Caramel cream ale?

[SC_Ryan]

This recipe has a really creamy mouth feel already with the wheat, carmel malt and large amount of lactose so it doesn't need beer gas. That said I would love to try this beer on beer gas!

 

[SC_Ryan]

This grain recipe seems like it would be pretty tasty on it's own. Has anyone ever brewed this without the vanilla or lactose?

 

[BK_BREWERY]

EDIT 2/20/07: Please do not PM me with questions on this recipe. Post them to this thread. I get way too many questions that are already answered within this long thread, so consider reading the entire thing (or using the Search function) prior to posting.


Here's the final recipe that I'm brewing RIGHT NOW.

Malts
3 pounds extra light DME
3 pounds light wheat DME
1 pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150'-165')

Hops
1oz Cascade for bittering (60 minutes)
.5oz Saaz for flavor (20 minutes)
.5 oz Tettnang for aroma (end of boil)

Yeast
Wyeast German Ale

Extras
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
4oz Lactose @ 15 minutes
2 oz real vanilla extract

Priming
>1cup Lactose
4oz vanilla (Be careful! This may be too much vanilla for some people.)
1.5 cups light DME

I'm adding the Lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'll add the vanilla in the primary, because I don't want to risk losing any that bonds to the trub. So far, it smells fantastic but I'm still at the bittering hops boil. I think this should end up with a nice caramel flavor and a good hint (perhaps a suggestion size amount) of vanilla. I've had vanillas with way too much flavor and they tasted too much like candy. This should have a decent balance.

Notes: 11/4/05

So good. Can't even explain it - you simply must make this beer. I let it prime for almost 2 weeks before fridging it, then cracked one tonight after only about 30 hours. Great head, good lace, nice color, good body and nose. Pictures won't do it justice, but here's one anyways

that looks awesome i'm going to have to brew this

 

[McKBrew]

that looks awesome i'm going to have to brew this

Some people love this beer. It is a dessert beer. It's pretty sweet and not what you would expect. I personally did not care for it much.

 

[Baker27]

I wanted to brew this today but the ingredients at the local shop were almost twice the cost of ordering on the internet.

Order is in hopefully I'll brew it weds.

 

[Yooper]

Some people love this beer. It is a dessert beer. It's pretty sweet and not what you would expect. I personally did not care for it much.

I hated it. I think some people love it (my best friend liked it quite a bit) but it's only for people with a sweet tooth. Or like McKBrew said, a dessert beer.

Maybe if you use the lactose sparingly, and add only enough to your taste, along with the vanilla it might be ok. I think it tastes like vanilla cream soda with a splash of beer added in this recipe, though. I made it in about late 2006 or so, I believe.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I made this beer once. It took me about a year to drink two cases of this. It wasn't bad. If I wanted just one beer after a late dinner I liked having one. Its a good beer to stock for the ladies who generally don't like beer. I will say it got better with age.

I'm drinking Hobgoblin II right now and its totally different than it was two months ago. Its about a year old too. The English hop character has faded and now the nice malt taste is showing up.

 

[PalmBeachPaul]

Ok, please don't laugh but...what is Lactose and where can I get it??
Cheers

 

[SC_Ryan]

Lactose is an unfermentable sugar. It adds sweetness without upping the alcohol %. You can get it at any home brew shop or online home brew vendor.

 

[jajabee]

I just opened a 5-day-old bottle of the AG version of this, and being a girl, I love it! It's young, for sure, and the vanilla is way too strong at this point, but I can see this being one of my favorites in a month or so. Definitely going to brew this again!

 

[millermeter22]

I mistakenly added the extra 1 cup of lactose into the primary. When I go to bottling should I add more due to potentially not having as much dissolved lactose in the solution?

 

[bobjohnson77]

no the lactose is for sweetening it not for priming. Lactose is nonfermentable so it just sweetens the beer. you are fine Cheesefood added it then because he wasn't happy with the flavor so he added it later on.

 

[alp731]

Brewed the recipe and everyone including the beer supply guys think its great. It's not to sweet and the vanilla does not dominate everything else. A very good drinkable special beer that I shall make again. Thanks cheesefood for the recipe!!

