Sloth Man English Mild
Brewed: 9/8/2013 Kegged: 9/21/2013
Of course, in 2013, I made it SheppyBrew's mission to have brewed at least one all-grain batch in each of the 23 beer categories (see SheppyBrew Styles). Next up was Category 11 — English Brown Ale. Before this one, I did NSFW Belgium Golden Strong Ale, which was a whopping 9.5% ABV. I thought for Category 11, I would go low ABV with an English Mild (11A).The ABV range for Mild's is 2.8% - 4.5%, and Sloth Man targets close to the middle at 3.7%. It should be medium bodied with lots of caramel, toffee, biscuit malt flavors. The low alcohol lends itself to be consumed in quantity.
The name "Sloth Man" is in honor of the Crazy Sloth Man who often lives at the top of the biggest tree in the Brewery's back yard. He blends in so well, that the Beer Model and Brewing Assistants have never actually seen him even though the Brewing Assistants climb the tree often in search of the Crazy Sloth Man.
However, he does come out of the tree when the Brew Master has had a few too many beers to safely operate the gas grill and takes over cooking meats. From time to time, he will also sip (or gulp) some of the Brew Master's beers to help reduce the chances that the Brew Master will be hung over on Monday morning.
The Crazy Sloth Man heads South for the fall and winter so that no one will see him while the tree is bare.
The beer itself contains the "Gluten Killer" Clarity-Ferm, so that I can use it as payment to "Gretchen" who will be taking care of the Brewing Assistants during GABF again this year.
For more information about this beer see http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/SlothMan
| Sloth Man English Mild --- Batch 1 |
| Style | Mild | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 7.76 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 75.00 | Boil Time | 90 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.037 SG | Estimated FG | 1.008 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 20.2 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 3.7 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.553 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 15.0 SRM |
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| Measured OG: | 1.037 | Measured FG: | 1.014 | ||||
| ADF: | 62% | Measured ABV: | 3% |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU |
| 6.00 g | Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins) | Water Agent | 1 | - |
| 3.00 g | Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) | Water Agent | 2 | - |
| 1.00 g | Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins) | Water Agent | 3 | - |
| 6 lbs | Golden Promise (Simpsons) (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 82.8 % |
| 8.0 oz | Crystal, Medium (Simpsons) (55.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 6.9 % |
| 6.0 oz | Crystal, Dark (Simpsons) (80.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 5.2 % |
| 4.0 oz | Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM) | Grain | 8 | 3.4 % |
| 2.0 oz | Blackprinz (500.0 SRM) | Grain | 9 | 1.7 % |
| 0.375 oz | Magnum [14.70 %] - Boil 50.0 min | Hop | 10 | 20.2 IBUs |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) | Fining | 11 | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) | Other | 12 | - |
| 1.0 pkg | Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) [35.49 ml] | Yeast | 13 | - |
| 5.00 ml | Clarity-Ferm (Primary 2.0 weeks) | Fining | 14 | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
| Mash In | Add 9.06 qt of water at 163.7 F | 152.0 F | 60 min |
Batch sparge with 2 steps (2.48gal, 3.88gal) of 168.0 F water
Recipe Notes
Liked the flavor of Gnasty ESB, so decided to replicate its water additions.
Basically, got Denver Water profile to Burton on Trent and then reducing quite a bit.
Final: Ca=84,Mg=17,Na=21,SO4=183,Cl=23,HCO3=121
A day or two before brew day, make a liter starter with harvested WLP007.
Mash and boil as directed. Cool wort as close to 60 degrees as possible. Don't forget to add clarity-ferm. Pitch yeast. Keep cool until fermentation starts, then let temperature rise to ambient. Ferment one to two weeks. Bottle or keg, targeting 2.3 volumes carbonation.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | 9/8/2013 | Strike Temp: | ||||
| Mash Temps: | 154 - 152 | |||||
| Pre-boil OG | 1.030 (1.030 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | 7.75 (7.76 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | 55 | ||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: nothing. Re-pitched at end of day | ||||||
| Day 2: 65. signs of activity | ||||||
| Day 4: 66 active | ||||||
Brewing Notes
9/9/2013 Brewed yesterday. Everything went great ... except I still have no signs of fermentation. I think I over chilled. Today, I added some more yeast and shook / stirred for more aeration. Hopefully this will get going by tomorrow morning.
9/11/2013 The beer took off after re-pitching. Temp has been perfect, in the mid-60's.
9/12/2013 Slowing down. 70 degrees.
9/15/2013 Racked into 2ndary to make room for X-Mas ale. Gravity at 1.015, which makes this about 3% abv. Sample smooth and well balanced.
9/18/2013 Took another sample. May be at 1.014 now.Still has a nice smooth balanced flavor. It looks like this will be my lowest abv beer by far.
9/21/2013 Bottled a little more than half and left the rest in the keg. Only 3.75oz of sugar, so carbonation should be pretty low. Got 13 12oz; 4 bombers; and 2 1 liter bottles.
10/4/2013 The PET bottles seem pretty firm, so maybe I was wrong about low carbonation.
10/6/2013 Had a bottle last night. Carbonation is fine. Might be a bit high for style, but ok. Great low alcohol beer.
10/6/2013 Also tried some from keg today. Nice and chocolatey. Maybe a little bit under carbonated but fine for the style probably. Very nice to watch football with such a nice session beer.
10/22/2013 Had a liter PET. REALLY carbonated and sweet. Poured most of it out. Seems like a bunch of sugar must have ended up in this bottle.
11/2/2013 The keg is now gone. Still have a few bottles left. Too bad. This was a nice beer to have on tap.
11/17/2013 Had a bomber. Overcarbonated, so had to pour slowly. Really good still.
4/25/2014 Last liter. Still tasting pretty good.
9/9/2013 Brewed yesterday. Everything went great ... except I still have no signs of fermentation. I think I over chilled. Today, I added some more yeast and shook / stirred for more aeration. Hopefully this will get going by tomorrow morning.
9/11/2013 The beer took off after re-pitching. Temp has been perfect, in the mid-60's.
9/12/2013 Slowing down. 70 degrees.
9/15/2013 Racked into 2ndary to make room for X-Mas ale. Gravity at 1.015, which makes this about 3% abv. Sample smooth and well balanced.
9/18/2013 Took another sample. May be at 1.014 now.Still has a nice smooth balanced flavor. It looks like this will be my lowest abv beer by far.
9/21/2013 Bottled a little more than half and left the rest in the keg. Only 3.75oz of sugar, so carbonation should be pretty low. Got 13 12oz; 4 bombers; and 2 1 liter bottles.
10/4/2013 The PET bottles seem pretty firm, so maybe I was wrong about low carbonation.
10/6/2013 Had a bottle last night. Carbonation is fine. Might be a bit high for style, but ok. Great low alcohol beer.
10/6/2013 Also tried some from keg today. Nice and chocolatey. Maybe a little bit under carbonated but fine for the style probably. Very nice to watch football with such a nice session beer.
10/22/2013 Had a liter PET. REALLY carbonated and sweet. Poured most of it out. Seems like a bunch of sugar must have ended up in this bottle.
11/2/2013 The keg is now gone. Still have a few bottles left. Too bad. This was a nice beer to have on tap.
11/17/2013 Had a bomber. Overcarbonated, so had to pour slowly. Really good still.
4/25/2014 Last liter. Still tasting pretty good.