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I'm looking for advice on my Mild recipe.

Last december I brewed this:
10 gallons

83% Pale Malt, Maris Otter
6% Pale Chocolate Malt
6% Amber Malt
6% Brown Malt
2oz of fuggles (60 min)

I like the flavor a lot but it was really missing sweetness.

Then I brewed this:
10 gallons
88% [bulk] Pale Malt Maris Otter
6% Crystal Malt - 60L
5% Crystal Malt - 120L
1% Black (Patent) Malt
1.7oz EKG (60min)

Lots of sweetness and nuttiness. I think most people like this flavor but I'm looking for more.
I'm thinking of a mix between my last two batches would be a good approach.

I wonder if I could simply add Amber and Brown Malt to my last recipe and adjust the quantities down so that my ABV remains on target. I'm also wondering if increasing my IBU target from 18 to 22 would work better with that sweetness.

From my knowledge and experience with Crystal malt, the higher the number the more sweet caramel flavour you achieve. With the darker Crystal you also then get those nutty flavours you mentioned, which you don't really have get from lets say Crystal 10, 20, or 30.

I would pick the recipe you preferred and then just make slight adjustments. Sounds like you preferred the flavour of your first batch, so I would go with that and then just add some crystal to achieve the sweeter (not too sweet) flavour you are looking for.

In terms of the bitterness from the hops, I have always been told that most will not notice a bitterness difference of that small of change (within a 4 IBU range). So I don't know if adding that little of extra hop will be noticeable.

With slight variations of either of your recipes, you should probably get what you are more looking for.

Take a look at this site, it has given me a lot of help with the flavour profiles.

https://byo.com/resources/grains

BrewMachine wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 12:26 pm

I'm looking for advice on my Mild recipe.

Last december I brewed this:
10 gallons

83% Pale Malt, Maris Otter
6% Pale Chocolate Malt
6% Amber Malt
6% Brown Malt
2oz of fuggles (60 min)

I like the flavor a lot but it was really missing sweetness.

Then I brewed this:
10 gallons
88% [bulk] Pale Malt Maris Otter
6% Crystal Malt - 60L
5% Crystal Malt - 120L
1% Black (Patent) Malt
1.7oz EKG (60min)

Lots of sweetness and nuttiness. I think most people like this flavor but I'm looking for more.
I'm thinking of a mix between my last two batches would be a good approach.

I wonder if I could simply add Amber and Brown Malt to my last recipe and adjust the quantities down so that my ABV remains on target. I'm also wondering if increasing my IBU target from 18 to 22 would work better with that sweetness.

A small beer like this would benefit from some crystal to leave some residual sweetness, plus it will give you a little bit of body. Not sure what your mash temperature was but you could also mash higher in the 154-156 range and it will do something similar.

Broob wrote:

BrewMachine wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 12:26 pm

I'm looking for advice on my Mild recipe.

Last december I brewed this:
10 gallons

83% Pale Malt, Maris Otter
6% Pale Chocolate Malt
6% Amber Malt
6% Brown Malt
2oz of fuggles (60 min)

I like the flavor a lot but it was really missing sweetness.

Then I brewed this:
10 gallons
88% [bulk] Pale Malt Maris Otter
6% Crystal Malt - 60L
5% Crystal Malt - 120L
1% Black (Patent) Malt
1.7oz EKG (60min)

Lots of sweetness and nuttiness. I think most people like this flavor but I'm looking for more.
I'm thinking of a mix between my last two batches would be a good approach.

I wonder if I could simply add Amber and Brown Malt to my last recipe and adjust the quantities down so that my ABV remains on target. I'm also wondering if increasing my IBU target from 18 to 22 would work better with that sweetness.

A small beer like this would benefit from some crystal to leave some residual sweetness, plus it will give you a little bit of body. Not sure what your mash temperature was but you could also mash higher in the 154-156 range and it will do something similar.

It was mashed at 155. I did notice more body in the second batch that I really do appreciate.

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