 

[thantos]

Ok, you got me I have to try this one, so its next on the list!

 

[JoeMama]

This was a very tasty (interesting) brew that I pulled out of the hat for one of my earlier batches. I *might* consider revisiting this one just for old times sake. It was definitely a crowd pleaser - and not your run of the mill brew either!
-Me

 

[luth34]

Does the original recipe for this make a 5 gallon batch?

 

[FlyingHorse]

Does the original recipe for this make a 5 gallon batch?

Yes. But unless you're sure you're going to like it, I'd halve the batch on the first attempt.

Just sayin'

 

[luth34]

Well FlyingHorse that would make sense, but my family wants me to try it for them and since it's my second batch ever I figured I would just do it big or not at all....I guess I better get to boiling water! Thanks!

-Cameron

 

[FlyingHorse]

Good luck!

 

[bduboff]

Just made this and it turned out very well, frothy head, great creamy feel and smooth finish. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly except I only added four tablespoons of vanilla, all of it at bottling.

 

[wildeagles87]

Just brewed this yesterday. Wow it smells amazing and checked it this morning and it is just bubbling away. Its a small closet and the smell just burst out at me. Kind of a nice wake up call. Look forward to drinking this after the 123 aging is done.

 

[Chirobrewer]

I've read all 69 pages of this thread and have a question: Should I use pellet hops, whole hops, or a combination of both? May sound trivial to the experienced but I'm pretty green to this

 

[Jewrican]

i used pellets when i brewed it. but it doesnt matter too much. there is a conversion to use when using pellets instead of whole hops etc but i never use it personally. i say just use pellets and run with it

 

[nostalgia]

I made this as an all-grain for holiday gifts. I brought a growler to a party last night. I put it down and walked away to mingle. When I came back for another beer, someone asked me if I made the beer (I had brought bombers of 3 other beers).

I said, "Yes, I made these three bombers and the gr...uh...where's the growler?"

It had been decimated in just a few minutes' time. People were literally raving about it for the rest of the night.

As someone else said earlier in the thread: JUST BREW IT. To me it tastes like cotton candy. I used some really good vanilla and the flavor is fantastic. You're not punched in the face with the vanilla, but caressed lovingly.

-Joe

 

[Cheesefood]

This recipe sounds awesome. I must try it!

 

[rod]

This recipe sounds awesome. I must try it!

great - you're back - missed you!!

 

[olllllo]

This recipe sounds awesome. I must try it!

Some things mellow with age.

 

[gicts]

Is there any substitute for the DME? From all of the rave reviews, I am about to order enough for 10 gallons. The problem for me is biting the bullet and paying $46 for 12 lbs of DME...

 

[kharmajavah]

I just picked up the ingredients this afternoon - gonna brew tomorrow afternoon. Mine is an all-grain version and I changed quite a bit to fit what I think are closer to my tastes (and my wife's). Apologies if something similar has been posted before, but I didn't read all 69 pages

Grains:
5 lb US 2-row
3 lb German Wheat Malt
1 lb Caramel 30-L
.5 lb Cara-pils
.5 lb Corn

Hops:
1 oz. Fuggles 4.3% (60 min)
.25 oz. Goldings 5.0% (30 min)

Other:
Adding 8 oz. of lactose at 5 min
Adding 2 oz. real vanilla extract at 5 min

Mashing:
Single infusion batch-sparge
I'm going to shoot for a mash on the high end, about 156F

Yeast:
White Labs British Ale Yeast
The recommended yeast for this brew isn't available right now...it's a seasonal. But, I like my odds with the British stuff.

Also, I'm tossing in some rice hulls for good measure, given the amount of wheat I'm using.

Any thoughts? Also...any advice on what to brew with the leftover corn and lactose I'll have sitting around (half pound of each)?

-Tim

 

[ara35]

not to go off topic, but i was wondering if there is some kind of result from adding lactose or vanilla because i took a hydrometer reading from the fermenter and had little gray dots. we tasted it and it tasted fine, the FG was 1.008-1.009. any idea on what this could be? it doesnt seem like an infection because it tasted fine, smelled fine, and the airlock is not bubbling too much. any help would be great!