Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

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Look at a box of corn flakes breakfast cereal next time you're at Aldi. (doesn't everyone shop at Aldi? :D) Nothing in the ingredients list that would hurt your beer; it's all fermentable or trace vitamins. And it's precooked. The flakes fall apart, so very high surface area for good efficiency. And it's cheaper than brewers flaked corn; at least if you buy store brand or buy it on sale.
Okeedokee, I'll give Aldi's a try. There's no harm in experimenting.
 
Here's the WLP080 batch. This is really nice! There's a pinch of sulfur to emphasize crispness and a touch of kolsch like fruitiness that's barely there. Such a great yeast test bed!
 

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Hi all
Brewed a double batch on this on sunday past. Was a great brew day and timed it missing the -20 coming next weekend!!!
Hit 1.045 and was happy with that. I have 2 fermonsters going but one of them needed help.
One has 1056 and was working well the next morning and the other had a 1084 that had a date of sept 27/22. I did starters for both and figured it would be fine with a 1.040 beer. The following day still had no activity on the 1084 so I threw in a packet of US 5 as I keep these for such occasions . I have had to do this a few times over the years.
I could not find crystal locally so used Mt. hood based on substitution research.
This is my fourth time brewing this beer and I have had one turn out great, one average, and one actually got dumped as it turned out to be infected.
Hope this is a winner!!!!
 
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Hi all
Brewed a double batch on this on sunday past. Was a great brew day and timed it missing the -20 coming next weekend!!!
Hit 1.045 and was happy with that. I have 2 fermonsters going but one of them needed help.
One has 1056 and was working well the next morning and the other had a 1084 that had a date of sept 27/22. I did starters for both and figured it would be fine with a 1.040 beer. The following day still had no activity on the 1084 so I threw in a packet of US 5 as I keep these for such occasions . I have had to do this a few times over the years.
I could not find crystal locally so used Mt. hood based on substitution research.
This is my fourth time brewing this beer and I have had one turn out great, one average, and one actually got dumped as it turned out to be infected.
Hope this is a winner!!!!
I’m a Wyeast guy. I have used Wyeast smack packs that were over a year old, at least one that was 3 years old. I never had one fail to start up. All you need is one cell. The older they are the more time they take but I never had one that didn’t work.

I would have thought the same thing - make a starter and you should be fine for a 1.040 beer. Even with a 1.040 beer I still make a starter from a smack pack. I had been just smacking the pack and then cutting the corner of the pack and putting that in to ferment. I’ve had several beers with off flavors, especially British styles that I am blaming on that (lack of a starter, not enough yeast) and maybe some old hops that have been around for awhile and I didn’t realize it.
 
Mine are 4 days in and lots of krausen and activity. Not nearly as clear as some of the pics I see even during fermentation. It should clear some in a week and I will add geletin in the keg.
 
I'm drinking some right now, such a great light brew. I boil 1½ qts mash water, kill the heat and throw in the rice right before dough in, helps the efficiency a bit.
 
I'm right at the end of fermentation on your

Blonde Ale Centennial Blonde (Simple 4% All Grain, 5 & 10 Gall)​

Just took a reading and gonna wait another day or so to hit the final gravity you posted but first test tube taste and I think we have a house keeper lol. Looking forward to this brew next.
 
Question for everyone brewing this -- do you stick to the original hop schedule?
I always stick with the original grain bill and switch up yeast and hops. Currently it's 50/50 Galena and Liberty with Nottingham, next one will be an equal split of Cluster and Amarillo with yeast du jour.
 
So Im thinking for a 5 gallon batch
6lb pale malt 2 row
2ils of corn flaked
2 pale wheat malt german
1lb minute rice
everything else the same. I have about 30lbs of pale what malt I need to use up but if it's going to effect the taste much I'll go with the posted grain bill. I'm doing a brew in a bag also.
 
So Im thinking for a 5 gallon batch
6lb pale malt 2 row
2ils of corn flaked
2 pale wheat malt german
1lb minute rice
everything else the same. I have about 30lbs of pale what malt I need to use up but if it's going to effect the taste much I'll go with the posted grain bill. I'm doing a brew in a bag also.


