Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

Scaled down the recipe, aiming for 10.5 gallons of 1.042 into the fermenters, at 80% efficiency:

10 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4 lbs Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
14.0 oz Rice, Minute (1.0 SRM)

Not a perfect scaling, but I'd already bought the 4# of flake corn and minute rice comes in 14 oz boxes now. Expected 1.042 OG, 2.8 SRM. Close enough. BeerSmith tells me I should have come out of the tun with 13.27 gal of 1.032. Had 13.4 gal of 1.038. That's an amazing high mash efficiency of 96%! No idea how that happened. Instead of 10.5 of 1.042 into the fermenters, I got 10.8 of 1.044.

Had a nice golden liquid before I pitched the Irish Moss, then it became an ugly mixture of pale liquid and white floaters. Very odd looking break. Is it the rice protein, maybe?

blaster_54738 said:

I'm going to brew this using White Labs San Francisco lager yeast. Then I got to thinking I have 50lbs of pilsen sitting around. What if I used the pilsen instead of 2row? Never done a lager before so I'm wondering what kind of difference it would make

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Anybody? If it's a bad idea I have the 2row to use just want to know as I'm brewing this on Monday

blaster_54738 said:

Anybody? If it's a bad idea I have the 2row to use just want to know as I'm brewing this on Monday

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You can change it to suit you. I know I did and it turned out great

blaster_54738 said:

Anybody? If it's a bad idea I have the 2row to use just want to know as I'm brewing this on Monday

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I have made this recipe using pilsen malt instead of 2-row and it came out great. If using pilsen malt you may want to increase your boil time from 60 min to 90 min in order to drive out any dms taste. You may also want to slightly increase your volume of mash water to help compensate for water loss during the extra 30 min of boil.

Recipe calls for 90 minute boil anyway.

Just opened a bottle of this that I had back in the fridge for 4+ months. A very crisp beer that has me thinking I need to double the recipe and save back 1/2 of this for 6 months from now.

Kegged a batch of this a couple weeks ago. Thought it was a pretty good beer but wanted a second opinion. Called my dad and told him I needed a taste tester for some beer. He was knocking on the door before I had hung up the phone. Now my dad has tried most of my beers before and liked some of them but his go to is whatever is cheapest or high life. The reason for brewing this recipe was to have something on tap for people like him who are not crazy about some of the stronger flavored beers that I like. Anyways I gave him a half glass to get his opinion and his reaction was great saying this is really good beer. I filled up his empty glass and we went upstairs. Fifteen minutes later he says again how good the beer was and if he could have another glass which I then got for him along with a couple of bottles I had bottled from the batch for him to take home. Another fifteen minutes later and he had to go but was still talking about this beer. I know he's a little biased because I'm his son but he's never had that reaction with my other beers. I then went and filled a growler for him to take home along with the bottles. Makes all the time and money I've thrown at this great hobby all the more worthwhile when you get a reaction like that. This will definitely be a staple at my place. Thanks BierMuncher

Just picked up the supplies for this one today! I have another beer to brew first (extract rye IPA tomorrow) but its next in line!

I'll be following the scaled down recipe for the 5.5gal batch, and doing my second BIAB.

Cheers!

As I type this I am drinking the very last Cream Ale I have left of this recipe. It is a sad day.

I just got my 15g conical setup and was currious if there is a way to scale this up but keep the boil size to the 14g and add water to the wort after it has boiled. I know that is how the extract kits work but I have never added water doing all grain.. Say I hit 1.056 and want to be in the 1.045 range how do you determine how much water to add?

Using your post boil volume corrected for cooling shrinkage (boil volume X 0.96) and the post boil gravity you use the following: Post boil volume X end of boil SG (last 2 digits only) / desired dilute SG (last 2 digits only) = total volume into the fermenter. Back out the known wort volume and you have the water needed. 14 gal post boil X 1.056 post boil (56) divided by 1.045 (45) equals a total volume of 17.42 gallons. 17.42 minus 14 gallons equals 3.42 gallons dilution water. (14X56)/45 = 17.42, 17.42-14 = 3.42.

Thanks

I just kegged a five gal batch of this recipe. I cold crashed it and it was super clear. I just tried a small practically carbonated sample and it tastes good to me but I was wondering what this beer is supposed to taste like? I can really taste the corn. It's not over powering but I can taste is on the back end. Can anyone else taste the corn or is that taste supposed to mellow out?

