Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

[Tobor_8thMan]

the ferment looks like soap foam.
I'm guessing it's the corn causing that?

No, normal fermentation looks like "foam soap".

For the most part, if people knew what fermenating beer looked like, we'd probably never drink it.

 

[Consigliere]

Man, you're sweating things too much. 0.1. Relax and have a homebrew.

Maybe so but to be clear my OG was 10 points higher. Had this wrong. Was 1.052 or so instead of 1.04. So pretty big jump.
Great beer though which is why I’m curious about a whirlpool hop addition to experiment to add some unique flavour

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Maybe so but to be clear my OG was 10 points higher. Had this wrong. Was 1.052 or so instead of 1.04. So pretty big jump.
Great beer though which is why I’m curious about a whirlpool hop addition to experiment to add some unique flavour

You are correct 1.052 is higher than 1.040.

Did you use brewing software? If so, please realize the recipe FG, ABV, etc are estimates based on the malt, yeast, etc. Malt specs change, even within a batch. So, unless you're getting the malt specs directly from the maltster and updating the specs in the software ingredients the software is "in the ball park".

What was the estimated ABV? What was the actual ABV?

 

[Consigliere]

I just copied the recipe. To be honest it’s all good. Every time the equipment etc all matters so i see the first brew as an experiment every time and if you like it you can tune it for your setup and ingredients next time.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Copied the recipe from another source? If so, you must tweak for your setup.

 

[Consigliere]

Yup. Just hoping for some feedback on the hop idea. This part of brewing is very new to me in making additions to existing recipes.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

The IBUs from the hops also factor into the equipment.

 

[dwhite60]

Yup. Just hoping for some feedback on the hop idea. This part of brewing is very new to me in making additions to existing recipes.

I made this back in February. Three gallons.

1/2 ounce of Amarillo at 20 minutes, other half at flameout, steep for ten minutes. Lots of flavor and aroma. Didn't realize Amarillo was so potent. Took a couple months for this to get really enjoyable but then it was REALLY enjoyable.

 

[Consigliere]

I made this back in February. Three gallons.

1/2 ounce of Amarillo at 20 minutes, other half at flameout, steep for ten minutes. Lots of flavor and aroma. Didn't realize Amarillo was so potent. Took a couple months for this to get really enjoyable but then it was REALLY enjoyable.

Awesome thanks for the feedback. I’m not very patient with beers and go for 5G batches so may think about 1/2 -3/4 oz at whirlpool but was gonna use lemon drop.

 

[BongoYodeler]

so first keg was not good and I ended up throwing 2 oz of summit into it to make it taste good. (hiding off flavor)
I just pulled the 2nd keg out of the basement and hooked it up.
I let that naturally carbonate.
it's still warm (65 ish) but it tastes completely different from the first. no strong after taste.
like a Genesee Cream Ale which is THE cream Ale in central and western NY since the 1960's.
let's see how it does when it is cold.

Waiting to hear on this. How did this end up comparing to Genny Cream?

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Waiting to hear on this. How did this end up comparing to Genny Cream?

Genny tasted better after it chilled and carbed.
My friends thought it was ok and drank it.
Nothing amazing.
I picked up a corn taste I just did not like.

I'm screwed something up.
Pretty sure the 60 min addition ctz hops needed bumping up Due to age or just dumped.

Ill make a gallon batch over the winter to see if I can do better since I still have a lb of instant grits left.

 

[z-bob]

ok, so something went slightly wrong.
beer is sorely lacking in flavor. I went light on the CTZ because of high AA% but they are a few yrs old so possibly have lost some.
tastes as bland as mic ultra to me, but people who drink mic ultra told me it had no flavor.
its crisp but I need to dry hop the keg with something while keeping it an easy drinker.

I'm thinking an oz of the 3% tetnang I have after some googling.

I brewed a cream ale a few months ago using Columbus hops. (it wasn't C3C, I used 5% sugar to lighten it instead of corn and/or rice because I read something about that in BYO) I just use 1/2 ounce at 30 minute, and no late hops. (it was a 4 gallon batch) When very young the beer was skunky even though it was not light-struck, which I thought was odd. After about 2 weeks in the bottle the skunk went away but the beer was just meh; nothing particularly wrong with it, it just wasn't good. After a full month of conditioning it was a good beer. Could still use just a little more bitterness and hops aroma, so next time I brew it I will add a little Willamette, Mt Hood, or Crystal late hops -- but it's good like this and I'll be sad when it's gone. It was also very economical to brew.

I used Voss Kveik yeast, but overpitched and fermented at 70°F instead of 80°+ and there's very little esters or other yeast character; it's just clean, but was slow to carbonate. (the sugar didn't help, I probably should have added yeast nutrient) I think this yeast could be great for mock-lagers if you keg it and force carbonate it.

