Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

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rrhoads said:
Here's a few pics of the latest batch with the 1.5 lbs of Viennna added. As you can tell, although still very light, It has a slight golden hue compared to most examples on here.
Very nice refreshing beer.
I think the 1.5 lbs of Vienna helped to balance the flavor of the corn, which I found a little cloying, with a little extra malt.
The Perle hops really worked, being low alpha, and provided a little German pilsner backbone.
I think I will be experimenting with this beer further to come up with some pseudo lagers. Thanks Biermuncher.
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Did you add the Vienna or sub it in for some of something else?
 
pstrohs said:
What's the grain absorbsion on your system and what is your target boil volume?
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Couldn't seem to find the grain absorbtion value on the mobile app

Tun loss is set at .25
Target boil volume is 6.79 gal


I did see one problem in the batch sparge profile it wants to fill the mash tun 90% to sparge and I have a 15 gal mash tun so perhaps that's the problem

The sparge step has always somewhat confused me as far as water volume calculations I guess I just got lucky for awhile but that luck has run out. Calculating mash vol I use the 1.25qt/lb method just am unaware of the formula for the batch sparge
 
Picked up the grain last night aside from the minute rice, have to fill a propane tank and get this underway today

I'm really cutting it close because I want this on tap for some family from out of town that are coming on 8/20...looks like I'll be attempting a 24hr force carb

Doubt it'll be clear but as long as it tastes good it'll be alright. I've been on a hiatus from brewing for months so I'm hoping this one turns out and reignites my desire to brew as often as I was last year
 
wtaylor3 said:
Picked up the grain last night aside from the minute rice, have to fill a propane tank and get this underway today

I'm really cutting it close because I want this on tap for some family from out of town that are coming on 8/20...looks like I'll be attempting a 24hr force carb

Doubt it'll be clear but as long as it tastes good it'll be alright. I've been on a hiatus from brewing for months so I'm hoping this one turns out and reignites my desire to brew as often as I was last year
Click to expand...

Please report how it goes. I brewed this Sunday and I'm anxious to see how it turns out. I need something a little less flavorful for guests for whom tasty beer is too intense. :)

Sure tasted good going into the fermenter.
 
It's a great beer, I've brewed this a few times and it's a favorite over at my dads home bar where all the bmc drinkers hang out

but somewhere along the line I started getting batches of water basically

Didn't seem to matter which recipe and I've been trying to diagnose the problem I was blaming sparge water volume but now I'm thinking that the crush was the problem

I'm going to take notes, a ton of gravity readings and take my time to ensure that good beer is had by all in 11 days
 
Calculated batch sparge volume, found my paint strainer bags and researched no sparge brewing all day,

in the end no sparge really intrigued me so I just doughed into 8.67 (ish) gallons of water we'll see how it goes
 
I really just messed up

This is for the bmc crowd and I accidentally added a full oz each of Willamette and Crystal

Gonna be quite bitter I'm afraid
 
wtaylor3 said:
I really just messed up

This is for the bmc crowd and I accidentally added a full oz each of Willamette and Crystal

Gonna be quite bitter I'm afraid
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Trying not to sound like a jerk or anything but how did this happen? I'm curious because I'm so anal about my measurements of hops... Genuinely asking.
 
Because something got lost in the transfer between my notes and beer smith and I had it saved as an oz of each hop in beer smith so naturally that's what I used,

I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, I'm a hop head however I'm sure most the bmc crowd isn't going to and I won't have time to make another batch before the 20th...oh well we'll see what happens
 
So far so good other than the inevitable bitterness OG was 1.042

Apparently my efficiency did suffer using the no sparge method as I used
7lbs 2 row
2lbs corn
8oz minute rice
 
wtaylor3 said:
So far so good other than the inevitable bitterness OG was 1.042

Apparently my efficiency did suffer using the no sparge method as I used
7lbs 2 row
2lbs corn
8oz minute rice
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I ran slightly more grain:

7.5# maris otter
2.5 # flaked corn
.5# minute rice
1 scoop rice hulls

Double-crushed.

With a 90 minute mash, my pre-boil gravity was 1.050 with 6.8 gallons.

A 90-minute boil, post-boil OG was 1.059 for about 5.5 gallons.

I had 4 gallons in the mash water, 4 gallons in a batch sparge. I used 1 oz Styrian Golding at 60 minutes, .5 oz Hallertau at 60 minutes. Tasted pretty good going into the fermenter.
 
Planning on kegging this on Tuesday or Wednesday, in the past I've always kegged this in a sanke keg (1/2 bbl) and set the psi to 30 for 24 hrs then turned down to serving pressure and enjoyed.

