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After much thought and deliberation I’ve decided to brew the sexiest beer style of 2019.

Not a New England super duper pineapple and mango milkshake IPA, or a dry hopped pilsner (yeah right, like I could even pull that off), or even something spontaneously fermented and aged for 24 months on cherries in Elmer T. Lee barrels.

Those all sound delicious (not really a milkshake IPA person, if I’m being honest), but the sexiest beer style of 2019 is the lowly English Mild.

Roasty, malty, and low abv -- that sounds perfect for the fall doesn’t it?

Well, now that we have that all done with, let’s get to the important stuff -- Have I made a great beer yet?...I’m closer than I’ve ever been before, but still no.

I didn’t make the same mistake as last time (unsealed cans) so that’s good, my brew day went very well and my English Mild honestly tastes really good. I actually enjoy drinking it and my friends have enjoyed it too!

My 2 complaints are relatively minor, but I didn’t add enough priming sugar so the carbonation is there, but could be better and my beer turned out too dark -- it looks almost like a porter or stout. I made a grain substitution slightly different from the original recipe and I think that may be my issue.

All that said, what was notable about this brew session?
* I rehydrated dry yeast prior to fermentation for the first time. I’m not sure that I did it correctly -- but it seems to have gone mostly right.
* I paid closer attention to my mashing and sparging temperatures and I got better efficiency this time -- in the 60s instead of 50s, so still some room for improvement.
* My fermentation took a LONG time to begin -- nearly 40 hours. By the time it started I had almost given up on it.
* It’s tough to get my wort chilled to where I need to it be post boil during the summer. So the wort may have been too warm when I added the yeast. I’m not sure.
* Canning day required some maintenance and oiling of the can sealer, but everything sealed!
* The ABV was supposed to be 3.7% -- it ended up at 3.1% instead. I know that’s not good and I’m going to get better about extracting the sugars during the mash.

What pleasantly surprised me?
* Maris Otter!!! -- Heard a lot about it over the past couple years, this was my first time brewing with it. Really like the flavor and texture it adds a lot.

Why can’t I officially call this my first great batch of beer?
* Too dark! -- is that really that big of a deal? I’m not sure.

I’ve had good reviews on this beer so far. People have asked for a second after having the first -- that’s new. I’m very pleased with the flavor, though I’m uncertain if I made and English Mild or super low abv porter or stout -- maybe the low abv and flavor is what makes it an English Mild. Maybe I should just call it the Honest Table Dark English Mild and call it a day.