{"id":673,"date":"2013-01-13T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T16:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suigenerisbrewing.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/13\/merlins-mild-first-brew-of-2013\/"},"modified":"2017-09-15T19:02:30","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T19:02:30","slug":"merlins-mild-first-brew-of-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suigenerisbrewing.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/13\/merlins-mild-first-brew-of-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Merlins Mild – First Brew of 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Garage Brewing in January.
\nMerlin may be mild; the weather isn’t!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

You’d think by now I know better – 17 years of homebrewing and I still don’t brew an extra batch near Christmas. \u00a0Once again, friends and\u00a0holidays\u00a0have left me with nothing but a few pints of Bad Santa<\/a> in a keg, and two bottles of beer<\/a> I didn’t mail out as Christmas gifts.<\/p>\n

So once again I find myself short on beer and in need of an emergency brew session. This weeks beer is a rapidly fermenting (and thus, quickly on-tap) style of beer called a mild. Rare in North America, this beer is a lower-alcohol brew that features a lot of grain and hop flavours, but with a level of hoppiness below what is typical of most English ales.<\/p>\n

This mild is darker than most – the brewshop didn’t have crystal 60, so I replaced it with an equal amount of crystal 80. The alpha acids of the hops were also higher than expected, so I adjusted the recipe to hit 20IBUs and threw the leftovers in at flameout to add some aroma. This is also my second time using yeast from the guild yeast bank that I manage. So the colour’s a bit darker, the flavour a little more towards\u00a0caramel\u00a0than sweet, but it should still be a fine brew.<\/p>\n

This batch is named “Merlins Mild”; not because of any historical link to the era in which Merlin supposedly lived\u00a0(although, many beers from that time may have had some\u00a0similarities). Instead, I was watching Star Gate<\/a> while putting\u00a0together\u00a0the recipe and nerded out over the name…<\/p>\n

Recipe below the fold…<\/p>\n

<\/a>BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout – http:\/\/www.beersmith.com<\/b><\/span>
\nRecipe: Merlins Mild<\/span>
\nStyle: Mild<\/span>
\nTYPE: All Grain<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Recipe Specifications<\/b><\/span>
\n————————–<\/b><\/span>
\nBoil Size: 24.58 l<\/span>
\nPost Boil Volume: 21.84 l<\/span>
\nBatch Size (fermenter): 20.00 l \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nBottling Volume: 19.50 l<\/span>
\nEstimated OG: 1.035 SG<\/span>
\nEstimated Color: 16.6 SRM<\/span>
\nEstimated IBU: 19.9 IBUs<\/span>
\nBrewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %<\/span>
\nEst Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %<\/span>
\nBoil Time: 45 Minutes<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Ingredients:<\/b><\/span>
\n————<\/b><\/span>
\nAmt \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Name \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0%\/IBU<\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n2.50 kg \u00a0 \u00a0Pale Malt, Maris Otter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 80.2%<\/span>
\n0.50 kg \u00a0 \u00a0Caramel\/Crystal Malt – 80L \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 16.0%<\/span>
\n0.06 kg \u00a0 \u00a0Chocolate Malt \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01.9%<\/span>
\n0.06 kg \u00a0 \u00a0Chocolate Malt (Light) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01.8%<\/span>
\n10.00 g \u00a0 \u00a0Fuggles [6.50 %] – Boil 45.0 min \u00a0 10.7 IBUs<\/span>
\n25.00 g \u00a0 \u00a0Fuggles [6.50 %] – Boil 15.0 min \u00a0 \u00a09.2 IBUs<\/span>
\n10.00 g \u00a0 \u00a0Fuggles [6.50 %] – Flameout \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 0.0 IBUs<\/span>
\n1.0 tsp \u00a0 \u00a0Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)<\/span>
\n1.0 pkg \u00a0 \u00a0English Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP002)<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Mash Schedule:\u00a0<\/b><\/span>
\nSingle Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge<\/span>
\nTotal Grain Weight: 3.12 kg<\/span>
\n—————————-<\/b><\/span>
\nName \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Description \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Step Temp \u00a0 Step Time \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span>
\nMash In \u00a0 \u00a0Add 8.38 l, 79.1 C \u00a0 \u00a070.0 C \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a060 min \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 19.57l) of 75.6 C water<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Notes:<\/b><\/span>
\n—————————-<\/b><\/p>\n