 

[Hwmetzger]

I brewed 16 gallons of the original recipe for a small wedding reception. Only thing I did different was adding an extra pound of 2 Row.

Filled three 5 gallon kegs, and polished them all off that night. Everyone loved it, and two couples asked me to brew more for their own receptions. 10/10, definite crowd pleaser.

EDIT: I might try dialing the corn back on the next batch. The corn flavor isnt bad by any means, but it is a bit sweet.

 

[pmd5700]

Anyone come up with a good label/logo/icon/etc. for this beer? I want to add it to Raspberry Pints.

 

[copachono]

hi, im wating to make this beer but, i cant get the corn or the rice at least not the flaked ones, i do have pop corn and normal corn, but i have to malted this corns??, can i use regular rice the one you use to cook??

 

[Leapsandbounds]

hi, im wating to make this beer but, i cant get the corn or the rice at least not the flaked ones, i do have pop corn and normal corn, but i have to malted this corns??, can i use regular rice the one you use to cook??

I’ve used instant grits and instant rice before. Worked out okay.

 

[copachono]

i have to check if i can get istant grit, but im not so sure about the corn, BTW does the corn and rice add starches to the gravity of the beer ors they are just for flavoring?

 

[z-bob]

i have to check if i can get instant grit, but i'm not so sure about the corn, BTW does the corn and rice add starches to the gravity of the beer or they are just for flavoring?

The corn and rice add starch without adding much protein; that's the main thing they are for but they add a little flavor too.

I just saw your other question about popcorn. Do you have an air popper? You can add air-popped corn (no oil or salt) directly to the mash.

You can use regular rice but you have to cook it. The weight in the recipe is the precooked weight. Boil the rice in a gallon of the water until it's overcooked, then use it water-and-all in the mash.

 

[dwhite60]

hi, im wating to make this beer but, i cant get the corn or the rice at least not the flaked ones, i do have pop corn and normal corn, but i have to malted this corns??, can i use regular rice the one you use to cook??

I've used corn meal and did a cereal mash. Takes some time but I thought it was well worth it. The corn flavor really come through.

 

[Saunassa]

hi, im wating to make this beer but, i cant get the corn or the rice at least not the flaked ones, i do have pop corn and normal corn, but i have to malted this corns??, can i use regular rice the one you use to cook??

You probably already know but flaked corn and flaked maize are the same thing. Minute rice or instant rice should give you a similar effect. I add a few ounces of red wheat to mine to give it a bit more head retention.

 

[copachono]

i just brew it the wrong way

i used:

4# pilsner
2.5# wheat light
1# rice cooked
2# pocorn just grinded and toosed at mash,

i got 1042 OG so i guess im on the mark but im going to leave this one for 2 week on primary,

for the yeast i used a cake that used to be BYR 97 ale yeast

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

I attempted to make this a Vienna Cream Ale. Replaced the 2-row with Vienna malt and added a touch of Special Roast malt, cutting back slightly on the rice. Used Tettnang hops to bitter and aroma/flavor and US-05 yeast.

Aimed for 4.5%, ran into a little efficiency issue and finished at exactly 4%, which I'm okay with. I only mashed for 60 minutes, fully intending 90, but had a brew night brain fart while blasting Pearl Jam in the garage.

Long story short, it turned out great. Nice, subtle biscuit/roasty taste, similar to a Fat Tire Amber, but with the lightness of the famous Cream of Three Crops. Gorgeous, light copper color and sweet corn nose.

Here's the real verdict: SWMBO kept slipping out to the garage to fill her pint glass from the keg, 4x today by my count. Now that's a winner!

 

[Consigliere]

Wanted to circle back on a post I had regarding additional hops to the base (original) recipe on this thread. I have made it twice now, once the exact original recipe scaled to 5G and the second time exact original recipe however, did a whirlpool addition of 14G of lemon drop hops which I whirlpooled at 160oF for 20 min then chilled and fermented. There was a noticeable, but subtle, citrus flavor to the final product and was a bit brighter than the original. It was super crushable, very clean and clear still. Next time I may go up to a full ounce of hops to test this and might think about a split batch with some dry hopping.

I would highly recommend some bright, modern whirlpool hops to add a bit more flavour to this base recipe if that is a desire. I plan on having some form of this recipe on my keg rotation pretty often, especially in summer time.

 

[Consigliere]

I attempted to make this a Vienna Cream Ale. Replaced the 2-row with Vienna malt and added a touch of Special Roast malt, cutting back slightly on the rice. Used Tettnang hops to bitter and aroma/flavor and US-05 yeast.

