Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

I reckon its green too as now is only 4 weeks

Brewed on the 5th, kegged and carbed for drinking my first taste last night.

Super smooth with no bitterness, perfect for the 80 degree weather we are getting on the weekend.

OK....finally gona pull the trigger on this one.

Me and a buddy got super goofy on my higher gravity stuff the other night(since that's all I have ready right now) his girlfriend and my wife were not amused.

I need something a little more restrained for those "lets stop back at my place for one" kinda nights.

chrislzh said:

Any views on this?

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Kegged my regular (ie. no fruit) cream of three crops last night after 13 days in the primary and it tastes very fresh but not green or sour. I've never had a beer be so drinkable as fast as this one.

chrislzh said:

Finally its ready to try after 4 weeks and force carb.

The beer taste a little light and a little sour after taste. Is it correct brew?

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I had a little twang to mine until I used gelatin! Used gelatin twice for this to really get her clear and strip some flavor. Hilarious that I am trying to strip flavor but its for the masses. Cheers.

reinstone said:

I had a little twang to mine until I used gelatin! Used gelatin twice for this to really get her clear and strip some flavor. Hilarious that I am trying to strip flavor but its for the masses. Cheers.

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I think that suspended yeast is often mistaken for sourness. I had that taste a little until she poured clear.

reinstone said:

I think that suspended yeast is often mistaken for sourness. I had that taste a little until she poured clear.

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I have also heard....but not sure if I believe it, that force carbing too fast ie. the shake method can cause carbonic acid. Not sure but it's a thought.

I was thinking of making a 2.5 gallon batch with some odds & ends grains. I have:

1 lb 2-row
1 lb 6-row
1 lb flaked corn.

If I grab 2 boxes of Minute rice that will give me a bit more than a 1lb. I'm assuming that this isn't really sensitive to the grain bill balance, and with 2 and 6-row and a low mash this will ferment out pretty dry anyway. Is this much rice a big problem?

Pratzie said:

has anyone tried a late edition of citra with this?

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I am curious about this too. I have plenty of Citra that might give it a nice hoppy/ Citrus note. Nothing too overwhelming though.

I am brewing this as the original recipe on tuesday. Ill go from there and see if its something to play around with.

chrislzh said:

Finally its ready to try after 4 weeks and force carb.

The beer taste a little light and a little sour after taste. Is it correct brew?

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I've made this recipe four times now. It should not be sour, especially with the flaked corn (which adds a bit of sweetness). It also becomes *very* clear, at least for me (whirlfloc and I cold crash my keg). If not, give it some time.

SFGiantsFan925 said:

I am curious about this too. I have plenty of Citra that might give it a nice hoppy/ Citrus note. Nothing too overwhelming though.

I am brewing this as the original recipe on tuesday. Ill go from there and see if its something to play around with.

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I hit mine with .5oz at 10 min and .5 at flame out. Still fermenting. Will report back in a few weeks!

Mine's been in primary for 12 days. I don't want to open it to get a hydro reading. Do you think it will be alright to go ahead and cold crash?

Amelia617 said:

Do you mill the rice and flaked corn or just toss it in the mash?

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Just toss it in.

Johnnyhamer said:

Mine's been in primary for 12 days. I don't want to open it to get a hydro reading. Do you think it will be alright to go ahead and cold crash?

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If you aren't going to check gravity.....I'd give it a week more before cold crash, maybe even raise the temp to 68 ish depending on what you fermented at.

reinstone said:

If you aren't going to check gravity.....I'd give it a week more before cold crash, maybe even raise the temp to 68 ish depending on what you fermented at.

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Thanks, I had it around 60 for the first three day and it has been at 68. Just moved it up to 70. I'm just going to go ahead and pull a gravity reading tomorrow.

My batch as been in primary for 5 days. The first 3 days I was able to keep the temps between 64 F - 69 F. But due to travel and other obligations my attention was shifted and the temp is now at 74. Wondering how this will effect the beer if it sits in the low 70's for the next 7 days? Do you all recommend that I cold crash to the low 60's for a few days before bottling?

BrewerMikey said:

My batch as been in primary for 5 days. The first 3 days I was able to keep the temps between 64 F - 69 F. But due to travel and other obligations my attention was shifted and the temp is now at 74. Wondering how this will effect the beer if it sits in the low 70's for the next 7 days? Do you all recommend that I cold crash to the low 60's for a few days before bottling?

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Low 60s wouldn't be considered cold crashing but usually people let their beers start in the mid 60s and finish up around 70. I'd try to keep it around 70 to finish.

Just cranked the grain for this and picked up the corn and rice. Doing a five gallon batch but using 1 oz of Williamette at 60. I do have cascade and considering a five minute addition of this as well, brew time decision.

sethlovex said:

Just cranked the grain for this and picked up the corn and rice. Doing a five gallon batch but using 1 oz of Williamette at 60. I do have cascade and considering a five minute addition of this as well, brew time decision.

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I added some cascade at flameout in a red ale I made earlier. Definitely my favorite hop for late additions.

bottled this today after 4 weeks in the primary (life got busy), SUUUUPER clear... could hardly tell it was in the tubing when transferring from primary to bottling bucket! But definitely the right color! Can't wait to try this in a few weeks... it tasted good before bottling!

