Odd hops for a mild

jMac · Oct 22, 2019

Planning on brewing a mild very soon and just realised the two brews I’m doing around the same time will use up my stock of EKG. The only other hops I have in the freezer are big American hops - Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra. Do you think it’s worth subbing any of these or should I just buy more EKG? It’s a mild so it’s obvs not meant to be a hoppy beer, but you never know...

Here’s my recipe if you’re interested:

Nu River Mild
23l. 1.040~OG → 1.012FG → 3.7%ABV 19 IBU 22.1°L SRM

Mild Ale
37ppg, 4°L 4 kilograms
80%
Golden Syrup
31ppg, 2°L 0.5 kilograms
10%
Chocolate
28ppg, 400°L 0.25 kilograms
5%
Crystal 100L
32ppg, 100°L 0.25 kilograms
5%

30mins mash at 69°.

Goldings (Kent) hops
5%, Leaf 26 grams
60 minutes (+0)
Goldings (Kent) hops
5%, Leaf 15 grams
30 minutes (+30)
60mins boil.

Fermented with S-04.

x

The Baron · Oct 22, 2019

If you use american hops it will not be a mild. I would use quintessential british hops for a mild. EKG, Fuggles, Northdown, and plenty more to go at. Good Luck

cushyno · Oct 22, 2019

You could substitute in some of the Simcoe as a bittering hop, and you'd possibly need only 8 or 9g. It wouldn't be the same beer but may be close enough.

jMac · Oct 22, 2019

the baron said:
If you use american hops it will not be a mild. I would use quintessential british hops for a mild. EKG, Fuggles, Northdown, and plenty more to go at. Good Luck

I had planned on using EKG and probably still will, but I think that the use on non-traditional hops, used to achieve the same IBUs, wouldn’t necessarily not make it a mild. Plenty of other traditional British beer styles are successfully brewed using new world hops, after all.

Perhaps a better question might be - has anyone tried brewing something in the style of a mild with American hops? Blow it, I might just do a split batch and try it for myself. Simcoe maybe.

x

Brew_DD2 · Oct 22, 2019

Any of those hops in small amounts will serve fine.

An Ankoù · Oct 22, 2019

mclaughlinj said:
Planning on brewing a mild very soon and just realised the two brews I’m doing around the same time will use up my stock of EKG. The only other hops I have in the freezer are big American hops - Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra. Do you think it’s worth subbing any of these or should I just buy more EKG? It’s a mild so it’s obvs not meant to be a hoppy beer, but you never know...
x

What's the other brew? Maybe that's more amenable to your other hops. I'd order more EKGs or some Fuggles, to be honest. Mild with US hops might be something new and wonderful, but it won't be mild.

jMac · Oct 22, 2019

An Ankoù said:
What's the other brew? Maybe that's more amenable to your other hops. I'd order more EKGs or some Fuggles, to be honest. Mild with US hops might be something new and wonderful, but it won't be mild.

Both other brews are similarly low IBU, gently hopped brews. One’s a Wit and the other’s an experimental ‘British’ lager that I really wanted to try EKG in. I’ll just get more EKG in, I think, but, as I said above I might just try the mild with some Simcoe too. See how it turns out. At 19IBU, it’s not a hop monster. Maybe I’ll start a trend and make mild sexy.

Brew_DD2 · Oct 22, 2019

mclaughlinj said:
Both other brews are similarly low IBU, gently hopped brews. One’s a Wit and the other’s an experimental ‘British’ lager that I really wanted to try EKG in. I’ll just get more EKG in, I think, but, as I said above I might just try the mild with some Simcoe too. See how it turns out. At 19IBU, it’s not a hop monster. Maybe I’ll start a trend and make mild sexy.

Mild is sexy! Such an underappreciated style. I'm always inclined to experiment. I can't see, with the amounts you are using, the American hops expressing themselves as aggressively as they are known for. I do think Simcoe in particular would work pretty well.

An Ankoù · Oct 22, 2019

Mild is for old men in flat caps and for people who love mild. Sexy doesn't really go with the genre. Nevertheless, I think you might pull it off with Simcoe. I'd recommend FWH and a very gentle hand with the quantity.
Funnily enough, I've just been looking at a mild recipe from over 100 years old with an OG of 1060 and IBU of 40 derived from Fuggles. Might brew up an experimental couple of gallons to see whether the missus finds me sexy when I've necked it down.
It's only mild after all, innit.
Edit: Just had a look at the recipe again (it's one of those Durden Park jobbies) and the OG is 1070. It's definitely getting done on Thursday.

Northern_Brewer · Oct 22, 2019

If you fancy something a bit different, I had a really nice commercial mild made with Flyer - the official description is "A citrus hop with aromas of stoned fruits, liquorice, treacle-toffee and caramel with slight burnt notes." I'm not sure I got all that, but it seemed to work quite nicely as a mild, I've got some with a view to making a mild.

It was bred in 2002 with the intention of being a bittering hop, but it's not quite performed as well in the field as originally hoped in the original role so I suspect it will remain obscure, but seems to work well as a flavour hop in dark beers in particular.

The Baron · Oct 22, 2019

Used Flyer in a porter worked well

Odd hops for a mild

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