Aimed for 4.5%, ran into a little efficiency issue and finished at exactly 4%, which I'm okay with. I only mashed for 60 minutes, fully intending 90, but had a brew night brain fart while blasting Pearl Jam in the garage.

Long story short, it turned out great. Nice, subtle biscuit/roasty taste, similar to a Fat Tire Amber, but with the lightness of the famous Cream of Three Crops. Gorgeous, light copper color and sweet corn nose.

Here's the real verdict: SWMBO kept slipping out to the garage to fill her pint glass from the keg, 4x today by my count. Now that's a winner!
View attachment 710168

This looks really good, mind posting the details of how much special roast vs rice and other ingredients? I love this recipe, but for those of us in Canada, winter is not a great fit for this beer, and this recipe would lend itself more to a cold season version I think. Would love to try it.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

I've seen people inquire about this recipe being able to successfully convert to 5 gallon extract recipe, but nothing has been answered about it. I am happy to see that this is a killer recipe to try out when I eventually go AG.

 

[z-bob]

I've seen people inquire about this recipe being able to successfully convert to 5 gallon extract recipe, but nothing has been answered about it. I am happy to see that this is a killer recipe to try out when I eventually go AG.

The recipe probably doesn't convert well, but you can probably get pretty close using light malt extract plus either rice syrup solids, or a little plain old sugar. I wouldn't use both rice solids and sugar, nor go much over 10% sugar. I've brewed a nice AG cream ale using 95% pale 2-row malt and 5% sugar.

I have a 1.5kg can of light malt extract, I might try brewing a 3 gallon batch with that and a half pound of sugar to see what I get... That should end up about 4.8% ABV which is a good number, but that might be too heavy on the sugar. OTOH the LME probably has some crystal malt in it.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

I would imagine do a mini mash with the adjuncts, pound or two each and then 5# of some light DME?

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

This looks really good, mind posting the details of how much special roast vs rice and other ingredients? I love this recipe, but for those of us in Canada, winter is not a great fit for this beer, and this recipe would lend itself more to a cold season version I think. Would love to try it.

Absolutely....although, since you're Canadian, my grudge against you for relegating us to silver medals in hockey in Salt Lake AND Vancouver is still strong.

I brewed 4 gallons. It was:

61.5% Vienna malt (4 lbs)
23.1% Flaked corn (1.5 lbs)
7.7% Minute Rice (.5 lbs)
7.7% Special roast (.5lbs)

.75 oz Tettenang @ 60
.50 oz Tettenang @ 30
.25 oz Tettenang @ 15

US-05 yeast

Primary 14 days; Secondary 10 days; Kegged

This version benefits from a week or two in the keg due to the subtle roast flavor, I believe. The longer it's been in the keg, the more a delightful caramel/nutty note has been developing, thanks to using Vienna malt as the base.

Drinking a pint now. It's lovely on a wintery 50 degree night here in San Diego.

 

[Consigliere]

Absolutely....although, since you're Canadian, my grudge against you for relegating us to silver medals in hockey in Salt Lake AND Vancouver is still strong.

I brewed 4 gallons. It was:

61.5% Vienna malt (4 lbs)
23.1% Flaked corn (1.5 lbs)
7.7% Minute Rice (.5 lbs)
7.7% Special roast (.5lbs)

.75 oz Tettenang @ 60
.50 oz Tettenang @ 30
.25 oz Tettenang @ 15

US-05 yeast

Primary 14 days; Secondary 10 days; Kegged

This version benefits from a week or two in the keg due to the subtle roast flavor, I believe. The longer it's been in the keg, the more a delightful caramel/nutty note has been developing, thanks to using Vienna malt as the base.

Drinking a pint now. It's lovely on a wintery 50 degree night here in San Diego.

Awesome thanks. I would trade gold medals for SD weather. It’s all about what you don’t have!

 

[cmac62]

Absolutely....although, since you're Canadian, my grudge against you for relegating us to silver medals in hockey in Salt Lake AND Vancouver is still strong.

I brewed 4 gallons. It was:

61.5% Vienna malt (4 lbs)
23.1% Flaked corn (1.5 lbs)
7.7% Minute Rice (.5 lbs)
7.7% Special roast (.5lbs)

.75 oz Tettenang @ 60
.50 oz Tettenang @ 30
.25 oz Tettenang @ 15

US-05 yeast

Primary 14 days; Secondary 10 days; Kegged

This version benefits from a week or two in the keg due to the subtle roast flavor, I believe. The longer it's been in the keg, the more a delightful caramel/nutty note has been developing, thanks to using Vienna malt as the base.

Drinking a pint now. It's lovely on a wintery 50 degree night here in San Diego.

Burr, that is a little chilly. I'm in Lake Elsinore. LOL.