This is an adaptation of Machine House’s killer Dark Mild recipe. I definitely enjoyed my attempt at this—brewed with the sous vide partial-mash method and then spunded—but the simpler tea method should work just fine.
For more ideas on portable brewing on the road, see Air B & Brew: Travel-Size Brewing, On the Go.
PARTIAL-MASH
Batch size: 1 quart (~1 liter)
OG: 1.035
FG: 1.008-ish
IBUs: 20
ABV: ~3.5%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
2.8 oz (79 g) pale dry malt extract (DME)
0.44 oz (13 g) chocolate malt
0.28 oz (8 g) crystal 60L
0.28 oz (8 g) crystal 120L
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.25 oz (7 g) East Kent Goldings as mash hops [20 IBUs]
YEAST
Fermentis SafAle S-04
DIRECTIONS
Boil a quart of water and allow it to cool to about 185°F (85°C). Separately, prepare a sous vide bath at 176°F (80°C). In a sous vide bag, add the boiled water, milled grains, and hops. Seal the bag and immerse in the bath for 60 minutes. Optionally, chill the bag afterward in an ice bath. Empty the contents of the bag into a French press or pour through a strainer, leaving as much of the malt and hop sludge in the bag as possible, squeezing to get out as much wort as you can. Pour the wort into a sanitized container for fermentation, rinsing the French press (if you used one) with brewing water. Add the DME and whisk to dissolve, then top up as needed with sterile water. Check gravity if desired, and optionally add any nutrients or salts. When the wort has cooled to 78°F (26°C) or lower, pitch the yeast. Ferment 1 week and enjoy.
BREWER’S NOTES
For this one, I used a mini keg and spunding valve. If you do this, simply set it to 15 PSI and wait a week. Otherwise, rack to packaging once fermented or drink it straight.