Perhaps @BierMuncher (last seen 3 yr ago), or someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but using wheat will lighten up the malt flavor, and for this type of beer might be just fine. One person's opinion of course.
 
Perhaps @BierMuncher (last seen 3 yr ago), or someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but using wheat will lighten up the malt flavor, and for this type of beer might be just fine. One person's opinion of course.
I think it will fit fine. It might increase head and mouth feel a bit, so something I would actually want in a low abv beer.
 
I use some wheat in mine, really makes the head look good and beer is nice and crisp. I have used Us-05, Nottingham, Voss and House-01 for fermentation. I preferred the US-05 and House over the other two.
 
So Cal homebrew fest is coming up in May and I think I may have to try this for my submission. Either this or my dill pickle gose, hmmm? :mug:
 
It’s a great recipe for getting into the hobby (or profession). Simple, quick, easy, solid results that are almost guaranteed to please a wide spectrum of beer drinkers, especially the diehard BMCers. It’s also a great ‘starting palate’ for testing new malts and especially hops. It’s kinda’ like a bicycle with training wheels, except it’s still fun to ride occasionally without looking silly.
 
It’s a great recipe for getting into the hobby (or profession). Simple, quick, easy, solid results that are almost guaranteed to please a wide spectrum of beer drinkers, especially the diehard BMCers. It’s also a great ‘starting palate’ for testing new malts and especially hops. It’s kinda’ like a bicycle with training wheels, except it’s still fun to ride occasionally without looking silly.
It's also a great test bed for "clean" ale yeasts and lager yeasts! One of my favorite yeasts with this recipe is WLP840 fermented around 50F. That was about as American as it gets with macro lagers :)
 
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I've been brewing this every summer now for all my friends/family who like lighter summertime beers, it's always popular. Just kegged a 10 gallon batch a few days ago. This is a special one, for an aunt/uncle who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The husband likes Corona, bud, coors, so figured this will be popular with him. I'll be serving it at a party of about 75 people, not sure how many of them will be having beer, but hope I made enough.
 
There is never enough.

Never.
So this was incredibly popular at the family event.
I've never had so many people come up to me and tell me how awesome a beer I made was. This was mostly a 60 plus crowd, and it fit their style preference perfectly. They went through almost 5 gallons of it, which in retrospect is pretty good because most of them are wine people. I have the other 5 gallons at home.
 
what vol co2 do you use for this recipe? 2.4? 2.5? 2.6?
Not sure you'll find an answer that will be tightly defined; American Pale Ale style usually gives a carbonation range of something like 2.3-2.8. Not sure I would be able to notice 2.4 being that different from 2.6; maybe 2.3 and 2.8.

I say go middle 2.5.

Maybe 2.48.
:cool:
 
First 10gal batch / Fermaid K question.
I have been making this recipe since I started brewing in 2011 but in 5gal batches. I have been working to refine my process to get good flavors and clarity. End of last year I got myself a Clawhammer 20gal system which has been a game changer. This 10gal batch was also the first batch that I used fermaid K as prescribed to assist the yeast.
The yeast (SO5) took off and fermented crazy fast. The flavors are interesting. Im getting more of the malt and corn but there is an unpleasantness to it that I cant quite describe. I have drank a few pints and am not committed to dumping it quite yet. Im also planning to take some to the next club meeting to get opinions. My guess is the yeast went too fast and produced undesirable esters. Does anyone use fermaid K on a regular basis ??
 

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I started to type that I only use wyeast beer nutrient. Think 1/2 tsp per 5 gal batch but when I use kveik strains use a bit more 3/4-1 tsp for the hungry buggers. Then went to delete post and don't know how so i left first letter for nutrient.
 
I started to type that I only use wyeast beer nutrient. Think 1/2 tsp per 5 gal batch but when I use kveik strains use a bit more 3/4-1 tsp for the hungry buggers. Then went to delete post and don't know how so i left first letter for nutrient.
No problem, I was just funnin'.

To delete a draft (at least on my laptop), click on the three vertical dots in the upper right of your reply. Then click on the down arrow next to the diskette-looking icon.

Screenshot from 2023-08-14 07-17-45.png
 
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