Anderson Valley Summer Soltice Cerveza Crema

[mdf191]

Description: This copper colored ale is a silky, creamy dream. It's malty, very mildly hopped, and lightly sweet, with a delicate hint of spice for that oh-so-drinkable, extra velvety flavor. A cool beer for the heat, whatever your latitude!

Has anyone ever had this beer? I think it is a very refreshing beer in the summer. Actually I think almost every Anderson Valley Brewery beer is pretty tasty.

Does anyone have a clone recipe? Or a clone recipe for something similar? They are calling it a "cream ale". I havent had many other cream ale's but from what I have read it about them, it doesn't totally fit the cream ale description. It is a well balanced beer with a strange velvet vanilla finish. Has anyone thought about brewing it?

 

[mdf191]

Seriously? Not one of you has had this tasty brew?!

 

[philrose]

bump

clone recipe is in this months BYO

OG 1.053 FG 1.011, 5 IBU, 5.6% ABV

8# 2 row pale
13 oz crystal 40
11 oz crystal 80

Single infusion at 150*

2.3 aau Cascade at 15 minutes

Wyeast 2112/WLP810 lager yeast at 65*

 

[philrose]

Seriously? Not one of you has had this tasty brew?!

oh and I had one on Saturday, I liked the sweetness. it was a change of pace.

 

[philrose]

Posting this from my iPod while heating the strike water for this brew. I'll be following the byo recipe and enjoying a bee cavehaus pale ale or two!

Not a bad day off.

 

[cdburg]

It will be interesting to see how close the BYO recipe gets. From what I was told in the tasting room at Anderson Valley, the sweetness comes from vanilla they add, which the clone recipe doesn't include. The guy behind the bar claimed they use "a lot," but that's all he would say.

I've also heard that their brewers all sign non-disclosure agreements, so I doubt they can really provide too much information for a clone, to BYO or anyone else.

 

[philrose]

It will be interesting to see how close the BYO recipe gets. From what I was told in the tasting room at Anderson Valley, the sweetness comes from vanilla they add, which the clone recipe doesn't include. The guy behind the bar claimed they use "a lot," but that's all he would say.

I've also heard that their brewers all sign non-disclosure agreements, so I doubt they can really provide too much information for a clone, to BYO or anyone else.

I'll let you know!

 

[Mpez]

Yeah, there is definitely vanilla in there. I also wonder if there is a small amount of lactose. Looking forward to hearing how well this recipe worked out. This is one of my favorite brews and would love to have a good clone of it on hand.

 

[philrose]

I'm bottling it this weekend.

 

[user 40839]

Any update on how this went?

 

[philrose]

Just threw it in the keg this week. The numbers were solid but I have not tasted the beer at all. Give it a couple weeks (I primed instead of force carbing in the interest of fridge space)

 

[user 40839]

Cheers, Phil - this is one of my faves during the summer months, but damn if I hate paying $9 a sixer for it!! Add to that, SWMBO loves it too, so if I can brew up a comparable batch, the evil overseeing eye on the homebrew gear should go elsewhere!

 

[Lenny2884]

I wouldn't mind paying $9 a sixer considering it's almost $11 here at the only local store that carries it! I love this beer in the summer after a long hot day. Keep us updated Phil!

 

[philrose]

yes my swmbo was into it as well.

I am starting to regret the lack of vanilla in the recipe. I brewed it first, tasted it later- rookie mistake . But I guess that shows my trust for the anderson valley brewers!

its in the keg, I think I'll just let this batch finish carbonating rather than trying to add something to the corny. that always seems like a "doctored up" technique anyway.

 

[cdburg]

If you want the vanilla in it, you could always add a couple (or more, to your taste) drops of high quality vanilla extract in each glass. The technique isn't at all uncommon for brewers who use fruit extract. I wouldn't call it "doctoring." I'd call it using all of your available options.

For example, Stone actually adds vanilla beans during secondary (like a dry hop) for their Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans. Dropping a vanilla bean in the keg might be an option for you too.

