Question / Help on a cream ale

[djstaticburn]

Whats up everybody?

I have an Idea that me and my wife are tossing around for a 4 gallon brew next week, and I wanted to get some opinions on it.


1 Briess Unhopped Dark Malt (3.3lbs) (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_31_33&products_id=20)

1lb Crisp Chocolate Grain (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_51&products_id=200

1lb Briess Crystal 120 (2row) (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_50&products_id=193)

1lb Honey

1 lbs Light DME (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_31_35&products_id=38)

1 lbs Dark DME (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_31_35&products_id=42)

1 oz. Liberty Hops (60 min boil) (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_56&products_id=250)

3/4 oz Centeniel Hop (20 min boil)(remaining 1/2oz to be dry hopped a few days before bottling (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_56&products_id=239)

1lb Lactose Sugar (http://heartshomebrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=134)

safale s-04 forthe yeast

Steep grains for one hour @ 150, then sparge @ 170. bring to a boil and add 1 oz of Liberty hops when boil starts. Forty min into boil add 3/4 oz. of Centeniel hops. 1 hour from boil start (flameout), add the LME, Lactose, Honey, and DME so as not to burn the malts. As soon as all those are mixed properly, add a can of Raspberry Puree to the primary, get down to 63f and pitch.

After primary ferm ends (prolly 4-6 days due to sugar content), rack to secondary on top of 6-8lbs of fresh raspberries, another week and bottle.

any and all feedback is appreciated

and a question, the O.G. and F.G. for this brew are 1.066 and 1.024 repsectivley, thats far to high to bottle isnt it ????? the F.G. i mean

 

[kh54s10]

As to the recipe?? No where near what would be called a cream ale. Sounds more like a fruited brown ale.

As to the FG. There are a lot of unfermentables in the recipe so I would not be surprised at that as an FG. If it is stable it is not too high for bottling though the malty/sweet flavor may overpower the bitterness, flavor and aroma from the hops. Have you run the recipe through a recipe calculator?

If you rack to secondary, do not go by time. Go by gravity, do not rack until you have final gravity. 4-6 days would be MINIMUM, IMO.

 

[Yooper]

As to the recipe?? No where near what would be called a cream ale. Sounds more like a fruited brown ale.

As to the FG. There are a lot of unfermentables in the recipe so I would not be surprised at that as an FG. If it is stable it is not too high for bottling though the malty/sweet flavor may overpower the bitterness, flavor and aroma from the hops. Have you run the recipe through a recipe calculator?

If you rack to secondary, do not go by time. Go by gravity, do not rack until you have final gravity. 4-6 days would be MINIMUM, IMO.

I agree. This is not a cream ale, which is very light colored and basically flavorless.

A pound of chocolate malt will be ROASTY.

A pound of 120L will be very raisiny and toffee-like.

A pound of dark LME will be sweet and give some gravity points.

2 pounds of DME (light and dark) will give some gravity points as well, but the base will be very very dark.

This beer should be close to black in color.

Lactose, which is unfermentable should add about 9 points to the gravity, so that would explain a higher Og as well as a higher Fg.

Honey ferments out fully, so will boost alcohol but not provide flavor or aroma.

The recipe is sort of a mess, but it depends on what you are hoping for. A dark, semi-sweet, roasty beer? yes, that is what it is. But centennial hops are floral/citrus and would clash badly with this combination.

I have no idea about the raspberry, but if you love fruit beers it may not be too bad.

 

[tmendick]

Also this recipe looks like extract with steeping grain. You should only need to steep the specialty grain for 20 minutes then bring to a boil and add extracts.

This recipe is all over the board. What are you shooting for flavor-wise?

 

[djstaticburn]

thx for the tip, yea im gonna switch the dark lme and dme to light, just due to the chocolate malt, and thanx for the tip.

 

[djstaticburn]

yea just some thought i put together, Im only on my 2nd batch (belgian wit LHBS recipe kit)

what i want is an ale with a good taste of chocolate but not overpowering, but i do want the rasp. to be prevalent. but still with a good hoppiness to it I have become obsessed with this and am probably getting ahead of myself.


thanks for the tips all, and keep em comin. I work tech support so I can check replies often, please by any and all means, guide me. LOL

Jim

 

[itchygomey]

To start putting together your own recipes, I recommend you start by trying to brew some styles and stay true to them. I also recommend getting the book "brewing Classic styles". Try a few basic recipes to get a feel for what you like. Brewing outside of style is fine, but running into the woods without a flashlight will probably just frustrate you.

 

[djstaticburn]

i love the way you put that. LOL yea i was just thinking before i logged in i think im just gonna maybe do a ale extract recipe, like a classic english or amercian style basic extract recipe. i need to keep it basic till i get a real feel for what ingredient does what and at what time during the boils and whatnot they do them.

thanks sir

 

[pegcitybrewer]

not that you need anyone else piling it on but "cream ale" as a style name is misleading for sure. Its basically as close to an American Lager as you can get while still being an ale. It'll have corn/rice in it for sure and it'll be really light and really dry.

because of the rice/corn it'll need to be partial mashed, steeping won't cut it.

Biermuncher actually has a good recipe on one if you're ever interested in the future.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/

its all grain but you could just scale it to a partial mash no problem.

 

[djstaticburn]

Thx man