Mild recipe - roasted barley?

[Fido97]

This may have been debated already on this bb but I am knocking a basic mild together and not sure about the speciality grain. As things stand I am going to us pale, crystal, a little black but there are voices in my head (so to speak) telling me to throw in some roasted barley. However does that cross the line into stout territory? So the recipe at present is:-

Pale 88%
Crystal 10%
Black 2%

Hops Fuggles and Goldings to about 25 EBUs

Wyeast 1968 London ESB (only because I have this in the fridge.

Simple but that's the idea - I'm aiming for a classic Midlands mild. Will roasted barley change its characteristics to a stout? Hmmm any thoughts?

Cheers,

[Matt12398]

It would really depend on how much you're adding.

[Monkeybrew]

GW's Hop Back Mild recipe contains RB, and I found it to be quite nice in an extract version I brewed last year.

MB

[Fido97]

Well to make any significant difference you are probably talking say 5% as a minimum but once you make that decision does that not take it from mild to stout territory?

[mozza]

Black and roasted barley must be extremely similar in terms of what the dad to a brew so I'd definitely give it a go

[Rookie]

I brewed this last month and it came out great.
Honorable Member mild, three gallons: O G 1.040, F G 1.014, IBUs around 18
3 pounds maris otter
8 ounces British crystal 55
8 ounces melanoiden
6 ounces flaked oats
4 ounces chocolate rye
1/2 ounce back yard goldings for 45 minutes
pinch irish moss plus 1/4 teaspoon nutrient for 15 minutes
1 pack Munton's yeast
I mashed at 154f for 65 minutes
after three weeks I bottled with 3 ounces DME

[DaveyT]

I would've thought the difference between a stout and a mild would be OG and IBU. The Hop Back recipe serves as a good example here as it's more or less the same for their stout and mild. But the mild's about OG 1.033 and 24 IBU (I'm not checking the book so these are ball-park figures) and the stout's about 1.045 and 33 IBU. In this case, the type of grains is of no effect.

The size, though, is of some debate as 'the mild's of yesteryear' were much bigger beers, with OGs well over what I've quoted. Rookie's recipe would perhaps fall in line with this, but is off my scale here, while his IBUs are still pretty low. Remember, mild means young, as far as my reading serves, and low IBUs mean beer can be drunk young.

So, the grains you add, I reckon, have no bearing on it changing from a mild to a stout. Roast barley would give you a sweet edge, while black malt more of a dry edge. Both together can give a lush dark chocolate flavour. Crystal malt and chocolate malt will add body and depth, without them the beer may be drier. There's an excellent thread on mild recipes on this forum that might be worth looking at.

Hope this helps.

David

[Fido97]

Thanks David and I get what you say. However my concern about adding roasted barley is the burnt bitter type flavour it imparts which would be expected in a stout but not really in a mild. I'll check out the mild thread you refer to - sounds interesting. Cheers for the input,