Brewing Express English Mild, Grain to Glass in Less Than a Week

I am not going to lie, I selected the Express English Mild to brew because I have a new keg to try out and wanted to fill it as quickly as possible. According to the Experimental Homebrewing book, where I got the recipe, this brew could be done from brewing to kegging in as quickly as four days. I did it in six days, but could see achieving four days if you get fermentation started quickly with a higher temperature start.

Unlike previous brews where I was very familiar with the style that I was brewing, I have never even tried and English Mild. This is not a popular or common style in America, though apparently this style had Bud Lite levels of popularity in England until the 1960s. That said, after trying my results, English Mild could easily be confused with a porter, with the differences being about a percent of ABV and perhaps more roastiness in the porter.

My end product was much better than I expected. I was concerned that the Express Mild would taste watered down because this was the lowest ABV that I have ever brewed at 3.5%. However, the beer had a substantial body and did not taste weak at all. As the same time Express Mild is highly drinkable with no hint of hops and a moderate malty roasted taste reminiscent of coffee. I force carbonated and achieved the lower carbonation recommended for this style. Additionally, this was an affordable beer with the ingredients only costing $32.81 for 5 gallons.

I highly recommend the English Mild from Experimental Homebrewing and look forward to experimenting with this recipe in the future.