Super Simple Cream Ale Recipe

[MrClint]

...But can it be any good?

I'm used to seeing flaked corn in cream ale but this is just adding corn sugar. Here's the recipe in the description:
RECIPE FOR 5 GALLONS:
11 lbs Pilsner; German
8.0 oz Sugar; Corn (Dextrose)
0.75 oz Liberty Pellets - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Liberty Pellets - Boil 10.0 min
1pkg Cream Ale Blend Yeast (WLP080)

Super simple. I might try a 1g batch for gits and shiggles.

 

[Protos]

This seems to be a nice beer, however most probably a bit bland and boring one. At just about 5% of corn sugar in the grist, the beer would hardly be distinguishable from a SMaSH, just a bit thinner which is not necessarily a good thing. A classic Cream Ale with a hefty dose of corn (at 1/4 minimum) looks much more interesting project to me.

This winter I made a Carlsberg Hof Lager clone (Pilsner malt and 12% corn sugar) and an American Preprohibition Lager (same Pilsner malt and 1/3 corn), W34/70 yeast. The corny American Lager came out way more tastier and richer than the bland and thin Carlsberg.

 

[MrClint]

This seems to be a nice beer, however most probably a bit bland and boring one.

This recipe sort of begs for tossing in some vanilla extract in secondary. Better to chase something like "Cali Creamin" than some kind of bland Pilsner/Ale-ish thing. This looks like a kind of a blank slate brew that needs something else.

 

[Protos]

Yes, definitely.
It would be wiser to make this recipe either all-grain sans adjuncts, or to add something more characterful than just sugar. Sugar makes wonders in stronger brews, but there's little reason to add it into a light beer. It just thins out the already thin beer, making it unpleasantly watery (like my Carlsberg turned out).

 

[MrClint]

It would be wiser to make this recipe either all-grain sans adjuncts, or to add something more characterful than just sugar.

Honey malt? I have some on hand.

 

[z-bob]

...But can it be any good?

I'm used to seeing flaked corn in cream ale but this is just adding corn sugar. Here's the recipe in the description:
RECIPE FOR 5 GALLONS:
11 lbs Pilsner; German
8.0 oz Sugar; Corn (Dextrose)
0.75 oz Liberty Pellets - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Liberty Pellets - Boil 10.0 min
1pkg Cream Ale Blend Yeast (WLP080)

Super simple. I might try a 1g batch for gits and shiggles.

This is the first I've seen that recipe, but I have made a beer almost just like that before, except I used American pilsner malt instead of German, and a half pound of table sugar instead of corn sugar. And probably Mt Hood hops instead of Liberty; I'm not sure (I know I didn't use Liberty because I don't have any, but it might have been Willamette) It's a solid beer; about the same as adding a pound or two of rice.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Corn sugar doesn’t bring anything as far as flavor, so I don’t see how this would succeed as a cream ale.

 

[z-bob]

Corn sugar doesn’t bring anything as far as flavor, so I don’t see how this would succeed as a cream ale.

It reduced the protein because you use less malt for the same amount of alcohol, so there's less body and less chill haze. That's about it. I'm not an expert on cream ale, but it makes a good beer.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

It reduced the protein because you use less malt for the same amount of alcohol, so there's less body and less chill haze. That's about it. I'm not an expert on cream ale, but it makes a good beer.

I don’t doubt you that this makes a good refreshing beer. The style guidelines for cream ale describe corn aroma and flavor (or a bit of DMS) which comes from corn in the grist. While corn sugar comes from corn, I’m just stating it won’t contribute flavor or aroma. Dry it out/lighten yes indeed. I suppose one could brew it and enter it as a cream ale in a competition and get feedback from the judges, which I am not.