Vanilla Caramel Cream Ale - Page 3

bakersbrew · 07-12-2009, 10:14 PM

cheese, i dont understand your schedule and mashing temps. i just brewed my first AG so i am pretty new. is there anyway you can explain it a little more? here is the way i understand it -

4 gallons of strike water at 175
add grain and mash at 168 for an hour (here is where i am unclear...dont get the times?)
after an hour sparge at 170 for around 20 minutes

i dont know...any help i can get on this would be great. thanks

**Yooper** · 07-12-2009, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bakersbrew

cheese, i dont understand your schedule and mashing temps. i just brewed my first AG so i am pretty new. is there anyway you can explain it a little more? here is the way i understand it -

4 gallons of strike water at 175
add grain and mash at 168 for an hour (here is where i am unclear...dont get the times?)
after an hour sparge at 170 for around 20 minutes

i dont know...any help i can get on this would be great. thanks

I didn't see the mash schedule, but you'll want to mash with approximately 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound of grain, and keep the mash in the 153 degree range. 168 is way too hot for a mash- that should be the grain bed temperature during the sparge.

bakersbrew · 07-12-2009, 10:27 PM

so your mash temp is always supposed to be around 153. got it. i just didnt understand this -

Schedule:
01:33:00 Mash In - Liquor: 4.0 gal; Strike: 175.0 °F
01:35:36 Mash Out - Heat: 2.6 min; Target: 168.0 °F
02:20:36 Sparge - Sparge: 5.0 gal sparge @ 170.0 °F, 11.0 gal collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 11.0 gal

FailureDrill · 07-21-2009, 03:54 AM

Pics of this look awesome, i'm going to brew this soon.

bakersbrew · 07-31-2009, 08:32 AM

So I ended up brewing this today because I had a couple days off work. Since I didnt have the best info I just winged it.

I ended up way over my mash temp because last time I was way under. I corrected and hit the right temp for a good 35-40 minutes. Was this long enough?

My gravity ended up as 1.040 instead of 1.067. But I took the gravity reading before the vanilla and lactose went in. Is this why it is low or is it because i missed my mash temp and there were less fermentables?

I don't know why I always have these post brew freakouts. The beer always turns out great

**masonsjax** · 10-16-2009, 07:25 PM

I finally bought the specialty malts and the sugar to do this one. I will prob brew it next week after my Irish Red. Looking forward to it.

**masonsjax** · 10-26-2009, 02:25 PM

I made this a few days ago with small changes. I used white labs WL029 german ale/kolsch yeast, and all cascade hops. I'm looking forward to tapping this one.

If you plan to make this, be sure to use real vanilla extract. The imitation vanilla usually has preservatives that will harm the yeast. You could also use a couple of real vanilla beans cracked in primary.

skeeordye11 · 11-12-2009, 08:07 PM

Just figured I'd put this here for those that missed the original thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesefood

EDIT 2/20/07: Please do not PM me with questions on this recipe. Post them to this thread. I get way too many questions that are already answered within this long thread, so consider reading the entire thing (or using the Search function) prior to posting.

Here's the final recipe that I'm brewing RIGHT NOW.

Malts
3 pounds extra light DME
3 pounds light wheat DME
1 pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150'-165')

Hops
1oz Cascade for bittering (60 minutes)
.5oz Saaz for flavor (20 minutes)
.5 oz Tettnang for aroma (end of boil)

Yeast
Wyeast German Ale

Extras
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
4oz Lactose @ 15 minutes
2 oz real vanilla extract

Priming
>1cup Lactose
4oz vanilla (Be careful! This may be too much vanilla for some people.)
1.5 cups light DME

I'm adding the Lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'll add the vanilla in the primary, because I don't want to risk losing any that bonds to the trub. So far, it smells fantastic but I'm still at the bittering hops boil. I think this should end up with a nice caramel flavor and a good hint (perhaps a suggestion size amount) of vanilla. I've had vanillas with way too much flavor and they tasted too much like candy. This should have a decent balance.

Notes: 11/4/05

So good. Can't even explain it - you simply must make this beer. I let it prime for almost 2 weeks before fridging it, then cracked one tonight after only about 30 hours. Great head, good lace, nice color, good body and nose. Pictures won't do it justice, but here's one anyways

nostalgia · 11-25-2009, 02:54 PM

Ok I just pulled my first pint of this recipe...holy crap! It's like liquid candy

It's still a little green, but the flavors are there. The first flavor and aroma is immediately caramel. Mouthfeel is creamy, as if you're drinking melted caramel candies.

Then I get the vanilla, but in the background. It doesn't punch you in the face.

A really nice recipe that's going to be my Holiday gift ale. Thanks to the OP!

My OG came in at 1.054 with an FG of 1.011 for an ABV of 5.6%.

-Joe

dracus · 01-06-2010, 10:54 PM

I brewed this. OG came out a few pointd low. Not to shabby for my first all grain brew.

Just bottled after 3 weeks in the primary. Hydro sample pre-lactose and vanilla priming was yummy. A tad hoppy like previously mentioned but I believe the extra lactose and vanilla will balance that out.

My only concern, I really didn't get any carmel flavor despite having a lb of carmel in grain bill. Mine had a bit more of a nutty flavor which was yummy. I can't wait to see where this ends up after a few weeks in the bottle.