What to brew next...

Here's what I've got so far:

Blonde Ale (Primary)
Cherry Wheat (Making in a week)
Pumpkin Spice Ale (Making in 3 weeks)

$25 certificate to an online supply store that I'm dying to spend.

So, I love Blueberry Witbier, but I think I want to make another non-fruit and non-spice beer before doing that one. I love the sound of a Cream Stout, but have no idea how it tastes. Since stouts can vary greatly, does anybody know of a good cream stout that is purchasable in the stores?

I like Hef and Newcastle too, but I want to make something slightly different that is not very bitter and goes down easy, that also has a good arrangement of flavors.

If you really want to specialize a good beer, I would find a recipe like a Vanilla Cream or a coffee cream beer and order separate ingredients for the brew. If you need some recipes, PM me.

adam, what recipe are you using for your coffee milk stout... sounds great!

A local brewery (terrapin) teamed up with Left Hand Brewery to make a coffee milk stout which is insanely good!

So I decided to do the right thing, and went to the store to buy a variety. I bought a pint of each:

Nut Brown Ale
Oatmeal Stout
Double Chocolate Stout

and a sixer of Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde (for the wife and myself..but may brew later on).

I popped open the Nut brown, and it's good! I especially like how it turns from an instant but even bitter to a sweet, nutty almost brown sugary sweet. May be a contender for my next batch.

EDIT: After drinking the pint of Double Chocolate Stout, I don't think it'll be one that I brew for a while. It's good, but not as good as the Nut Brown to me.

Definitely go with a brown ale. The last extract batch I did was a Newcastle clone. I didn't think that mine tasted much like Newcastle, but it was certainly delicious and I'm holding on to two of the bottles that I have left. I had a Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale that was absolutely delicious. Exactly like you described. I was impressed that it was hoppy and bitter, yet sweet. I think I may brew another brown ale soon.

I just did a milk stout this past weekend as my second all grain batch. I've had one milk stout before. It was a homebrewed beer though from an acquaintance. It was delicious. Take the mouthfeel of guinness, but add just the right amount of sweetness. I can only associate the sweetness with that you might get in a coffee-regular (if you know what that is). I can only hope that mine comes out nearly as good.

Hope this helps out, can be modified.

Coffee Milk Stout

6lbs Amber Malt Extract
1lb Dark Malt Extract
.25lb Crystal 90
.25lb Carapils
.25lb Roasted Barley
.25lb Belgian Special B
.50lb Chocolate
.25 Black Patent
1lb Lactose (5)
1/2 oz Wilamette or Sazz (60)
1/2 oz Wilamette or Sazz (30)
1 oz Wilametter or Sazz (5)
American Yeast
1 tsp Irish Moss (5)
1 tsp Gypsum (5)
6 cups of total coffee using the cold brewing method added to bottling bucket.

Oddly enough SA cream stout is a realy good example of the style(unlike all their other beers).It's pretty good too.

Mackeson's Triple XXX Stout is the best Milk/Cream Stout I've had. Not big on chocolate stouts myself, but I like a good milk stout.

I've decided that a good Nut Brown will be my next. After that, I may venture into Stouts, as soon as my taste buds have refined themselves a bit more to a bitter taste. The Nut Browns are just about as bitter as I'll go right now.