I've been looking forward to this one so much. I'd long suspected that Mild Ales had been brewed in the USA, but finding confirmation was still wonderful. Especially as it seems to have been pretty much forgotten about. I can only think of one modern American beer that is descended from this tradition: Ballantine XXX. Funnily enough, a beer I drank a bit of when I lived in the US.
This is, in many ways, a typical Vassar Ale. High OG, high FG, modest hopping. The main difference with a British Mild Ale of the period is the malt. In Britain a pale malt would have been used. Vassar, on the other hand, used high-dried malt for some of their Ales.
I hope lots of you brew this beer because I'd love to hear how it tastes. And what you think of it.
Time to do to Kristen . . . . . .
Notes:
Here is one that is gonna take some time and chops to pull off there gents. It’s a beer that’s big and fat and needs to finish like a sumo wrestler in a marathon. This is a very neat beer that a lot of people are accidently making already. Eg making a big beer and not fermenting it. That takes no talent, making one specifically like that, can be difficult without making it taste like burnt wires and puppy farts.
Malt
Yes, you see the ‘high dried malt’ correctly. That’s what it is. Some times its listed as Amber, sometimes just the HD stuff. Here’s the gig. You want a tasty HD malt that has plenty of flavor and aroma and will finish fat…if possible. Fatter I guess. Munich is straight out, just the wrong type of malt for the flavors here. Vienna is the next easy choice as people can get it pretty commonly. However, what we really want is an enzymatic Amber malt. But there is no such thing, the internet says so. Oh, wait, that’s right, most of the interwebs is bullocks, the rest is porno. So, yes, there is a high dried enzymatic Amber malt. MFB. Special aromatic. If you want to get this beer close, that’s what I used. If you want to get close and still make your life easy (read be lazy) use 70% Vienna and 30% UK Amber. Basically bringing up the FG so the yeast doesn’t have to do it all by its self.
Hops
Cluster! Yes yes, its always Cluster. Always bloody Cluster when we make American historic beers. Well, sometimes lifes a bitch and then you drink some flippin whisk(e)y. Here is the gig, 96% of the US hop crop was Cluster. No, this is not a number I pull out of my butt. (http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=1987/US/US87330.xml;US8714040) So that leaves us with making it traditional, or not. Its up to you guys really. First time through, Cluster. Next time, whatever fits your fancy.
Ferment and yeast
If you have the Ballantine yeast strain, use it. If not, the 1332 will works just fine. Fruity and malt. Oxygenate fully but under pitch to about 60-70%. You’ll need to cold crash this sucker to get it to stop where you need it. A few plato under finishing gravity start to drop the temp.
Great recipe, what about mild malt and amber or some distactic amber malt?
ReplyDeleteYa know what would be really nice in this, New York State heirloom hops!
ReplyDelete[*cough*] Salt addition [/*cough*]
ReplyDeleteAlan, I'm not sure about the salt. Sometimes it's mentioned, sometimes not. In this case, it isn't.
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding the "present use ale" was called cream ale in late 19th century America. This was to differentiate it for lagered or aged or sparkling ale. This was a beer developed in North America to compete with the new lager beers. It was "flat".
ReplyDeleteHowever, the name flipped in the 20th century to be used for highly carbonated competitors to lager beer.
Anyone seen this MFB / Enzymatic malt over in the UK?
ReplyDeleteAlex
I was going to cross reference the salt additions to the notations on the right page of Vassar's 1830's log in which the quality of each batch is noted. I wonder if it is added to either enhance yeast performance or to mask off flavours. Do you see any other correlations? It has to have some function.
ReplyDeleteThe terms "present use ale" and "stock ale" turn up in almost every ad for American breweries during the 1830s-1860s. I'm not sure I've ever seen "mild ale" applied here, but have seen an occasional use of "running ale" which, in the context used, was clearly intended to mean present use/mild. Ron -- isn't "running ale" an English term?
ReplyDeleteCream ale is another bucket of worms altogether. Some brewers offered what they called cream ale side by side with their standard present use and stock ales around mid-century. In fact, I've seen one brewer advertise 2 different varieties of cream ale in the same ad. Yeah, some used the term cream ale (though more used sparkling ale) to describe ales brewed to resemble certain characteristics of the popular Bohemian lagers in America, but that came during the late 1800s. For decades prior, cream ale appears to have been its own animal. It needs more research, but the impression that I've gotten is that the term was very loosely applied during the mid-1800s. While a Burton was a Burton, and an IPA was an IPA, a cream ale, I suspect, meant different things to different brewers in different regions and/or eras. Would love to see some brewer’s logs on a circa 1850 East Coast cream ale.
Carl, yes "running ale" is an English term. Same thing as mild (with a small 'm'), really.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Cream Ale. Makes me want to learn more.
I've also seen references to "cream", from that period, meaning nothing more that an ale with a thick, voluminous white head.
ReplyDeleteBrian—Cream Ale was being advertised well before lager's influence in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAlan—Hopping was pretty high and salt softens water, maybe it was used like gypsum is used to harden water and enhance bitterness, just the other way around—soft more mellow bitterness.
ReplyDeleteIf anybody is gonna or already did brew it, wanna sell me a few bottles via US Mail? Once my time machine is finished, I'll compare it to the original and report back.
ReplyDeleteAlan, can you explain how you decided on the yeast suggestions? Why not an English yeast? Seems like the attenuation rates would be much closer and isn't it possible that's where the yeast came from at the time?
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you think temperature control will allow one to limit the attenuation to this extent? I've never tried something like this but I feel like it would be impossible to get this thing to stop at 1.038.