Cream Ale Old School American Cream Ale

[JR_Brewer]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

White Labs WLP080

Yeast Starter

1 quart starter

Batch Size (Gallons)

3

Original Gravity

1.045

Final Gravity

1.009

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

23

Color

5 SRM

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

68deg for 18 days

Tasting Notes

Clean and smooth with a subtle sweetness from the corn.

I wanted to give this traditional American style a try, and it came out really well. Simple and smooth, the White Labs yeast did a great job. This was definitely popular with BMC drinkers, but interesting enough for me and my craft brew friends. Going to make a bigger batch in the spring to keep around for the summer.

Mash at 150 degrees (6 quarts water)

2 lbs 2 row
2 lbs 6-row
1 lb flaked corn
4 oz Belgian Aromatic

1 ounce hallertau (30 min)
1/2 ounce saaz (5 min)
1/2 ounce saaz (flameout)

1 tsp irish moss

 

[msa8967]

Can you tell me why you have 4 oz of Belgian Aromatic malt in this recipe? I am not being critical of it being there but I am curious of how this impacts the taste of the cream ale. I have not seen it used before in making a cream ale.

 

[JR_Brewer]

Can you tell me why you have 4 oz of Belgian Aromatic malt in this recipe? I am not being critical of it being there but I am curious of how this impacts the taste of the cream ale. I have not seen it used before in making a cream ale.

Good question. This is the lightest (flavor-wise, not necessarily by color) beer I've ever brewed, and I was a little concerned that I was going to be brewing bud light. I decided to kick up the hops and malt just a little bit. With the hops, you'll notice my IBUs are a little above the style guidelines. Likewise, with the malt, I wanted to add some malty flavor and aroma without adding a lot of gravity. So, I felt that a little belgian aromatic would do the trick.

Honestly, this may have been a brewer's placebo; I'm not sure 4 oz would really have a significant impact, but I just felt better about brewing it that way. The results were good. But your question made me think about the impact, and perhaps I should conduct an experiment and brew this with and without the aromatic and see what the difference is.

Hope that helps.

 

[msa8967]

I am thinking of doing a 2.5 gallon bath with the aromatic malt and another 2.5 gallon batch w/o it for comparison. I would like to hear of your results if you change anything.

 

[JR_Brewer]

Ok, will do.

 

[DAJDive]

Interesting recipe. I may have to give it a go. How long was the mash?

 

[JR_Brewer]

First time I brewed this, I used a 60 minute mash, it worked fine. However, I've recently been using 90 minute mashes to increase efficiency. I can't crush my own grain so the longer mash helps me out.

 

[jbrooke]

What size batch is this recipe?

 

[LabRatBrewer]

What size batch is this recipe?

looks like 3 gallons

 

[MKS1976]

I just made it in a five gallon batch and added fresh jasmine in he primary and secondary. Light but great. Mild creamy finish. Might add lactose next time.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[JR_Brewer]

Nice! Hadn't thought of adding anything like Jasmine, but seems like a good fit.

Haven't been on HBT recently, so it's taken a while to see this.

cheers!