Start with the solids in fermenter, dissolve in boiling water, add kit, water and so on.
Add the rest of the hops at the end of the boil, let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes, strain into fermenter.

Now make up to your desired volume based on the ABV you want.
Kit plus 750g in 23 litres gives about 3.8%, but diluting to 25 litres gives
3.4%. The strength is up to you.

A good drop for visitors that want one or two to taste and are driving home. My mum ( she's 76 ) loves it.


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## gavor (31/10/06)

I went with 

Morgans Blue Mountain Lager
500g Brew Enhancer
Pride of Ringwood finishing hops

Mixed to 23L and threw the fermenter into half a clamshell of water with a towel around it. I have no other method of cooling atm and have my fingers crossed, ready for something horrific.

It's fermenting at around 22C, which isn't bad considering ambient is something like 26-27C.

Hopefully for my birthday next month i'll get a temperature control for my spare fridge.


Thanks for the great suggestions, I'll give them a shot next time! (the guy at the HBS talked me into this combo)

g


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