First time

I don't know about starters but there r directions on the yeast bottle. Should I look into making a starter?

The corn is for mouth feel, good for creams. The lactose is for cream taste. Let me get the recipe.

 

Cream Ale

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt
1.00 lb Vienna Malt
0.50 lb Carapils Malt
1.00 lb Lactose
1.00 oz Crystal Hops (60 min)
1.00 oz Liberty Leaf Hops (30 min)
1.00 oz Liberty Leaf Hops (15 min)
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15 min)
1.00 Liquid Cream Ale Yeast

 

Cream ale does not refer to the fact that it has lactose in it, like cream stout might. Cream ale generally does not contain lactose, and generally is not sweet and heavier bodied, as lactose beers tend to be.

It is your recipe and as I have said a few times now, do what makes you happy, but I just want to make sure you knew that in case you were confused by the name.

 

I'm just trying to make something good I figured it wasn't a normal recipe. I like drop top amber which has lactose so I wanted to see how it works.

 

Well, I like stouts, but I wouldn't drop some black patent in my cream ale, and if I did I would expect a very different beer. An amber is a pretty distinct style from a cream ale, and I would not expect lactose to be exactly the same in one as the other.

You've already got a pretty dramatic departure in your jalepenos or fruit. That's a good tweak on a cream ale. Lactose nay be a good tweak. Jalepeno and lactose? Maybe good, maybe not.

Point is, deviating from a style is cool, and no reason not to do it. But the further you vary, the more likely something goes bad.

I am glad you are excited and experimenting, but don't get too crazy. You might find yourself making a strawberry jalepeno black milk coffee chocolate pumpkin India cream ale.

This is your first batch, not your last. There will be other beers and other experiments. You don't necessarily need to try everything at once.

But, true to theme, your beer and your brewery, so throw in the kitchen sink. I wouldn't, but I'm not you. Hey, you can pee in the kettle and it won't bother me any.

If you do decide to do both, I would suggest the lactose would go better with the fruit. Make a strawberry shortcake cream ale.

 

If you look at Cheesefood's Caramel Cream Ale recipe, you'll notice he used lactose. It may not be common, but it's been done.

 

No doubt. And I encouraged OP to experiment with lactose in a cream ale. I'm just suggesting lactose experiment combined with jalepeno experiment might be a bit much for a first beer.

And again, the lactose on a caramel flavored, sweeter beer makes sense, which is why I suggest using fruit with lactose if he was going whole hog.

 

That makes sense, and I would agree. I've actually considered trying a beer with jalapenos or other spicy peppers to add a bit of heat. I could see it working well in a lighter beer, but there are a couple of darker, malty, sweet brews that could take a little heat, too. Sweet 'n spicy! I love it! But I'll give that a shot after I get my brewing technique down first.

Let us know how it goes, mugen! I'm curious to see how the beer turns out. From what I can tell, it'll be a medium-alcohol light-to-golden beer with plenty of hoppy flavor and aroma. I wonder how the lactose will affect it, too. I hear it's not so much to add sweetness, as it is for adding mouthfeel to a brew. Either way, you'll end up with beer. Hopefully the AG brewing goes well for you on your first run.

 

The corn is going to give you a lighter, dryer beer and is usually added when you don't necessarily want that malty sweetness. The lactose, on the other hand, is going to make it sweeter. That's why it seems to me that these two items are working against each other.

Its going to be an interesting brew for sure.

Yes, you will need to make a starter or buy another vial or two of yeast. Do a search for yeast starters, its not that hard to do, but you will need some DME for it.

 

A pilgrim brewing corn and milk beer to see how it works. Without knowing how a simple recipe beer works. You put on the roof, before building the foundation. I hope it works out. Good luck on your endeavor.

 

Already scrapped the jalapenis.

Now I'm thinking strawberries & cream.

Do u guys think my recipe will be really hoppy? Cuz I don't want that. Should I drop an oz of liberty?

 

Are you truly asking for advice or looking for affirmation of the decisions you have already made? I see a lot of heavy weight brew lore being given to you and you don't seem to be listening. Go,
brew your own special beer, come back, and tell us how you did. Just that simple.

 

I'm new to brewing and you seem to know quite a lot for a newbie? I don't understand the whole "adding your ingredient stuff at the moment but would love to be able to do it soon

 

My calculations say it will be a bit on the hoppy side, but nothing extreme. Would you rather kick down the bitterness, hop flavor, both, or neither?

 

Both

 

I just checked and the yeast I bought does not need a starter. It's ready to be pitched into 5g.