Can anyone who has made both this and his Centennial blonde describe the taste differences between the two?

Cider123 said:

Can anyone who has made both this and his Centennial blonde describe the taste differences between the two?

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I've made both and I would say the the blonde has a maltier backbone, while this is just a really light beer with almost no hop or outstanding malt presence. I think it is the most like a BMC that an ale recipe can get. Think almost like a Japanese beer, but with a little something like a fullness that the corm brings to the table.

A little off topic, but I actually just modified this recipe for one of my hipster health nut friends and used 7 grains so I could call it a "7 Grain Cream Ale".... He eats that stuff up.... Just getting a curbed up in the keg now and is getting really good. I'm almost surprised at how good it turned out. Used barley, corn, rice, quinoa, wheat, rye, and oats and hopped modestly with Magnum.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

With 166 pages to go through, could somebody post the recipe which includes amounts of water and temps for mashing and sparging for a 5 gallon batch? I'm ready to do my first AG with this beer.

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You need to calculate that yourself using your own equipment profile.

We have no way of knowing the temperature of your tun, your grain, you manifold, everything's thermal mass, your preferred mash thickness, or expected efficiency.

All we can tell you is mash at 150 for 90 minutes and aim for a hair over 11.5 gallon post-boil volume.

I brewed this again yesterday and had my first stuck sparge. I used corn flakes and minute rice this time.. Last time it was flaked corn and cooked rice. Used about .5lb of rice hulls as well. I was using my pump from mash tun to boil kettle. First runnings were fine it was the sparge that stopped with about 3 gallons left. Just a trickle after I stopped the pump. Be interesting to see how this tastes since I hit 85% efficiency. Oh another thing I changed was I tightened up my mill a little so maybe it was too fine.

I like the Centennial better but this is nice to have on tap for a change. Wife thinks this tastes like San Miguel from the PI. Granted its been over 15 years since I have had one but I did not think it was the same taste.

OCBrewin said:

I've made both and I would say the the blonde has a maltier backbone, while this is just a really light beer with almost no hop or outstanding malt presence. I think it is the most like a BMC that an ale recipe can get. Think almost like a Japanese beer, but with a little something like a fullness that the corm brings to the table.

A little off topic, but I actually just modified this recipe for one of my hipster health nut friends and used 7 grains so I could call it a "7 Grain Cream Ale".... He eats that stuff up.... Just getting a curbed up in the keg now and is getting really good. I'm almost surprised at how good it turned out. Used barley, corn, rice, quinoa, wheat, rye, and oats and hopped modestly with Magnum.

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Thanks, that's a good description. I have my Cent Blonde still in primary. It's been over 2 weeks but I don't have enough bottles to bottle it.

I'll give her a go, then see if I want to go lighter. The COTC is definitely cheaper to make. I'm looking for a good partner to platoon with my Belgian Wit through the spring and summer.

Cider123 said:

Thanks, that's a good description. I have my Cent Blonde still in primary. It's been over 2 weeks but I don't have enough bottles to bottle it.

I'll give her a go, then see if I want to go lighter. The COTC is definitely cheaper to make. I'm looking for a good partner to platoon with my Belgian Wit through the spring and summer.

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I can make Centennial for quite a bit less. Corn is pricey.

Normally I would just keg this and not even think about the floaties. But since I left Biermuncher's Cream of Three Crops in primary for about 3 months I'm slightly concerned.

It smells shockingly sweet, about to keg but thought I'd throw a picture on here and see what you think!

Is it infected or just yeast rafts or co2?

That looks awfully dark for the listed recipe.

Cider123 said:

That looks awfully dark for the listed recipe.

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I agree it looks dark but it wasn't when I kegged it. I think the trub and the lighting made it deceiving.

Well the hydrometer reading came back just slightly under 1.010 and it seemed to taste fine. This was the second 5 gallons from a 10 gallon batch. The good thing about this half was there wasn't the strong corn flavor. Apparently 3 months in primary mellowed that out!

Glad it wasn't ruined. This beer is fantastic!

i just made 10g of it yesterday. got both fermenters in the ferm freezer at 65 with us-05, and it's happily bubbling away. this is 1 of my favorite standards

orion7144 said:

I can make Centennial for quite a bit less. Corn is pricey.

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Same here. I get my 2-row for 60 cents/lb in bulk. Corn is almost $2/lb.

