Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

[Mr. Vern]

Brewed this on 12/06 and as many others stated it is a nice brew! I was a little heavy on corn and a few oz light on rice, otherwise it was a scaled 5g batch of the original post.

Now to fiddle with yeast and practices, it'll be brewed again as I have a couple friends who will be looking for more.

 

[ShepFL]

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.

Go BIAB and you are AG. Simple one vessel and much better beer. You will amaze yourself.

 

[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.

Have you seen this? Rooster Tail Cream Ale (Cream of Three Crops knock off)

But I agree with Shep, try doing brew in a bag. (BIAB) Better beer, more control, and it's cheaper to brew. You can use a cheap paint strainer bag from the hardware store to get started; buy a better bag custom fit to your kettle later.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

I just saw that one, @z-bob ! Thank you. I currently have an 8 gallon Bayou Classic kettle, as I was planning ahead for the future of all grain brewing. Not to get off topic, but how much grain can an 8 gallon kettle hold to make a 5.5 gallon batch?

 

[z-bob]

I use an 8 gallon kettle to brew 4 gallon batches and it works very well. I think I could go up to 5 or 5.5 gallons with a little planning and juggling*, but I have lots of plastic 4 gallon carboys, and 4 gallons is a good size.

What is your heat source? Except in the heat of summer, I brew on my kitchen stove (natural gas.) Even the high-output burner had trouble boiling 5 gallons in a heavy kettle until I added an electric heat stick to help it out. Without that, I really don't think it would be able to boil 6 gallons. (the turkey fryer I use in the summer would handle it just fine but would use a lot of propane, with the heat stick it uses a *lot* less propane)

*by that, I mean mash using about 4 gallons of water. Pull the bag out and drain it, then put the bag in a white plastic bucket (the white buckets are food grade) and add the rest of your hot water. Let the bag soak for 10 minutes, pull it out and drain/squeeze again, and pour the squeezings into the kettle. The kettle probably won't hold all the water and the grain at the same time. This little dance is not that hard to do.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

I use an 8 gallon kettle to brew 4 gallon batches and it works very well. I think I could go up to 5 or 5.5 gallons with a little planning and juggling, but I have lots of plastic 4 gallon carboys, and 4 gallons is a good size.

What is your heat source? Except in the heat of summer, I brew on my kitchen stove (natural gas.) Even the high-output burner had trouble boiling 5 gallons in a heavy kettle until I added an electric heat stick to help it out. Without that, I really don't think it would be able to boil 6 gallons. (the turkey fryer I use in the summer would handle it just fine but would use a lot of propane, with the heat stick it uses a *lot* less propane)

I have a large ceramic cook top stove that I currently brew from and do full volume boils with it(5.5-6 gallons). I recently was gifted a sous-vide from my Mother(she couldn't find the motivation to keep using it), so I will be able to mash with it doing BIAB. I eventually want to do a two-vessel system and brew in the garage/backyard, depending on weather.

 

[cmac62]

I have a large ceramic cook top stove that I currently brew from and do full volume boils with it(5.5-6 gallons). I recently was gifted a sous-vide from my Mother(she couldn't find the motivation to keep using it), so I will be able to mash with it doing BIAB. I eventually want to do a two-vessel system and brew in the garage/backyard, depending on weather.

If I was in your spot, I'd look into one of the all in one units. I have a 3-v system and a Anvil Foundry, and I really like the foundry. It is fairly cheep, easy to use and makes great beer. Good luck

 

[dperrigan]

Hi All. I'm looking to brew this in a couple weeks. I'll be using distilled water. I'll be adding small amounts of gypsum, calcium chloride, and epsom salt to build the "American Lager" profile in BrunWater. With all these grains being very light, I figured I should add some Acid Malt (replacing 2% of the 2-Row). Does this sound about right?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[LionMac]

Hey Dan, I use the ez water calculator and have my pH around the 5.4 mark.
Hope this helps.
Brady.
EZ Water Calculator

 

[Saunassa]

Hi All. I'm looking to brew this in a couple weeks. I'll be using distilled water. I'll be adding small amounts of gypsum, calcium chloride, and epsom salt to build the "American Lager" profile in BrunWater. With all these grains being very light, I figured I should add some Acid Malt (replacing 2% of the 2-Row). Does this sound about right?

Thanks,
Dan

I just added in I believe 4 oz of acid malt with no change to the rest of the grain bill. The beer turned out great.

 

[dperrigan]

Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dan

 

[walker111]

Hi all. Brewed this beer on friday. It is fermenting away. My question.... It is really murky and yellow/brown. I have brewed this twice and the first time was awesome results and the second one I had my first infection and dump the keg!!!
Do your fermenters look like this after 2 days? i can't recall mine but seem to remember it clearing fast. The good first brew was the clearest beer I ever made. I did forget whirfloc and maybe it is where it should be at this point.
Thanks

 

[z-bob]

Two days? Of course it's murky. Depending on what yeast you used I suppose it could be clearing already but that's unusual. Don't worry about it for at least a week. Just admire the bubbles.

 

[walker111]

I suppose so and you are right it has about 55 hours on ferment . I see some of the pics here of the sample in the tube and hydrometer and that is super clear!!!
Thanks. Patience ....... I figured the missing whirfloc contributed and hence the question. Dammmmm drinking in garage with a bud who popped over seems to lead to forgetting things.

10 gallon brewer
one yeast is 05 and the other was a starter with 001

thanks for your reply

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I just added in I believe 4 oz of acid malt with no change to the rest of the grain bill. The beer turned out great.

