Batch #26 - English Mild

Now that the temperature has started to warm up I wanted to get the kegerator going again. A A kegerator is a dorm size or full size refrigerator that has been converted to store kegs of beer and a has a tap handle built into it. I purchased a used full sized kegerator last summer, due it its large size I have it stored in the garage. I found out the hard way last December that the kegerator doesn't due too well in the winter time as the beer dispensing line was completely frozen and stayed that way until recently.

The first beer I wanted to keg was a lighter beer with a lot of flavor. I decided to go with an English Mild style. The English Mild style goes back to the 1600s in Britain and is a darker colored ale with an average abv of 3.5% to 4.0%. The term mild referred to the low alcohol content of the beer as well as the freshness of the beer. The color of the beer is near black and the focus of the style is on dark roasted malts. The dark roasted malts is balanced by light-moderate hop usage for bitterness as well as the light body and carbonation.

This beer has been in the keg for almost a month now. I hope to bottle some of this to share or brew this again in the near future as it has become one of my favorite beers to drink. The beer finished at 4.17% alcohol by volume (abv). Here are the stats on the recipe:

Steep Specialty Grains - 60 min at 155F

Amount Item Type

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain

0.38 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain

0.25 lb Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM) Grain

0.12 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain

-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 4.08 gal

-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.057 SG with all grains/extracts added

Boil for 60 min Boil Ingredients

Boil Amount Item Type

60 min 6.00 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract

60 min 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops

-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature

-- Add 1.75 gal water (as needed) to achieve volume of 5.00 gal

-- Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.

-- Add Ingredients to Fermenter

Amount Item Type

1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale

2/27/2010 Measure Original Gravity: 1.044 (Estimate: 1.044 SG)

2/27/2010 Measure Batch Volume: 5 gallon (Estimate: 5.00 gal)

14 days Ferment in primary for 4 days at 68.0 F

3/13/2010 Measure Final Gravity: 1.012 (Estimate: 1.013 SG)

SRM: 19

IBU: 16

ABV: 4.17%