Recipe is for 5 gallons. It is based on the malts yielding about 24 points per pound per gallon (PPG), which is what I typically get from American and specialty grains. Some people get better extraction, but better to err on the side of too little volume than too much because you can always dilute if necessary, but if you fall short of target OG, you’re out of luck.

Ingredients:

3.9 gallons of carbon-filtered mash water (keep the chlorine away!)
No brewing salts needed for this one (gypsum enhances bitterness, which we don’t need, and the dark malt will help acidify the wort).
6 gallons of carbon-filtered sparge water.
12 pounds of pale malt (can be American or European)
2 pounds of 80-lovibond crystal malt
1 pound of special B malt
11 alpha acid units of bittering hop pellets (e.g., you might use 24g of 13% Galena. Hop species is not very important for bittering this beer.)
1 ounce of whole Cascade – flavoring
1 ounce of whole Mt. Hood – aroma
(Whole hops are important in order to prevent screen clogging. As long as the weight of whole hops exceeds that of pellets, the screen won’t clog.)
0.5 ounce lemon extract
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon coriander powder
12 ounces unsulphured molasses
4 ounces I.D. Carlson oak chips
1 tablespoon licorice root powder
Chico yeast (Wyeast 1056 or White Labs WLP001)
Brettanomyces bruxellensis (Wyeast 3112 or dregs from a bottle of Orval, cultured to a 1-pint starter)

Procedure:

Single infusion mash all grains at 154 degrees F for at least one hour.
No mashout necessary. I believe that the benefits of a mashout are outweighed by the extra time and energy they consume.
Heat sparge water to 170 degrees F.
Lauter to make 7 gallons.
Once wort starts to boil, add bittering hops and boil for 60 minutes.
Add Cascade 15 minutes before end of boil.
Add molasses, coriander, lemon extract and salt 10 minutes before end of boil.
Add Mt. Hood 2 minutes before end of boil.
Chill.
Pitch Chico yeast.
OG should be 1.078. If higher, add distilled or reverse osmosis water to increase wort volume until gravity drops to 1.078.
After primary fermentation (about a week), boil 1 quart of water, turn off heat, and steep oak chips and licorice powder in a coarse nylon bag in the hot water for at least 45 minutes (you can let it sit overnight if desired).
Add oak/licorice “tea” to the secondary.
Add Brettanomyces bruxellensis starter to the secondary.
Let ferment for 4-6 weeks (Brett takes its time).
FG varies but is typically between 1.012 and 1.022.
Bottle (do not keg because Brett works most of its magic in the bottle).

Over the next 6-8 months, the Brett character will develop and make a nice marriage with all the other flavors.

Thanks for the submission. All of you out there with less experience — don’t let this discourage you. Take a shot at it!

Durden Park Mild

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Brew Type: All Grain Date: 3/24/2009
Style: Mild Brewer: Bill King
Batch Size: 6.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 7.14 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Brewing Steps
Check Time Step
3/24/2009 Clean and prepare equipment.
– Measure ingredients, crush grains.
– Prepare 8.83 gal water for brewing
–
Prepare Ingredients for Mash
Amount Item Type
10 lbs 9.0 ozPale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain
10.2 oz Barley, Torrefied (1.7 SRM) Grain
6.8 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain
3.4 oz Black Barley (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain
2.5 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain
– WARNING: Preheat Mash Tun – No equipment adjustments made!
2 min Mash Ingredients
Mash In: Add 14.99 qt of water at 165.9 F
45 min – Hold mash at 154.0 F for 45 min
– Sparge with 5.08 gal of 168.0 F water.
– Add water to achieve boil volume of 7.14 gal
– Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.047 SG with all grains/extracts added
Boil for 60
min
Boil Ingredients
Boil Amount Item Type
60 min 3.58 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops
– Cool wort to fermentation temperature
– Add water (as needed) to achieve volume of 6.00 gal
– Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.
3/24/2009 Measure Original Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.053 SG)
3/24/2009 Measure Batch Volume: ________ (Estimate: 6.00 gal)
4 days Ferment in primary for 4 days at 68.0 F
3/28/2009 Transfer to Secondary Fermenter
7 days Ferment in secondary for 7 days at 68.0 F
4/4/2009 Measure Final Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.014 SG)
– Bottle beer at 60.0 F with 4.5 oz of corn sugar.
4.0 Weeks Age for 4.0 Weeks at 52.0 F
5/2/2009 Sample and enjoy!