Cream Ale

[rodwha]

Can a cream ale contain crystal malts as well? I had considered a small portion (1/4-1/2 lb) of 20 and reducing the flaked barley a little (1/4 lb). It would give it 4 SRM's but I'm thinking of a little flavor and character.

This is what I have so far (5.5 gal partial mash/partial boil):

3 lbs ultralight LME (FO)
3.5 lbs 2-row
1.5 lbs flaked corn
1 lb flaked barley
0.6 oz Liberty @ 70/7 mins
0.8 oz Liberty @ 21 mins
US-05

1.049/1.010
5.2% ABV
16 IBU's
3 SRM

 

[JimRausch]

Yes,definitely. I haven't looked at cream ale recipes in a while, but I believe that most use .5 lb (or more) of a light crystal, like C-10 or C-20, maybe even C-40.
Play around with recipes, plug her into an online calculator and see what it does to your SRM.
oops-reread your post and it looks like you have done just that. 4SRM is still pretty light. I would do it.

 

[Oginme]

My take on the BJCP guidelines for Cream ale is that the caramel malt sweetness would be slightly out of character. So if you want to stay strict to the style, maybe try some Munich or Vienna malt or even some Pilsner malt in place of some of the 2-row. Given the example of Genesee cream ale, this would seem to fit.

The other side of me is saying "go for it!" After all, they're guidelines, not absolutes.

 

[rodwha]

I'm typically not shy when it comes to coloring outside of the lines, but there are times in which I'd prefer to be proper. I figure this is one that I'd like proper, if nothing else than to get an idea of what it ought to be like. I've only had one here locally and I know the 2 main guys. One is a who cares seat of the pants type who is balanced by "Beaker" who is all about precision. I really don't know if it's proper or not...

What got me more interested in this being proper was my use of the title "Cream Ale" in regards to my jalapeño cream ale, which didn't really fit. I've retracted the title and just call it a jalapeño ale as I prefer not to be too wrong (it was out of bounds on several levels).

I've since changed my recipe to:
4.5 lbs 2-row
3 lbs ultralight LME (FO)
1.5 lbs flaked corn
0.5 oz Mt Hood @ 70/21 mins

I was told flaked barley was out of style on another board. I use it for head retention problems in lieu of carapils, carafoam, or wheat. I'll be taking pics of my jalapeño ale's head likely this evening as it starts off fairly good but within about 10 mins I'm just left with a ring of foam with a light patchy covering of head and light-moderate lacing in comparison to commercial beers. My carbonation seems a bit lower too despite using a calculator.

 

[Oginme]

Actually, I would have no problem with the flaked barley in this style. It adds very little in flavor and should be dominated by the corn flavors. It would also help lighten and dry it up a bit which is well within the style guidelines. JMHO. Anyway, Having done some looking over lunch break, your last recipe looks like a pretty basic and standard cream ale to me.