Suitable Sub for Mild Malt

I plan on brewing a malt-forward Imperial or Baltic style porter (1.084-1.086) that calls for Mild Malt as 12% of the grist. The recipe has a Maris Otter based at 52% and mix of crystals and other specialty malts - a diverse grain bill to impart character (roasty and malty).

Based my reading here and other boards, Vienna or Light Munich may be suitable subs for Mild Malt.

BYO: Grain on the Brain (Mar/Apr 2002)
Vienna and the light Munichs contribute the same amount of fermentables per pound as the other base malts (as opposed to specialty malts, which contribute less).

Not sure if the color of Munich or Vienna are important as this will be a near-black porter anyhow.

Looking for feedback for a suitable Milt Malt substitute.

I am fond of Paul’s Mild Malt for Mild brewing. In my opinion, the taste of that malt is a cross between light Munich and a pale malt.

golden promise maybe other than Vienna or light munich - It probably wouldn’t be  bad to add a touch of brown malt in the grist either, maybe replace mild 12% with 4% brown and bump up M.O. to 60%

I’d use vienna or just use more MO.

Here’s the full grist bill. Hope this helps with the decision-making process.


• Maris Otter - 52% (UK)
• Mild Malt - 12% (UK )
• Flaked Barley - 12% (US)
• Flaked Wheat - 4% (US)
• Flaked Oats - 4% (US)
• Chocolate Malt - 3.6% (UK)
• Extra Dark Crystal (120-150) - 3% (UK)
• Crystal (70-80) - 2.1% (UK)
• Crystal (110-130) - 1.8% (UK)
• Coffee Malt - 1.6% (UK)
• Pale Chocolate - 1.4% (UK)
• Crystal (35-50) - 1.8% (UK)
• De-Bittered Black - .7% (BE)

That’s probably too much going on. But that’s just me.  I’d simplify that grist a bit…

Agreed. I’ve seen some great Baltic recipes that split roast and crystal across a few varieties but anything more than 5-6 malts is likely going to be a mess.

+1 to just subbing with Maris Otter.  Or a blend of Maris Otter and Golden Promise might get you even closer (50/50).

I’m thinking that it would be hard to tell if you used the mild or just more M O  in that recipe, there’s a lot going on and it will be quite flavor full either way.

Thanks all for the feedback.

A little late to the party . .

I used to love Pauls Mild ale malt as a base for English styles and used it extensively when NB offered it but I haven’t been able to find a supplier for several years. I got on an English/esb/bitter/pale ale brewing kick last fall and have been using Briess Ashburne malt as a base, it’s an awesome malt and very much like Pauls Mild. Great malt flavor and leaves a lot of residual body in the beer even when mashed low, also is a bit cheaper than euromalts. Highly recommended.

When I visited the Paul’s Malt booth at the Craft Brewers Conference this month, I didn’t see that they actually still make the Mild Malt. Glad to hear that the Briess product is similar.

The place I order from does not stock Mild Malt.