Mild Ale
Publicans would blend various amounts of stale and mild beer for their customers, to balance the sweet with the sour. While it was just a matter of time before all beers turned sour, there was no time limit on calling ale mild. If an ale remained sweet, it was still considered mild. As brewing technology advanced and the use of hops became standard, long term aging of beers and sourness began to disappear. Over time the strength of mild waned. Through market forces, increasing taxation, and rationing during two world wars, the starting gravity of mild fell further. Beers that were 8% alcohol 500 years ago have become 3 to 4% ABV today. Eventually the term mild took on a different meaning, referring to a beer with a slightly sweeter balance from low hop bitterness. Today, mild refers to the style’s malt focus and relative lack of hop bitterness. At one time, mild was the most popular beer style in Britain. Unfortunately, other than in a few areas of England, mild has all but disappeared from the British beer scene.
Mild ranges in color from copper to a very dark, ruby-highlighted brown, with a low, off-white to tan head. There are a few examples of pale colored mild with a color of light amber or dark golden up to a light brown, but darker versions are the norm. Mild is a flavorful, malt-focused beer. It can include a wide variety of malt based flavors and aromas. Caramel, chocolate, roasted, toasted, biscuit, dark fruit and more flavors are common. I’ve even come across examples with a definite wet tobacco character that was surprisingly delicious. Hops play only a supporting role with just a balancing bitterness, maybe a hint of hop flavor, and no hop aroma at all. The darker versions are similar in many ways to a small brown porter. The finish can be slightly sweet or slightly dry, the body will be light to medium, and the overall impression should be refreshing. Fermentation character includes low to moderate fruitiness, similar to many other British beers.
In any beer the base malt plays a big role in the malt character and this is critical in mild. British pale ale malt is a good choice for mild as it provides a background biscuit-like malt character that people associate with fine British beers. British pale ale malt is kilned a bit darker (2.5 to 3.5 °L) than the average American two-row or pale malt (1.5 to 2.5 °L) and this higher level of kilning brings out the malt’s biscuity flavors. A few malt companies (Crisp Malting is one) still produce British pale ale malt from cultivars such as Maris Otter using a traditional floor malting method. The result is malt with a slightly darker color (3.5 to 4.0 °L) and more flavor than other pale ale malts. It is the malt of choice for many English beer fanatics. If you can find mild malt, you can use it as the base for your mild ales with excellent results. However, you’ll need to adjust your specialty grains to compensate for the darker color of the malt (~5 °L) and the increased toasted, nutty flavor.
These highly modified malts are perfectly suited to single infusion mashes, which is typical for all British beers. A higher mash temperature of 154 °F (68 °C) or higher increases the amount of non-fermentable, complex sugars created during the mash. It is these polysaccharides which add to the residual gravity and body to keep the beer from being thin and watery. If you find that the beer ends up too thin, try brewing it again with a higher mash temperature, raising it 2 °F (1 °C) with each new attempt, until you achieve the proper result.
If you’re brewing with extract, your best choice is an extract made from British pale ale malt. There are some British style malt extracts currently on the market made from 100% Maris Otter malt and they are an excellent choice for English beers. If you end up using domestic two-row malt or extract made from it, you’ll need to compensate with some additional specialty malts such as Biscuit or Victory, but use restraint. For a 5-gallon (19-L) batch, add no more than 0.75 pound (0.34 kg) total.
While there are some examples of mild brewed without any highly kilned malt, my feeling is that a proper English mild should be on the darker side and must have at least a touch of roasted malt character. A moderate portion of chocolate or black malt gives a mild a delicate touch of roast flavor and lots of color. I like to break up the highly kilned malt addition into more than one color type. Using different color roasted malts, such as pale chocolate (200 °L) along with a dark roasted malt or grain adds some complexity and depth of character. You can experiment with various colors and maltsters, but don’t go overboard and end up turning your mild into a stout or robust porter.
