Brown Malt in a Mild?

[WHL]

Visited our local brew pub and had a tasty new offering, a dark mild which relied only on Crisp Brown Malt for it's dark attributes. While the domestic and British imports I have had, including Moorhouse's Black Cat, have a heavy helping of roasted malts that leave the impression of a small stout, this mild was rich, soft and mild. I don't see a stitch of brown in any of GW's BYOBRA recipes either. Anybody over there using brown malt in their milds?

Cheers, Bill

[Invalid Stout]

I don't think brown malt is very common in mild. New-wave milds tend to use chocolate malt for colour and flavour, more traditional ones are just coloured with dark luscious sugar.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

more traditional ones are just coloured with dark luscious sugar.

Not around here they're not. Holdens (who are about as traditional as you can get) say they use some amber malt in their mild but that won't add a lot of colour. Not that Holdens (or Banks's for that matter) mild is particularly dark anyway as you will be well aware.

True brown malt should be malted using wood fires as it was done pre industrial revolution and will impart a decidedly smokey flavour unlikely to appeal to modern tastes.

[Invalid Stout]

Making brown malt the traditional way is pretty dangerous. The last maltsters still producing it had to stop because nobody would insure them any more.

[Stonechat]

GW does include Brown Malt in the recipe for Fuller's London Porter in his BYOBRA 3rd edition.

I know it may not be of any help to the OP, being in the US of A, but Brown Malt is available from Barleybottom for £1.59 a kilo.

I have never used it, but have smelt and had a chew of some at a CBA meeting when someone brought along samples of the more esoteric malts.

I would say that the nearest thing to it would be Amber Malt.

[Benjy Edwards]

I like to use brown malt in a dark mild that I make. FWIW, here's the recipe for 10 US gallons (approx. 38 litres). Apologies for the non-metric measurements, but the OP is from Minnesota so I feel somewhat justified.

13 lbs. Maris Otter
1 lb. 30L crystal
1 lb. 80L crystal
.5 lb. Special B
.5 lb. brown malt
1.25 lbs. pale chocolate
10 oz. flaked maize

OG 1.038
150F mash for 60 mins.
60 mins. boil
2.25 oz. Fuggle at 60 mins.
2 oz. EKG at 60 mins.
WLP002 English Ale yeast

Disclaimer: this makes for a dark mild with quite a bit of coffee and light roast character. Cut the pale chocolate back for a less assertive mild ale.

[coatesg]

True brown malt should be malted using wood fires as it was done pre industrial revolution and will impart a decidedly smokey flavour unlikely to appeal to modern tastes.

Brown/Blown malt (fire dried) and modern kilned brown are really two entirely different things though - the blown malt was scorched and then torrified over a hot fire and hence leaving enzymes intact. If you want to ad the smoky flavour back in, some rauchmalt will work here.