However, now I have corny kegs and wasn't sure if they'd behave the same way as I don't have 10gallons of empty space. Also read a how to that said to temporarily change connectors and push the co2 through the pickup tube, does anyone do this? I'm legging Tuesday or Wednesday and need it to be ready on Saturday
 
I did the following 11 gal grain bill and pitched half with Wyeast 1335 and the other half with WLP 080. I am drinking the 1335 right now and it is amazing. Perfect summer beer.

2-Row - 12lbs
Flaked Corn - 3lbs
Flake Rice - 2lbs
Vienna - 1lb

Northern Brewer - 1.2oz at 60min (14.7 IBU)
Hallertauer - 1.0oz (1.0 IBU)

Mashed at 154 and fermented at 64*
 
I brewed a batch of this last weekend. OG was 1.046 and after 1 week of fermentation the SG is currently at 1.022. I'm really worried about this. I feel like I should be much closer to FG at this point. I pitched 1 packet of rehydrated US05 to 5 gal wort and it's been sitting at 65 deg F. Should I pitch more yeast or is this normal?
 
DPveritasGold said:
I pitched 1 packet of rehydrated US05 to 5 gal wort and it's been sitting at 65 deg F. Should I pitch more yeast or is this normal?
Click to expand...

Before spending more money / using more supplies, sanitize a spoon, spin the beer in the fermenter (careful not to aerate), get some yeast in suspension, move the fermenter to warmer part of the house, and take another gravity reading in about 4-7 days.

Let us know how you fair.
 
Brewed this today, new corona grinder, 75% efficiency on the original grain bill, 5.25 gallons of 1.047 into the fermenter, kolsch yeast.

Blowoff tube connected, ready to roll! Was such a pretty color going into the bucket, can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Beer came out extremely light again despite having an og of 1.042.

No sparge method with 8.67 gal of water

Pre boil Gravity was 1.032

7 day fermentation
3 day force carb
After the 3 days it was extremely light although not as watery as my last attempt

I read yesterday that green beer can taste watery so I'll try it again tomorrow which will be 7 days in the keg
 
wtaylor3 said:
Beer came out extremely light again despite having an og of 1.042.

No sparge method with 8.67 gal of water

Pre boil Gravity was 1.032

7 day fermentation
3 day force carb
After the 3 days it was extremely light although not as watery as my last attempt

I read yesterday that green beer can taste watery so I'll try it again tomorrow which will be 7 days in the keg
Click to expand...

Try adding Vienna or using a more flavourful base grain on the next batch. The Vienna gave me exactly what I wanted.
 
OMIGOD.

I kegged mine tonite, and tried a little--I wanted to forgo carbing it and just drink it flat.

I'm force carbing it and by this time tomorrow night I should have a pretty good beer on tap. If not a tremendous beer.
 
wtaylor3 said:
Beer came out extremely light again despite having an og of 1.042.

No sparge method with 8.67 gal of water

Pre boil Gravity was 1.032

7 day fermentation
3 day force carb
After the 3 days it was extremely light although not as watery as my last attempt

I read yesterday that green beer can taste watery so I'll try it again tomorrow which will be 7 days in the keg
Click to expand...

I didn't read all of your previous posts, but depending on what you "like" to drink, cream ale can be a bit watery, especially with a low OG. Like bonecitybrewco said, maybe swap out some of the base for Vienna.

I also think that even light beers taste best (fuller, rounder) with 3 hop charges - 60, 30, and somewhere between 10 and 0. Whenever I do one addition of hops, it seems a bit flat.
 
The problem is that even bmc drinkers commented that it was watery.

I made 3 great batches of this and now 2 watery batches. This isn't the only recipe that it happened to. Something went wrong with my process and I cannot figure it out.
 
casualbrewer said:
Mash thermometer not calibrated? Could be mashing much lower
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I'll look into this all i have is the glass Mercury looking thermometer maybe I'll try to pick up a digital one

The OG being on par with the original recipe confuses me though
 
I'm going to try another pull today now that it's been in the keg under gas for 10 days and I'll post a pic/tasting notes
 
mongoose33 said:
OMIGOD.

I kegged mine tonite, and tried a little--I wanted to forgo carbing it and just drink it flat.

I'm force carbing it and by this time tomorrow night I should have a pretty good beer on tap. If not a tremendous beer.
Click to expand...

Very nice. Still a bit green, I expect that to subside over the next day or two, but excellent flavor.
 
Well. So much for being "green." I think it was just a little too cold (crashed down to 29 degrees). Warmed up, it's warming me up. In fact, it moved me to add a 4th tap on my keezer (if you look closely there's room for a 5th tap just to the left).

