Newbies First Mild Brown Ale?

[Archiguy]

Hi from Matt - been lurking around here a while, but this is my first post...

Okay, I want to do a Kit version of a Mild Brown Ale. Only got into homebrewing a bit ago, and perfecting the K+K versions before moving onto Extract.

Australian Craft Brewing (great site too) has a recipe for Brown Mild - a can of Coopers Dark Ale, 50g of Black Malt steeped and 10g Goldings for aroma - top up to 15litres. Bob's your aunties live in lover....

Okay, now my problem - Brown Milds are lightly hopped 10-20IBU's and according to some websites, C Dark Ale is 28IBU.

Is this going to be too hopped for the style, if so, should I change the recipe?

Thanks - this is the best homebrew site I've been priveleged to lurk around till now.

Matthew B)

 

[Jovial_Monk]

It may be better to brew your Brown ale (or Mild Ale?) as all extract: dry plus can light or amber liquid extract with steeped specialty grains. Dissolve the dry extract in 5l water, bring to simmer, skim foam, sieve the wort from the specialty grains into extract solution, bring to vigorous boil, add bittering hops then later additions.

Your LHBS should be able to work out quantities for you

Jovial Monk

 

[Archiguy]

Thanks Jovial Monk

I'll probably end up using the can I've got sitting there waiting to use up, and do the extract version later.

Do you ever need to 'sparge' specialty grains if you've steeped them - by this I mean pour a couple of extra litres of hot water through the sieve?

Matt

 

[user 384]

Hi Matt

I'd be a bit wary of the kit recipe you have. The kit manufacturer has added enough hops to give 28IBU's when made to the manufacturers parameters, usually 23 litres. Therefore if you cut the volume back to 15 litres you will get way more than 28IBU's, and more like 37IBU's. This would be completely out of style for a modern Mild.

I would second the suggestion of doing an all extract brew. But if you want to use the can, you should consider actually increasing the volume to dilute the hops bittering. This will also mean you have to add more malt, specialty grains, falvouring hops, becuase the flavour/aroam contribution from these would also be diluted. So if you are going to all the effort of buying extra malt etc, you can see the rationale for doing your own extract brew.

Cheers
MAH

 

[bradmcm]

I am the author of that recipe and article that Archiguy quoted.
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place when formulating
the recipe. I was told I needed to put in a very simple
recipe that pre-hopped kit users could use.
I was faced with the dilemma of either getting
the IBUs high and doing a 15L batch or creating a 30L recipe
with about 40% sugar.
At the time of the article, some 3 or 4 years ago, Coopers wouldn't
tell us the IBU rating of the kit - so I just guessed.
If the info you have is correct then yes, the beer will be way too bitter.
I have emailed David to change the kit recipe to the following:

for 23L
half can Coopers Dark Ale
1 can Coopers unhopped dark extract
50g black malt.

That should get a 1035 beer at something around 15IBUs.

I thought about using those new Nut Brown Ale kits in the recipe
but I heard bad reports about them. Sorry but all this stuff came out
after I went all-grain!.

 

[Jovial_Monk]

Specialty grains usually only amount to 500g at most, I would sparge with like a tea cup of hotwater, not 2L!

JM

 

[kook]

Can I suggest using a can of something like a can of MSB Deep Roast Ale?

It'll be quite low in IBUs as it is intended to only make an 11.5L brew.

 

[Archiguy]

Well I brewed my first dark beer!

Made up over xmas 04 so it's only 2 months old but very drinkable - very very dark almost black but with a lovely fine head - disappears down to a couple of mm thick. chocolatey with roasted grains finish. light in alcohol 3%

English Brown Mild style from Bradmcm

1/2 tin coopers dark ale
1.5kg tin morgans dark unhopped lme
50g black malt
10g goldings pellets
safale yeast
300g extract in 2l water - boil then add hops boil 5mins. cooled slightly added steeping grains. left till nearly cool - added all ingredients to fermenter topped up with cold water to 22litres. Pitched 1litre starter I made of safale yeast.

Won't do the starter for safale yeast again - posted that one in Jan and learn't I need not have bothered.

OG was good aimed for 1.035 got 34
FG got down to 1.011
bottled with 1/2 normal priming sugar 'cause I didn't have a bottling bucket with me at my dad's place where we brewed over the christmas break.

Love the result - 'could do with more hops aroma though, so not sure if the goldings did anything useful as I can't detect any aroma.

Thanks to those who helped with this thread - just expanded my brewing tastes.
Mmm, have to get myself a brewing fridge for better temp control, poised on the top of a slippery brewing slope and ready to jump off.

Matthew