Crystal malt adds caramel and other flavor notes to a beer and helps build body. The type of crystal malt also makes a difference. Darker color crystal malts add richer colors, as well as some dark caramel, toasty, roasted, and raisin flavors. Lighter color crystal malts add sweeter caramel notes. Like the highly kilned malts, you can experiment with different colors and amounts in the range of 30 to 150 °L. Overall, the roasted grains and the caramelized grains should comprise about 10 to 15% of the grist. Specialty malts are a big part of what differentiates one mild from another, so feel free to play around with the amounts or types, but remember to heed the limits.
While corn, cane sugar and other adjuncts are traditional in brewing many English beers, I usually omit them, unless I’m crafting a big beer and I want to increase wort fermentability, thin the body, or reduce the intensity of the base malt flavors. None of those apply in the case of brewing mild. The fact is simple sugars ferment fully, thin the beer and provide very little in the way of flavor contributions. I’ve seen recipes that use brown sugar, but don’t count on it to add much in the way of flavor. If you want to add brown sugar/caramel type flavors, use caramel malts. Corn and other non-barley adjuncts also reduce the overall malt flavors, when used in place of the base malted barley. For me, I want as much base malt flavor as possible, so I don’t use adjuncts in my mild. The one exception I make is black treacle or blackstrap molasses, where a small amount can add an interesting dimension to a dark mild.
Pale mild can be very simple in terms of grain bill. Some commercial brewers use only pale ale malt and caramel coloring, but most homebrewers add some crystal malt and other character grains to give the beer some caramel notes and malt complexity.
Mild is best brewed with English hops, such as East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, Northdown or Challenger, though US hops such as Willamette can be used for bittering in a pinch. The bittering level is in the range of 10 to 25 IBU. What you’re targeting is enough hop bitterness to provide a near even balance without overwhelming the malt sweetness. Keep in mind that there are many factors at play in the final impression of bitterness for the drinker and the highly kilned malt used in a dark mild will add a touch of dryness which can accentuate the perception of bitterness. For mild, a bitterness to starting gravity ratio (IBU divided by OG) between 0.4 and 0.6 gives good results. The bulk of the hopping should be as a bittering addition at 60 minutes. If you want a touch of hop flavor, a small addition, around 0.25 to 0.5 ounce (7 to 14 g) for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch, at 15 minutes is acceptable. Keep in mind this style shouldn’t have more than a low amount of hop flavor and no hop aroma, so don’t use larger or later hop additions.
Fermentation creates much of the flavor and aroma in most British beers. “English” yeast strains provide a variety of interesting esters and tend to be low to moderately attenuating, leaving some residual sweetness to balance the bitterness and help fill out the beer. They are also extremely flocculent, which makes them ideal for cask conditioning. These yeasts produce a fairly low level of esters at cool fermentation temperatures (<65 °F/18 °C) and abundant fruity esters and alcohol notes at high temperatures (>70 °F/21 °C). In general, it is better to start in the middle of this range, letting the temperature rise a few degrees, slowly over a couple days. This creates the expected level of esters and also keeps the amount of diacetyl in the finished beer at a minimum.
There are quite a few excellent yeast strains available, each providing characteristic yeast flavors and aromas appropriate to mild. In general, try to select English yeast that attenuates less than others (about 66%), accentuates the malt rather than the hops, and provides some fruity or woody esters, even with a cool fermentation. White Labs WLP002 English Ale, WLP005 British Ale, WLP017 Whitbread Ale or Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale, 1318 London Ale III and 1099 Whitbread Ale are all good choices. If you prefer using dry yeast, use Fermentis Safale S-04. Ferment any of these strains at around 67 °F (19 °C).
With such a low starting gravity, restrained carbonation is important in mild. Beers with a lighter body suffer from carbonic bite much more readily than bigger beers, impacting drinkability. Mild needs just enough carbonation to impart a bit of mouthfeel and to drive the aroma out of the glass and up to your nose. Too much carbonation and the beer becomes dry, harsh and acidic. Gentle carbonation can make the beer feel creamy. Target a carbonation level of 2 volumes for bottled, 1.5 volumes for kegged and just over 1 volume of CO2 for cask conditioned beer.
Serving mild at cellar temperature, around 50 °F (10 °C) to 55 °F (13 °C), allows the character of the beer to blossom. Colder temperatures prevent the drinker from picking up the interesting fermentation and malt flavors and aromas of this style, so don’t go below 50 °F (10 °C).
