Homebrew Summer: Mild of Cups
Arcana Brewing teams with a longtime patron to brew a lesser-seen, summer-suited English-style ale
We’re kicking off the 2024 edition of our Homebrew Summer program with a first-time participant, Arcana Brewing. The Carlsbad brewery partnered up with longtime homebrewer and taproom customer, Chris High, to produce the recipe for his English-style dark mild ale on a professional level. Not only can you partake of that malty, low-alcohol beer when it debuts at Arcana’s taproom on Wednesday, June 19. You can also download a PDF of the recipe below and brew it yourself!
New pro-am beers will debut weekly throughout the summer, so be sure to check back with San Diego Beer News on a regular basis (or subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter and we’ll send all the recipes and release information straight to your inbox). Cheers and happy homebrewing!
Chris High
Homebrewer
How does it feel to have your recipe selected to be brewed on a pro scale?
When Dan texted me asking if I’d like to collaborate on a beer with him for Homebrew Summer, I responded “yes” immediately and enthusiastically. I first met Dan while he was just a prospective professional at the Vista Viking Festival, handing out one of the best porters I’ve ever tasted. It was this mutual appreciation of British ales that brought me in to Arcana and kept me coming back, so it was only natural that we chose my dark mild recipe to work from. Dan had some great suggestions to tweak it and I couldn’t be happier with the results. It was an honor to work beside Dan and be part of the process; I respect his craft and his willingness to go with such an under-appreciated style. I couldn’t be prouder to have something I created emblazoned with the Arcana label.
Dan Guy
Owner & Brewmaster, Arcana Brewing
What led you to select this beer recipe?
We’re excited to work with Chris on this dark mild project for Homebrew Summer. Chris has been a long-time regular at our Carlsbad taproom, always happy to talk shop about brewing and bring in samples of his beers for us to try. And they’ve been great! We picked an English-style dark mild as something that would be an approachable dark beer for the warm summer weather and also be something we have never brewed before at Arcana. The recipe is a pretty straightforward one, employing a single-infusion mash, wheat for body and Fuggle hops for that classically mild British bitterness. Be careful not to over-sparge this one or the grain-husk profile will be really noticeable on such a low-gravity beer.
Arcana Brewing is located at 5621 Palmer Way in Carlsbad