The Stone Blog » Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans - Laura Ulrich's Delicious Brainchild
(The reference to adding the vanilla during the secondary is in the comments)

 

[craprocker]

Ok. I'm making this beer on sunday. How many vanilla beans and when? One in the secondary? I am also switching the yeast because my LHBS did not have the California yeast. Im going to be using the Danish Lager yeast just for kicks.

 

[cdburg]

How much vanilla and when it is added is going to take some experimentation, especially if you want it to taste like the actual beer. All I could get out of the guys at the brewery (the guy behind the tasting room bar in this case) was that it used "a lot" of high quality vanilla. I think he was talking about vanilla extract, but you should be able to get a similar taste from a bean or two (or more), split, scraped and added to the secondary.

You might search through some threads here and in other places to see what other brewers have done and how they've added it to the beer:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/vanilla-beans-how-much-when-71962/
The Stone Blog » Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans - Laura Ulrich’s Delicious Brainchild
vanilla bean question - Realbeer.com Beer Community

 

[philrose]

I went to whole foods today and saw that AVBC is now canning our hero in six packs.

Naturally I picked some up to compare the original to the byo recipe in the closet.

 

[craprocker]

Got er in the basement. Its 72 down there so I hope it wont make to big of a difference in taste with the warm fermentation. Did you lager this beer at all in the secondary? I'm thinking of doing that. Also I'm gonna add half a vanilla bean to the secondary at first and then check the taste after a week or two to see if I need to add another half a bean.

 

[philrose]

I went all primary, fermented as an ale with s-05 at 69• For two weeks. Then I let the fermenter get to room temp for three days and kegged. Vanilla should be a welcome addition even if it's not in the byo recipe. Your vanilla method seems sound tome, I guess if you wantedto be really nitpicky you could steam the bean for sanitation purposes.

 

[Mpez]

I just cracked opened my first bottle (it's been in the bottle about 12 days). I made my own extract from 2 vanilla beans and put it into the secondary for 7 days. All I can say is wow. This is probably the best clone I have brewed. Right now the vanilla is stronger than the original but I suspect it will mellow with a little more time.

I will be brewing this again very soon!

 

[craprocker]

Im goin to the secondary tomorrow. Whats the best way to get the vanilla in there then? I dont know how to make vanilla extract.

 

[Mpez]

Split your beans, scrap out the insides into a shot glass or something. Then chop up the rest of the beans and put them into the glass as well. Then fill the glass with some vodka. When your ready to transfer to your seconday, dump it in... voila home made extract.

I think some folks just skip the vodka and just put the beans right into the seconday... risk is similar to dry hopping.

 

[craprocker]

Cool, thanks ill do that.

 

[Mpez]

Here is a side by side I did last night. They look pretty much identical. The AVBC beer has slightly more clarity.

Taste wise I still have to give AVBC the edge. The clone has much more vanilla flavor coming through. I hope with some more time in the bottle that my clone will mellow out some more. If it doesn't, I will go with one bean next time.

 

[craprocker]

that's awesome. yeah i only used one bean. going into 2ndary today with the home made extract.

 

[Mpez]

I drank the last 2 bottles from my first batch about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It was really really good. The vanilla had really mellowed out. I wish I would have saved more of it.

Anyway I liked this beer so much I brewed up a 10 gallon 2nd batch. This time I went with vanilla extract since it is much easier to get the right amount.

 

[humann_brewing]

wow! 5 IBUs, is that even enough to preserve the beer for longer than a couple of weeks?

 

[Mpez]

Did not notice that in the original post. According to beersmith my brew is estimated at 23 IBUs. 1.75 oz of 7% alpha cascade at 15 mins.

 

[humann_brewing]

Did not notice that in the original post. According to beersmith my brew is estimated at 23 IBUs. 1.75 oz of 7% alpha cascade at 15 mins.

Ok, but I was referring to the original recipe though.