Recipes:
Dark Mild Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.036 (8.9 °P)
FG = 1.011 (2.8 °P)
IBU = 17 SRM = 22 ABV = 3.2%
Ingredients
6.25 lb. (2.83 kg) Crisp British pale ale malt or similar (3 °L)
5 oz. (142 g) Great Western crystal malt (60 °L)
5 oz. (142 g) Great Western crystal malt (120 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) Great Western black patent malt (525 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) Crisp pale chocolate malt (200 °L)
3.5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops, (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids) (60 min.)
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale), Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or Fermentis Safale S-04 yeast
Step by Step
Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.5 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight) and a temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 154 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Infuse the mash with near boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Sparge slowly with 170 °F (77 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 5.9 gallons (22.3 L) and the gravity is 1.030 (7.6 °P).
Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. The total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 6 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast or 1 package of liquid yeast.
Ferment around 67 °F (19 °C) until the yeast drops clear. With healthy yeast, fermentation should be complete in a week or less. Allow the lees to settle and the brew to mature without pressure for another two days after fermentation appears finished. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 1 to 2 volumes depending on your packaging. Serve at 50 to 55 °F (10 to 13 °C).
Dark Mild
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.036 (9.1 °P)
FG = 1.011 (2.9 °P)
IBU = 17 SRM = 22 ABV = 3.3%
Ingredients
4.25 lb. (1.92 kg) Edme Maris Otter English pale liquid malt extract
5 oz. (142 g) Great Western crystal malt (60 °L)
5 oz. (142 g) Great Western crystal malt (120 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) Great Western black patent (525 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) Crisp pale chocolate malt (200 °L)
3.5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops, (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids) (60 min.)
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale ), Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or Fermentis Safale S-04 yeast
Step by Step
Always choose the freshest extract that fits the beer style instead of focusing on the brand name. If you can’t get fresh liquid malt extract, it is better to use about 3.4 lb (1.5 kg) dried malt extract (DME) instead.
Mill or coarsely crack the specialty malt and place loosely in a grain bag. Avoid packing the grains too tightly in the bag, using more bags if needed. Steep the bag in about 1 gallon (~4 liters) of water at roughly 170 °F (77 °C) for about 30 minutes. Lift the grain bag out of the steeping liquid and rinse with warm water. Allow the bags to drip into the kettle for a few minutes while you add the malt extract. Do not squeeze the bags. Add enough water to the steeping liquor and malt extract to make a pre-boil volume of 5.9 gallons (22.3 L) and a gravity of 1.031 (7.7 °P). Stir thoroughly to help dissolve the extract and bring to a boil.
Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. The total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil. Follow the fermentation and packaging instructions for the all-grain version.
Pale Mild
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.036 (9.0 °P)
FG = 1.011 (2.8 °P)
IBU = 18 SRM = 10 ABV = 3.3%
Ingredients
6.6 lb. (3 kg) Crisp British pale ale malt or similar substitute 3 °L
6 oz. (170 g) Great Western crystal malt 120 °L
6 oz. (170 g) Great Western Carastan malt (30 °L)
2.1 AAU Challenger hops (0.42 oz./ 12 g at 8% alpha acids) (60 min.)
1.25 AAU East Kent Goldings hops, (0.25 oz./7 g at 5% alpha acids) (15 min.)
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale), Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or Fermentis Safale S-04 yeast
Step by Step
Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.5 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight) and a temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 154 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Infuse the mash with near boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Sparge slowly with 170 °F (77 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 5.9 gallons (22.3 L) and the gravity is 1.031 (7.7 °P).
Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. The total wort boil time is one hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings and the last hop addition with 15 minutes left in the boil. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 6 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast or 1 package of liquid yeast.
Ferment around 67 °F (19 °C) until the yeast drops clear. With healthy yeast, fermentation should be complete in a week or less. Allow the lees to settle and the brew to mature without pressure for another two days after fermentation appears finished. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 1 to 2 volumes depending on your packaging. Serve at 50 to 55 °F (10 to 13 °C).
