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From the files of beer historian Ron Pattinson, here’s a recipe from mid-19th-century Scotland that makes a point: British milds weren’t always dark and low strength. This one calls for cramming your mash tun full—note the low efficiency, and consider brewing more beer from the second runnings—and it has plenty of hops, too.
“For William Younger at the time, this wasn’t all that strong,” Pattinson says. “They had half a dozen stronger beers.”
For many more recipes like this one—more than 350, in fact—plus more numbers, facts, and context, be sure to check out Pattinson’s self-published two-volume set, Scotland!, found via his blog, Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. And for more on brewing a great mild, see Why We’re Wild for Mild.