Acid malt? Making a pilsner?

 

[copachono]

Hi, does anyone has a good ibu calculator? I got some hops from hops direct thst are labeled with higher AA than the normal pellets, crystal 5.5% AA y willamette 6.5% AA, with the calculator i use its about 0.6 onz 0.3 of both @60min to get 15 ibu, but im not sure if this its right, i made it this way and its still fermenting but i smell too sweet like if there its no hop at all in the beer

 

[Consigliere]

Hi, does anyone has a good ibu calculator? I got some hops from hops direct thst are labeled with higher AA than the normal pellets, crystal 5.5% AA y willamette 6.5% AA, with the calculator i use its about 0.6 onz 0.3 of both @60min to get 15 ibu, but im not sure if this its right, i made it this way and its still fermenting but i smell too sweet like if there its no hop at all in the beer

This is a very low hop beer as the base recipe. Not sure about the specifics of the IBU calculator you used but in general for AA differences you can adjust the added amounts of hops relative to the original recipe.
As an example if the original AA is 5% and your hops are 5.5%, reduce the amount by 10%. This is the math behind how to make adjustments. In practice, these types of differences will be very small if you can notice them at all in the end product. Things like hop age can be more impactful than the quotes hop acid levels.

 

[Saunassa]

Acid malt? Making a pilsner?

nope, just my water has a higher ph so a little acid makes everything better

 

[mashpaddled]

Acid malt? Making a pilsner?

If you need to adjust ph and trying to commit to a purity law then acid malt is usually what you'll use.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

nope, just my water has a higher ph so a little acid makes everything better

Certain your mash is not within the desired pH range without the acid malt?

 

[Saunassa]

I use the ph strips and it is high, does not take a lot to bring it within acceptable range. I do biab and almost full volume mash, only have an 8 gallon kettle, which probably has an affect on mash ph

 

[cgoldberg3]

Thinking of brewing this next. 99 pages is a lot to go through - are there any general consensus modifications I should make to the recipe, or just brew exactly like OP says?

 

[z-bob]

Thinking of brewing this next. 99 pages is a lot to go through - are there any general consensus modifications I should make to the recipe, or just brew exactly like OP says?

I think just go with the original recipe. You can use regular rice instead of Minute Rice if (but only if) you cook it first (use part of the mash water) If I'm wrong, people will yell at me and that's okay. You can also try different hops; I think Mt Hood or Liberty or any of the German noble hops would be good.

 

[fragged]

I think just go with the original recipe. You can use regular rice instead of Minute Rice if (but only if) you cook it first (use part of the mash water) If I'm wrong, people will yell at me and that's okay. You can also try different hops; I think Mt Hood or Liberty or any of the German noble hops would be good.

Motueka...

 

[GreenEnvy22]

I decided to make a batch of this for guests, and my dad, who mostly likes lighter beers.

I modified the recipe a bit, and way overshot my OG, gonna be a strong cream ale
I was doing a 5-gallon batch, so halved everything. But I wanted a bit more ABV, so adjusted as such:
I used 7 lbs pale ale malt, 3 lbs flaked corn, 12 oz minute rice.
Brewfather told me to expect about 1.050, which was about what I wanted.
So I got strike water up to 168, drained into mash tun, added grains, was at 151.5F.
90 minute mash with recirculation and a bit of enzymes, 90 minute boil, and OG is 1.064.
I have about 5.2 gallons, using some notthingham yeast.
If this ferments out to 1.01 or better, it will be a 7%+ cream ale.

 

[z-bob]

I decided to make a batch of this for guests, and my dad, who mostly likes lighter beers.

I modified the recipe a bit, and way overshot my OG, gonna be a strong cream ale
I was doing a 5-gallon batch, so halved everything. But I wanted a bit more ABV, so adjusted as such:
I used 7 lbs pale ale malt, 3 lbs flaked corn, 12 oz minute rice.
Brewfather told me to expect about 1.050, which was about what I wanted.
So I got strike water up to 168, drained into mash tun, added grains, was at 151.5F.
90 minute mash with recirculation and a bit of enzymes, 90 minute boil, and OG is 1.064.
I have about 5.2 gallons, using some notthingham yeast.
If this ferments out to 1.01 or better, it will be a 7%+ cream ale.

If it's too strong, you can water it down a little at bottling time.

 

[fragged]

If it's too strong, you can water it down a little at bottling time.

Just water it down now IMO if you still have krausen, you don't have the hop heft needed for that ABV. At 151f I'd be pretty confident that the notty will have it down to 1.010 and very soon. If you can catch it before then you can tie up some of the oxygen you'll be adding.

Though if it's already down to FG(likely, because notty is a beast) then just add before packaging, 1.5 gallons warer would bring you to 1.050.

 

[mr_lahey]

I made a time lapse of this beer fermenting. It turned out great. So many layers of flavor.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Fermentation is done, went from 1.064 to 1.009, so about 7%. Flavour is about what I'd expect from a cream ale. I'll get it kegged tomorrow and will see how it tastes on the weekend.

 

[cmac62]

Brewed this Friday. 6 lb marris otter, 2 lb flaked corn, 1 lb brown minute rice (14 oz as this is the only size they had). Used .5 oz Cluster at 60 and 1 oz at FO with US 05. Should be a tasty brew. It's fermenting in the house around 68*. Hopefully not too much of an issue with the ferm temp, it's all I had as a ESB is in my ferm chamber with S04, and thought temp control for that was more important.