That's COTC sitting on top of the keezer. It's a keeper. Great beer, Biermuncher! I substituted Maris Otter for base 2-row, and it's just....delicious. I have a block party to help put on this afternoon, and it's going to take some willpower to make sure I don't have any more than is sitting on top of the keezer.

I'll probably bottle some of it, see what the assembled masses think.

+1, Biermuncher! (BTW, that's your Black Pearl Porter on top).

EDITED TO ADD: My 86-year-old mother-in-law stopped by this afternoon while I was bottling some of my beer. She had never seen the keezer, was amazed. She asked if any of my beer wasn't dark, so I poured her a taster of Cream of Three Crops. She took a sip, then some more, and exclaimed, "Hey, this is good." I think I'll accept that. :)

4tapkeezer.jpg
 
Found an article on no sparge brewing in byo and I computed all the formulas and apparently water volume wasn't the problem

So I'm down to mash temp lower than indicated or grain crush as far as I can tell. Unless the theory of it being green is the culprit
 
Found an article on no sparge brewing in byo and I computed all the formulas and apparently water volume wasn't the problem

So I'm down to mash temp lower than indicated or grain crush as far as I can tell. Unless the theory of it being green is the culprit

I would maybe try a higher temp next time. Mash in 155 degrees F. Mash out stay under 168 degrees F. I agree it's your thermometer. Mine is off 4 degrees so adjust for it since im to lazy to buy a new one.
 
I just have to note this--had a block party the other night, I brought out 15 bottles of various recipes, including Cream of Three Crops.

I didn't know this at the time, but my wife said she had two of the COTC bottles. One isn't important--it's the second one that counts. And she said it was different from other things I'd brewed; it is. But she said she liked the flavor and enjoyed it.

It's not exactly Biermuncher's recipe, but close enough for government work. I had Beersmith give me an equivalent for a 5-gallon batch; I used 7.5# of Maris Otter (not generic 2-row), 2.5 pounds of flaked corn, .5 pounds of minute rice, 1 oz Styrian Goldings at 60 minutes, .5 ounce of Hallertau at 60 minutes, S-05 yeast rehydrated. One scoop of rice hulls. Different hops than the original recipe as I didn't have Willamette or Crystal, but fairly close.

Two weeks in the fermenter, then cold crashed and fined w/ gelatin.

Beautiful, just beautiful. I had some other ideas for what to brew this weekend, but I'm thinking perhaps I need to get another one of these going.
 
Ok. Without reading 300+ pages has anyone done this as a partial mash 5 gal batch? I am relatively new to brewing so please dumb it down a little.
 
Bemadden said:
Ok. Without reading 300+ pages has anyone done this as a partial mash 5 gal batch? I am relatively new to brewing so please dumb it down a little.
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You have to read all 300+ pages. It's required.

(I'm sure someone has and will answer!)
 
Bemadden said:
Ok. Without reading 300+ pages has anyone done this as a partial mash 5 gal batch? I am relatively new to brewing so please dumb it down a little.
Click to expand...

If you're doing a partial mash, I would say try to utilize the brew software that is available. I too am relatively new to brewing, but have had a lot of help from BrewSmith. I use it mostly to scale up or down existing recipes I find online, but not so much on converting all grain to partial mash (I've done it only once before).

I'm not at my computer right now, but I'll try to get back to you with a recipe before the day is through.
 
Well I ended up brewing this today as my first all grain. Looks and smells great. OG was spot on! Can't wait to keg it in my new keezer I built this weekend.
 
First time doing an all grain recipe (biab) with partial sparge, but here's what I ended up doing.

5 gal batch
6.1 lbs two row - over measure at the store, figured it wouldn't hurt too much
2.5 lbs corn
1.0 lbs minute rice

1.00 oz Willamette (60 min)
1.00 oz Crystal (60 min)
Had a small amount of cascade left from my last batch.. decided to throw it in.
0.25 oz Cascade (60 min)
0.25 oz Cascade (10 min)

Whitelabs cream ale yeast with a yeast starter that I made yesterday.


Pre-boil/post mash was 1.32 - mashed with about 6 gallons, sparged with 1 gallon soak for about 20 minutes and then squeezed it like crazy
Post-boil was 1.46-1.48 was hard to tell which line

Ended up with about 5.8 gallons, so had to dump a little bit, couldn't fit it all in my carboy.

Have it fermenting in my fermentation chamber at 68 degrees, after about 7 hours it's already starting to do some bubbling, can't wait to try it. It tasted delicious both after the mash and after boil.


Trying to figure out how to calculate mash and BH efficiency, have never done that before.
 

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