While I like this recipe I prefer a straight 2-row with a little carapils and cascade hopped to 20 IBU's OG 1.042 for my summer session ale.

zeprock2 said:

I just kegged a five gal batch of this recipe. I cold crashed it and it was super clear. I just tried a small practically carbonated sample and it tastes good to me but I was wondering what this beer is supposed to taste like? I can really taste the corn. It's not over powering but I can taste is on the back end. Can anyone else taste the corn or is that taste supposed to mellow out?

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My third batch of this is bubbling away in primary right now. I bottle condition and it always takes about a month in the bottle for it to come into its own.

PapaFoxtrot said:

My third batch of this is bubbling away in primary right now. I bottle condition and it always takes about a month in the bottle for it to come into its own.

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Wow, a month worth of conditioning! I'm about to brew my first batch once a primary frees up. I plan in bottling as well. One question, when bottling do you add gelatin or use Irish moss during boil?

I did neither on mine. It looks freaking nasty, nasty in the Primary. But I just racked mine to Secondary last night to free up my carboy and give me some time to finish putting my kegerator together.

Stuff is the clearest Ale I've ever made. It's not see-through like some of the pics posted here, but it was my first All-Grain attempt and I mashed WAY low for an extended time, so I have room to improve.

And it tastes great!

AVLbrewing said:

Wow, a month worth of conditioning! I'm about to brew my first batch once a primary frees up. I plan in bottling as well. One question, when bottling do you add gelatin or use Irish moss during boil?

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I found that all my ales need at least a month and are even better after two. They rarely make it to three!

In January, I brewed a batch of Pottsville Common, but did it as an ale with Notty. When I tried one at two weeks, I thought I had really screwed up - it was sweet and too malty. Two weeks later it was a different beer and now that it's over a month old, I'm thinking of trying it again with S05. I don't have any way to lager, but I'm having too much fun with ales to bother trying.

I use 1/2 tablet of Whirlfloc in 6 gallons at 5 minutes. This is not what the label instructions say, but my LHBS owner told me that the instructions are wrong. He must be right because it works better that way; at least for me.

I bottle at two weeks and COTC is still a bit cloudy then, but tends to drop clear after about a week in the bottle.

HTH - I've never been a "light" beer drinker, but COTC is rapidly becoming my favorite beer to just sit back and relax with.

Came home yesterday afternoon to discover that the krausen on COTC had blown through the airlock!

I thought that I had plenty of headroom... Cleaned up the mess and installed a spare airlock. Hopefully no harm done!

I am out of 2 row and pale malt. Anyone know is using pilsen malt or 6-row would be a good subsitute for the base malt?

Pilsen will probably get you there. Be sure to do the full 90 minute boil if you use it, and expect an even lower SRM.

thadius856 said:

Pilsen will probably get you there. Be sure to do the full 90 minute boil if you use it, and expect an even lower SRM.

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Thanks. Good to mention the 90 minute boil. I was going to use first wort hopping for this recipe but having the hops added to the first runnings of wort and then doing a 90 minute boil instead of a 60 minute boil might not work.

No problems. Would hate for you to come out of the fermenter with a big nose-full of DMS.

Doing the finishing touches to my new electric brew rig. This will be my first all grain attempt. Trying to convert my 23 year old son from Bud Light, thinking this will do it. Getting the camlocks from Bobby at brew hardware, then I'll be ready to brew. Any tips to help the day go smooth?

A scoop of rice or barley hulls can prevent a stuck sparge with this ones high corn and rice content.

Brewing this on Saturday. I was originally planning on bottling it, but on a whim bought some kegging equipment yesterday. Looks like this will be my first kegged batch.

Cheers!

Tweaked this a little for a 4 gal batch.

4.5lbs 2 row
1lb rice
1 lb flaked corn
.5lb corn sugar (dextrose)
.4oz willamette 60 and 15min
Washed wy3522

Puts me at 1.042. 2.9 srm. 17.8ibu. On a 90min mash and boil.

This has been kegged for about a week and is super clear. Really crisp clean taste!

zeprock2 said:

This has been kegged for about a week and is super clear. Really crisp clean taste!

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That's a thing of beauty!

What is the general con consensus on the amount of time it takes for the corn flavor to mellow into a general yellow beer flavor?

My experience has been 4-5 weeks in the bottle it'll go from green beer to finished beer rather dramatically.

YMMV depending on OG and yeast strain/pitch rate.