White labs says the liquid yeast vial is equivalent to a pint sized starter.

 

You should still make a starter or use 2 of those vials. Shipping and handleing take their toll on yeast. If you pitch one vial direct will it make beer? Yes, but it might not attenuate properly, you may get off flavors etc. Not saying you will but why take the chance. Make a starter

 

Good deal jalaPENIS doesnt sound very yummy. Unless your into that sort of thing.

 

I think Liberty hops will give you nice aroma just don't put too much. You want enough bitterness to balance out alcohol level and sweetness of your beer. So maybe skip Liberty at 15 min.

 

How about skip the 30min liberty and keep the 15? Thoughts?

Also:
Decided against jalapenis and strawberries and everything else. Time is short and I need to get this started. At least I have lactose

 

No, you really need more yeast than that. Check out Jamil Zainasheff's yeast pitching rate calculator here.

 

Looking sexy

 

Original gravity 1.050 I will check the airlock after work for signs of activity.





Ale

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt
1.00 lb Vienna Malt
0.50 lb Carapils Malt
1.00 lb Lactose (45 min)
1.00 oz Crystal Hops (45 min)
1.00 oz Liberty Leaf Hops (15 min)
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (15 min)
1.00 Liquid Cream Ale Yeast

I tasted the wort from my gravity sample and it was very sweet. Some of the liberty hops got thru my strainer so it will be dry hopping a bit too.

 

I am worried that I may have messed up the mash. I didn't use a thermometer so I just boiled water and threw it into the tun.

 

Fermenting at a steady 72.

Just got home from work and I'm seeing some pressure headed thru the lock. Not much but some. It's been ten hours since pitching.

Drinking a Belgian style dubbel and watching the airlock

Idk if u can see this but a huge bubble comes out every once in a while.

 

Remember all that advise about getting the basics down before jumping into crazy brews?

Actually, now I just think you are screwing with us.

 

That is not what dry hopping is.

 

Yup. That's when I backed out. We've gone from legit to oh, come on.

 

C'mon guys I'm serious lol. This is my first brew ever and it's an all grain. I really want this to work.

I know there is some animosity between us cuz I won't commit to the basics but I really am looking for advice and feedback.

Hey! I didn't use any jalapenis!

But I have to tell you all that I did pitch the yeast when my wort was around 90F

Lucky for me the beer gods are on my side!

 

Have a good day /unsubscribe

 

Hmm kinda strange this is my first brew and this is the correct forum.

I know I'm a bit unorthodox but that's how I cook too, not measuring ingredients or using cook times and whatnot.

I've sort of applied that to brewing but only because I was unprepared. I now realize I need a thermometer and a bigger boil pot. Wouldn't mind a bigger mash tun. I like whole hops more than pellet hops. I will need to find a way to cool the wort prior to pitching and I've read many cheap ways to do it.

These are all things I've learned so far. I've been reading about mash temps and yeast washing/starters (I didn't use a starter by the way lol).

Plz guys don't get weird on me.

 

I'm surprised noone is on ur ass for brewing ag on ur first try. Bunch of haters out here.

 

Thankyou madchemist your support is very welcome. Don't know why everyone freaked out when I had a worry about mash temp... Is it cuz my brew is doing well so far?

 

Probably. What temps u fermenting at?

 

Right now it's sittin at 68.






Fermenting away. Bubblin every 8 or 9 seconds. Good strong bubbles too.

 

Airlock update.

 

Maybe everyone is being haters about the AG thing, but the dude just straight up told us that he just boiled water and threw it into the tun without regard to temperature. I thought the responses were incredibly thoughtful, but mugen blew off almost every good piece of advice he got.

Good luck with that beer. I'd be stoked for you if it turned out decently, but I've had too many beers turn out subpar or worse doing far less reckless things. Maybe I just don't have the magic, but one last piece of advice for you to disregard: The mash temperature matters.

I applaud you posting the pictures, and hope you continue posting as this beer matriculates through the process. I think one of the suggestions you disregarded about trying different things in a brew is going to come back to haunt you.

You'll have a beer that tastes funky, and you'll have about 7 different things to consider when trying to figure it out. Start basic, add one thing at a time, and when something doesn't work, you'll have a better chance of knowing WHAT it was that didn't work.

Edit: BTW, the pic with the leaf hops floating at the top of the boil kettle is beautiful.

 

Thanks for your input I will definitely learn from my mistakes.

About the hops:
Those r the crystal hops they were really easy to strain out. The liberty hops were pellets and didn't strain too well. I won't be buying pellets anymore.