Us-05 is fine. It's so light and 05 wont add much yeast character.

I used Wyeast American Ale 1065 and there was no residual yeast flavor when kegging at 13 days. I did cold-crash the fermenter for 24hrs to 32 degrees in an ice bath. Beer was consumed after only 2 days in the keg and was crystal clear.

Just kegged my Pina Colada Cream of Three Crops and it is exactly what I was hoping for; fairly strong banana and pineapple flavor with toasted coconut undertone, hint of rum, good head retention (considering toasted coconut added fats), and the clean finish of a light beer. Here is my recipe scaled to 5 gal:

9.1 oz flaked rice
1 lb 8.4 oz flaked corn
6lb 1.4 oz pale 2-row
.5lbs rice hulls (for easy sparging)
0.45 oz Perle hops at 60 min
0.23 oz Perle hops at 10 min
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast (from vigorous starter)

Mashed at 149f for 75-min followed by 60-min boil. Pre-fermentation gravity 1.048

Fermentation:
6 days (nearly complete, SG of 1.018): Add puree of 4 bananas (super ripe, no peel) and a 22oz can of crushed pineapple.
6 days: Add 1-1/2c toasted non-sweetened pineapple
13 days (or when fermentation nearly complete): transfer to secondary
16 days: Add 1/2 packet Knox clear Gelatine if not clearing up
18 days: cold crash
20 days: keg or bottle with 3 oz Kraken spiced black rum. Final gravity 1.020.

Final gravity of 1.020 seems reasonable given that some starches were added by the bananas. Banana flavor is not too strong nor estery (like a hot-fermented Belgian beer) and there is no discernable pineapple acidity to the beer.

I tasted mine after 8 days in the bottle and its very clear but taste of corn does that go away after 3 weeks or so?

Dougie63 said:

I tasted mine after 8 days in the bottle and its very clear but taste of corn does that go away after 3 weeks or so?

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Just tried one after five days in the bottle. It's definitely on the thin weak side but very drinkable. Has a hint of sweetness but it's still very green. I'll try another in a week and post back.

Wow ....just had a few drafts of this.....it's like a one month kolsch.....thanks bm

I brewed up 8ish gallons of this delicious brew... kicked one keg in less than 2 weeks. Holding out on tapping the second one until after I move to SoCal. I forgot the WhirlFlock and didn't child crash it. It ended up at 6.1%ABV and was fantastic

I think generally this recipe is aimed at lower efficiency. On such a light beer most folks will do better with efficiency which explains why there are higher OGs than what the recipe calls for. Really what should be done is scale the recipe to your expected efficiency, keeping the ratios of grain the same.

Hanso said:

I think generally this recipe is aimed at lower efficiency. On such a light beer most folks will do better with efficiency which explains why there are higher OGs than what the recipe calls for. Really what should be done is scale the recipe to your expected efficiency, keeping the ratios of grain the same.

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I like my beers around 6 or higher so this was perfect. I'll try and recreate my mistake and see how I do.

Still green but definitely a bmc pleaser beer. Very light allowing the subtle hops to come through.

Okay, I just followed the Cream of Three Crops up with a Coors Light for Comparison and WOW. Coors light taste like legit poison-water. It's going to be a struggle to finish it.

Johnnyhamer said:

Okay, I just followed the Cream of Three Crops up with a Coors Light for Comparison and WOW. Coors light taste like legit poison-water. It's going to be a struggle to finish it.

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That my friend is the joy of homebrewing!!

tried another day 12 much better more like a bud now one more week should be perfecto

Johnnyhamer said:

Okay, I just followed the Cream of Three Crops up with a Coors Light for Comparison and WOW. Coors light taste like legit poison-water. It's going to be a struggle to finish it.

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You know that they have very good mental health people that deal in horrible problems like this Coors light thing . Your mother must be so ashamed . Stop before you kill your self or worse .

Lol. Even when all I drank was bmc I hated Coors. I won't be repeating that mistake.

I'm finally done with this beer and it is amazing. I left it sit for 3 weeks cuz after one it still had some odd flavors to it that needed to mellow out and I've found that letting it prime a little longer usually just makes my beers better. It is crystal clear and easy to drink. My friends now think I'm a beer God and my 5 gallon batch was gone in a week. Thanks for the recipe I will definitely be making this again.

I am almost ready to try a week old in the bottle . 2 weeks primary . Tasted the stuff when bottling and it was quite tasty .

update
So I just tried one . YUK I must say . Some kind of taste and smell I can not quite figure out but it is like spoiled food . Hope this goes away after a few weeks .

Tried mine with the small late addition of Citra. Im not a fan. I dont think the passionfruit Citra flavors play very well with the corn. Live and learn. Its not horrible, but I wont do that again, thats for sure.

Well I used this recipe but used equal amounts of corn and rice. tastes like old Milwaukee. I like it.

About 45 min into the mash on my first time making this. I am using Saaz since is the closest thing I had on hand.

Another update on flavor . It just keeps getting worse . I cold crashed one of these for a few days and then set it out for another week . The spoiled fruit taste went away but now it wreaks of vinegar . The smell hits my nose when going for a drink in the glass and then the taste is strong also . Very strange indeed .