Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

[Wino24]

Hi all....I just moved into my new house and plan on brewing this Saturday. I have a couple of questions...
- if I use flaked rice do I just mash it along with the grain and corn?
- I planned on fermenting in my basement where it seems to hold a pretty constant 55 degrees...what yeast would you guys(gals) recommend?
I've never fermented at a temp lower than 65 so I'm not sure if there is anything different I need to do or be on the look-out for.
Any advice for what I guess would be my first lager would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[GroosBrewz]

BierMuncher.. Just brewed this and I gotta tell you I really, really like it.. And so did my friends.. It even won a blind taste testing mixed in with some brew from some local breweries! Thanks for the recipe!

 

[Adam78K]

Was wondering if anyone has ever tried this with a spicy yeast like french saison 3711 or t-58. Would be very different by what do you guys think?

 

[HalfPint]

Hi all....I just moved into my new house and plan on brewing this Saturday. I have a couple of questions...
- if I use flaked rice do I just mash it along with the grain and corn?
- I planned on fermenting in my basement where it seems to hold a pretty constant 55 degrees...what yeast would you guys(gals) recommend?
I've never fermented at a temp lower than 65 so I'm not sure if there is anything different I need to do or be on the look-out for.
Any advice for what I guess would be my first lager would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

On the mash,

Yes you mash all of the ingredients together including the flaked rice.

On the yeast,

I'd probably use Nottingham. It is capable at fermenting a wort that has an internal temp of 50 something, so with external temps of 55*, you should be fine.

J

 

[DavidSteel]

I've been through a good amount of pages of this thread and I haven't found an answer to the question I was wondering yet, so I'll just ask:
How do I go about mashing this? Do I just go about it like a regular beer, with a 1.33 Water to Grist Ratio @ 152, let it sit for 90 and collect first running's and then sparge @ _______ for the first sparge @ then ________ for the second sparge? I Do batch sparge method, obviously. Can anyone push me in the right direction of how I should go about doing this (sticking to the 11.5 gallon batch).

 

[Bdogg]

Turned out pretty good. A bit too much corn-ish sweetness for me - maybe that will mellow out with aging. But I will revise it a bit when I make it again because it is otherwise excellent. Also my friend who said he doesn't drink "dark beer" when I cracked open a pale ale likes it quite a bit too.

Sterling hops turned out great.

 

[bendavanza]

I've been through a good amount of pages of this thread and I haven't found an answer to the question I was wondering yet, so I'll just ask:
How do I go about mashing this? Do I just go about it like a regular beer, with a 1.33 Water to Grist Ratio @ 152, let it sit for 90 and collect first running's and then sparge @ _______ for the first sparge @ then ________ for the second sparge? I Do batch sparge method, obviously. Can anyone push me in the right direction of how I should go about doing this (sticking to the 11.5 gallon batch).

For the mash you are correct for the 90 minute. You can single or double batch sparge, aiming to raise the grain bed temp to 168 for better sparge results but not over 170.

 

[DavidSteel]

For the mash you are correct for the 90 minute. You can single or double batch sparge, aiming to raise the grain bed temp to 168 for better sparge results but not over 170.

Alright, cool. So, nothing different.

 

[GunnerMan]

Brewed this a while back for a gathering deal we were having and wanted something for someone to drink besides Guinness Clone and Irish Red. Came out good and everyone seemed to like it very much however I tasted a tinge of fruityness which i think my fermentation was a bit to warm during a portion of it.

Got it in the mash tun right now, using slightly larger quantity of hops and Nottingham yeast(instead of the SafAle 05 I used last time.) Making this as a gift to someone so hope nothing goes awry.

 

[Blindguardian]

I am planing on brewing this recipe within the next 3 or 4 days so I am starting to get all my "ducks" in a row per-say.

I am going to be adjusting my water and would like to know what the flavor profile is of this beer?

My water profile is this (ppm)
Ca: 15.2
Mg: 1.12
Na: 3.21
Cl: 13.4
SO4: 13.8
Alkalinity (CaCo3): 31.9

and this is what I have come up with for this recipe

CaCl2: 2 / 4.25
MgSO4: 1 / 2.12
NaHCO3: 1 / 0
NaCl: 0 / 0
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 93 / 93
Mg: 10 / 10
Na: 31 / 12
Cl: 111 / 111
SO4: 109 / 109
CaCO3: 92 / 51

RA (mash only): 19 (7 to 12 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 1.01 (Balanced)

So what do you think? Any changes that need to be made?

 

[GunnerMan]

Not sure on the water to much however I did find a link on ProMashes idea of a water profile for this beer style: http://www.battlegroundbrewers.com/recipes/Cream_Ale.html

 

[wcarter1227]

just finished sparging and waiting for the boil to start. i changed it up a bit and used 1 oz williamette and 1 oz saaz . this is my first ag so i am excited. Had some minor set backs so we will see what happened. Overshot my mash temp by 10 degrees. panicked and added cold water then temp was too low so i had to turn the burner back on. Also forgot to calculate in loss of water due to grain absorbing.

Worst case scenario Ill add in some dme to boost the gravity.

 

[bendavanza]

just finished sparging and waiting for the boil to start. i changed it up a bit and used 1 oz williamette and 1 oz saaz . this is my first ag so i am excited. Had some minor set backs so we will see what happened. Overshot my mash temp by 10 degrees. panicked and added cold water then temp was too low so i had to turn the burner back on. Also forgot to calculate in loss of water due to grain absorbing.

Worst case scenario Ill add in some dme to boost the gravity.

