Little Mac

Sometimes we need a break from the hoppy beers and want something that is light and malty. We decided to make a style of beer that isn’t made all that often but can be extremely delicious and full flavored despite its low ABV. We were aiming at making a beer with notes of caramel, chocolate, and a full malt character while keeping the ABV around 3.5%. The recipe we came up with took first place in a local competition in the Dark British Beer Category, and took third overall in Best of Show. Little Mac, English Dark Mild.

Knowing that this beer was going to be really light on hops and would need a strong malt base with lots of character to keep people wanting to go back to it and for us to keep going back for it.

We started with a traditional pick for English beers, Maris Otter. The rich character of the Maris Otter would give the beer the full flavor we were looking for while still being a good background for the specialty malts we selected. In order to crank this up just a tad we also added about 10% Munich Dark 20L to bring a more intense malt flavor without any toasted notes.

Because this beer would only end up around 3.5% we really wanted to try and push the body as much as possible, in order to do this we added around 20% Dextrine malt to the recipe. We also added 5% flaked oats to also try and create the perception of fullness.

After creating the strong malty backbone and trying to make the beer as full bodied as possible we decided to add some more specialty malts try and give the beer notes of chocolate and caramel. As a result we decided to go with about 10% Caramel 120L and 10% Chocolate malt.

All together the malt recipe ended up like this for a 10 Gallon Batch.

Fermentables

Amount	Fermentable	PPG	°L	Bill %
6.67 lb	United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale	38	3.75	42.1%
3.33 lb	American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)	33	1.8	21%
1.67 lb	American - Caramel / Crystal 120L	33	120	10.5%
0.83 lb	Flaked Oats	33	2.2	5.2%
1.67 lb	American - Chocolate	29	350	10.5%
1.67 lb	American - Munich - Dark 20L	33	20	10.5%
15.84 lb	Total

After heating our strike water, we mashed in at 151 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes. Mashed out, collected out wort and boiled for 60 minutes.

For the hops we decided to use Challenger Hops from the UK for just a hint of spice. We added 1.75 oz of Challenger hops in single charge at 30 minutes. This gave us around 25 IBU.

After cooling down to 63 degrees we pitched Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast. We fermented for 5 days at 63 then raised the temperature by letting it free rise to 70 degrees to finish out. The result was the beer attenuated from 1.038 to 1.010 with a final ABV of 3.6%.

Appearance

The beer pours a deep brown color with just a hint of ruby when held up to the light. It has an off-white head that lingers and leaves a nice lacing as it is consumed.

Aroma

Malt forward aroma with a good amount of coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel. Slight dark fruit esters and no hop aromas are evident.

Taste & Mouthfeel

Malt forward with a roast edge, notes of caramel and dark chocolate with almost no hop presence. The finish is dry, which helps to balance the beer out. Dark fruit esters such as figs or plums round out the finish. Carbonation is medium light, only 2.0 Volumes, which allows for all of the flavors to shine through on such a light beer in terms of ABV.

Final Thoughts

This beer has done very well for us in competitions. It has finished 1^st, and 2nd in its flight for Dark British Beers, and even taken home a third in Best of Show. It earned a Silver Certificate in the  2019 National Homebrew Competition and is one that will be in our kegs again this fall when the temperatures start to drop. Don't forget to follow s on Instagram @twoshepherdsbrewing