Mild Ale
- 4 lb. crystal malt
- 3 lb. demerara sugar
- 1 lb. flaked maize
- 5 oz. hops
- small level teaspoonful salt
- ¼ oz. citric acid dessert spoonful caramel
Bring seven quarts of water to 150°F, pour this into the polythene pail and add the malt and flaked maize at once. Put in the immersion heater, cover the vessel with polythene as directed and wrap the vessel in a blanket to conserve warmth. Switch on the heater and keep the mash at 145°-150°F for seven to eight hours. At this stage you may try to starch test if you want to.
Strain the mash into the boiler and add two ounces of hops, the salt and caramel (gravy browning), and boil rapidly for one minute. Then simmer gently for forty minutes. Then add remaining hops and simmer for a further ten minutes.
Put the sugar and acid in the fermenting vessel and strain the mash on to it either through fine muslin or a nylon sieve. Stir well, making sure all sugar is dissolved, and then make up to four gallons with boiling water. Cover with sheet polythene and leave until cooled to 65°-70°F. Then add your yeast in whichever form you have it ready. Cover as already directed and leave in a warm place for seven-eight days. If top ferment yeast is used some skimming will be necessary. Cover again after skimming.
If using hydrometer, take readings until 1.005 is recorded and bottle as already directed. If draught beer is being made allow fermentation to finish and beer to go ‘fiat’, and then bottle. If priming is being carried out (adding sugar to re-start fermentation), now is the time to do it.
Keep for three weeks in bottles.