Always give your mash some time for the temp to equalize out, 5-10 minutes will make a big difference, unless, that is, you heated your strike water in the mash tun. Stirring with the lid off also drops temps. If I'm still high on the temp I will stir more and add a handful of ice cubes at a time while stirring if needed. For me, 5-6 cubes in the mash, stirred in well, will make about 2˚ difference.

 

[wcarter1227]

Always give your mash some time for the temp to equalize out, 5-10 minutes will make a big difference, unless, that is, you heated your strike water in the mash tun. Stirring with the lid off also drops temps. If I'm still high on the temp I will stir more and add a handful of ice cubes at a time while stirring if needed. For me, 5-6 cubes in the mash, stirred in well, will make about 2˚ difference.

thanks, i think i just rushed through everything and then freaked out. ive done a huge amount of extract batches, a partial mash and decided to make the jump. im using deathbrewers stovetop ag style.

Cant wait to see what this turns out to be like.

 

[GunnerMan]

Yeah my first AG was more stressful than work even though everything went right. Slow down RDWHAHB I just brewed this beer and Murphys Law was in full effect however I know it is very hard to screw up a beer so I am not worried.

 

[wcarter1227]

6 hours later boil is done, chilled to 60 pitched notty at sealed the fermenter up. I guess i freaked out earlier cause I was ok on post boil volume, only missed 5 gallons by half of a gallon. Not bad on my first try, My og was slightly higher than the op of 1.040, mine came out to 1.050. Drinking a stout to celebrate a job well done.

 

[GunnerMan]

No worries I did just as bad, my Pre Boil gravity was 1.040 with about a gallon to much wort. I screwed up big time somewhere Luckily I didn't boil off to much so I get more beer.

 

[iamatuna]

I know this has probly been asked already but well their are tons and tons of posts on this recipe

but has anyone experimented with different yeast for this one?

i was thinking of splitting it into 5 1 gallons and trying out a lager, Irish yeast, hefenweizen (sp?) and nottingham plus possibly trying a lambic

other than the lambic anyone tried any of these for this?

As well has anyone ever tried to boil this way down and add more sugar to make a really strong beer out of this? i picked up a 25abv tolerant yeast strain and i wanna try it

 

[philrose]

lager and irish would both turn out fine, souring a cream ale would be...odd to say the least

 

[GunnerMan]

Yeah I agree with philrose. As for your 25 abv yeast I would probably try to use it in something a bit larger, something like an Imperial Stout. I don't think this beer would be very good for high ABV as it is too light and the alcohol would come out way too much.

I have made this beer and IMHO I don't think it is anything special; just a beer for your run of the mill folk to drink, don't go trying to make a Rogue from a Miller.

 

[gicts]

I force carbed it today and am a little worried. Came out looking as light and pale as lemon juice (I guess that's the corn speaking) and having little to no flavor.

I guess time will tell. I think I under did the grains.

I did a 5 gallon batch with
5 lb pale 2-row
2 lb flaked maize
12 oz Minute Rice
.5 oz Crystal and
.5 oz Williamette

 

[GunnerMan]

Thats about how I brew mine, .5 lb Rice, 1.75 lbs corn, and about 5 lbs 2 row. What was your OG and Fg?

 

[philrose]

First ten gallon batch today with this recipe on a buddy's rims. Got rediculous efficiency (for me), 88% yipes!

 

[wcarter1227]

I force carbed it today and am a little worried. Came out looking as light and pale as lemon juice (I guess that's the corn speaking) and having little to no flavor.

I guess time will tell. I think I under did the grains.

I did a 5 gallon batch with
5 lb pale 2-row
2 lb flaked maize
12 oz Minute Rice
.5 oz Crystal and
.5 oz Williamette

i did 5.5 lb 2 row
2.5 flaked maize
1lb flake rice

 

[gicts]

Thats about how I brew mine, .5 lb Rice, 1.75 lbs corn, and about 5 lbs 2 row. What was your OG and Fg?

I couldn't get an OG but the FG is 1.08 . It is starting to grow on me, but the color is still off and tart

 

[mhermetz]

Turned out pretty good. A bit too much corn-ish sweetness for me - maybe that will mellow out with aging. But I will revise it a bit when I make it again because it is otherwise excellent. Also my friend who said he doesn't drink "dark beer" when I cracked open a pale ale likes it quite a bit too.

Sterling hops turned out great.

I just poured my first today and I have to say it starts off nice but then I'm hit with huge corn flavour.... I don't like it at all actually. I'm not being beer snobbish, I actually still drink bud or Molson at times, but this was too strong. I think for my next 5 gallon batch I'd cut the corn in half.

I really don't think it's DMS either... I did a 90min boil.

 

[philrose]

I gotta say that if you are tasting more than a faint corn flavor there is probably something wrong with your process. Fully converted, well attenuated examples of the recipe turn out very clean and crisp.

 

[mhermetz]

So what could be the potential problem then?

Not hitting a good mash temp? I had mine vary but I kept it pretty steady the whole time.

 

[Blindguardian]

Just finished my first batch of this on my new upgraded equipment.

I was suppose to end up with 5.50 gal from an 8 gal 90 min boil but ended up with 6.25 gal. MY Pre- boil gravity was 1.031 and post boil gravity ended at 1.044. The only thing that was off was my IBUs I was suppose to have 14.4 IBUs but with not boiling off the amount that BTP said I should I ended up with only 12.2 IBUs.

How is this going to effect the taste?

 

[philrose]

So what could be the potential problem then?

Not hitting a good mash temp? I had mine vary but I kept it pretty steady the whole time.

Maybe, also what was your fg?