Back East Cream Ale
 

Grains
2.5 lbs 6-row pale malt
1.1 lbs carapils
1.1 lbs flaked maize
1.5 lbs pilsen liquid extract - pre-boil
3.0 lbs pilsen liquid extract - after boil

Hops
0.5 ounce northern brewer - boil 60 mins
0.5 ounce northern brewer - boil 10 mins

Misc
1/2 tsp irish moss - boil 10 mins

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 - no starter needed if straight from smack pack. if this is reused yeast, create a 1L starter

Bottle condition: 75 deg | 2.7 vol Co2 (5.6 oz table or 6 oz corn sugar) for 2 weeks

THIS IS A SIX GALLON RECIPE

This true-to-style cream ale is delicious, low-cost, turns around quick, and uses your whole bottling bucket. I try to always have it on-hand, but it goes fast. The recipe is built around the partial mash method and is simple but rewards good technique.

I've primaried for different lengths of time but have noticed no advantage to exceeding two weeks. If fermentation is slow to take-off, you may consider adding a few days to the length in primary.

Step-by-step
1. Mash (fits in a 2-gallon pot): Heat 5 1/2 quarts water to 171 deg, add grains in muslin bag, stir grains inside bag for two minutes. Temp should be @ 152. Cover and maintain temperature for one hour
2. Sparge: In your brewpot, heat 2.5 gallons water to 172, add bag of grains, stir for two minutes. Rest for ten minutes. Remove bag, hold over pot until run-off slows to a drip. Set grains aside.
3. Combine your worts: Pour the first wort (from the mash) into your brewpot, now both the sparge and first wort are together. To this, add 1.5 pounds liquid extract
4. Cold sparge: return grains back to the now-empty mash pot. Add 1.5 gallons (or whatever will fit) of cool, sanitized water. THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL
5. Bring to a boil, add northern brewer hops. Wait 50 mins
6. After 50 mins, add northern brewer hops and irish moss, wait 10 mins.
7. Add 3 pounds liquid extract at flame-out
8. Cool wort as rapidly as possible (i like to use a sanitized 1/2 gallon block of ice to achieve a cold break and thus clear beer)
9. Pour wort into sanitized fermentation vessel, top-off first with cold sparge water (if you did this optional step) and then clean water to achieve 6 gallons.
10. Pitch yeast when wort temperature is down to around 70
11. Ferment for two weeks (mid 60s if you can)
12. Bottle condition for two additional weeks

As a variation, I took half of my last batch and dry hopped it with 1/2 oz nugget. It is fantastic.