Critique for a cream ale recipe?

[jphalabuk]

Hi all. I wonder if you'd care to comment on a cream ale I plan to brew tomorrow.

10# 2-row
4 oz honey malt
1 oz biscuit malt

.75 oz cluster hops

WPL 080

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[stpug]

Swap some base malt for adjunct and you've got a great start, IMO. It's _almost_ plain enough to be a cream ale

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Hi all. I wonder if you'd care to comment on a cream ale I plan to brew tomorrow.

10# 2-row
4 oz honey malt
1 oz biscuit malt

.75 oz cluster hops

WPL 080

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

When you say cream ale what kind of profile are you going for? To me it looks like this beer might end up kind of sweet. If you are looking for something dry and crisp you should try the cream of three crops recipe. Its BMC for homebrews.

5.75 lbs. Pale American 2-Row
1.25 lbs. Flaked Corn
.5 lb. Minute Rice (Yes, actual Minute Rice.) (I used rice hulls not min rice and it worked fine also)

.5oz Willamette @ 60
.5oz Crystal @ 15

US-05

 

[jphalabuk]

Swap some base malt for adjunct and you've got a great start, IMO. It's _almost_ plain enough to be a cream ale

Thank you-maybe cut the honey malt in half? What adjunct would you use? I think i have flaked oats and flaked barley on hand. Not sure i have any rice.

 

[jphalabuk]

When you say cream ale what kind of profile are you going for? To me it looks like this beer might end up kind of sweet. If you are looking for something dry and crisp you should try the cream of three crops recipe. Its BMC for homebrews.

5.75 lbs. Pale American 2-Row
1.25 lbs. Flaked Corn
.5 lb. Minute Rice (Yes, actual Minute Rice.) (I used rice hulls not min rice and it worked fine also)

.5oz Willamette @ 60
.5oz Crystal @ 15

US-05

Crisp and a little dry would be great.

 

[stpug]

Thank you-maybe cut the honey malt in half? What adjunct would you use? I think i have flaked oats and flaked barley on hand. Not sure i have any rice.

Up to 4 oz honey malt might be okay; 2 might be better but if you can't sense it then why include it, right?

I was just thinking a little less 2row, and sub in some rice/corn in it's place. I like using corn in my cream ales but some folks don't care for the corn nuance. Maybe 1-2 pounds subbed out. Flaked corn is fine. I like white instant grits (quaker) for my cream ale. If you're up for a little extra work (and extra flavor) then some yellow polenta is nice too.

You can go the rice route as well. Instant rice is fine. Flaked rice too. If you like more work then regular long grain rice will work.

If you don't care about creating your own recipe, and you're just looking for a great cream ale from which to work, then you won't go wrong starting with BeerMuncher's Cream of Three Crops (I'm sure I misspelled his name).

 

[jphalabuk]

Up to 4 oz honey malt might be okay; 2 might be better but if you can't sense it then why include it, right?



I was just thinking a little less 2row, and sub in some rice/corn in it's place. I like using corn in my cream ales but some folks don't care for the corn nuance. Maybe 1-2 pounds subbed out. Flaked corn is fine. I like white instant grits (quaker) for my cream ale. If you're up for a little extra work (and extra flavor) then some yellow polenta is nice too.



You can go the rice route as well. Instant rice is fine. Flaked rice too. If you like more work then regular long grain rice will work.



If you don't care about creating your own recipe, and you're just looking for a great cream ale from which to work, then you won't go wrong starting with BeerMuncher's Cream of Three Crops (I'm sure I misspelled his name).

Thank you again. I don't have any instant rice-what is the process for using long grain rice? I have never used that before.

 

[stpug]

Thank you again. I don't have any instant rice-what is the process for using long grain rice? I have never used that before.

-Cook the rice using an additional cup of water per cup rice on stove like normal, and then let it cool to mash temp +5°F
-Using a hand mixer, mix the rice to break it down into smaller bits a bit (perfection is not needed)
-Dough in your main mash (malt and strike water) taking into consideration the water already used for the rice
-After doughing in, add the rice to the main mash and make sure to stir it in well
-Allow for a little extra time so the rice gets fully converted (15 additional minutes maybe)
-Optional, you may consider an additional mash step to ~160F for 15min at the end of the mash to give a little extra boost to conversion of rice if your initial mash rest was <=150F (it may/may not help efficiency)

Overall, the process is pretty easy, it just takes a little calculating of water usage beforehand and an extra pot to cook the rice. No cereal mashing involved or needed.

 

[Minky]

When you say cream ale what kind of profile are you going for? To me it looks like this beer might end up kind of sweet. If you are looking for something dry and crisp you should try the cream of three crops recipe. Its BMC for homebrews.

5.75 lbs. Pale American 2-Row
1.25 lbs. Flaked Corn
.5 lb. Minute Rice (Yes, actual Minute Rice.) (I used rice hulls not min rice and it worked fine also)

.5oz Willamette @ 60
.5oz Crystal @ 15

US-05

Did you mean to say that the rice hulls were used as a substitute for the Minute Rice? Rice hulls are used to prevent a stuck sparge when using a lot of sticky grains such as wheat or rice. There is nothing fermentable in the rice hulls.

 

[jphalabuk]

Okay, I am ready to try again. How about this:

8# 2- row
2# flaked corn
4 oz honey malt
1 oz biscuit malt

.75 oz cluster

WLP080

 

[stpug]

Okay, I am ready to try again. How about this:

8# 2- row
2# flaked corn
4 oz honey malt
1 oz biscuit malt

.75 oz cluster

WLP080

I like it! Brew it up and make changes next time if needed.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Did you mean to say that the rice hulls were used as a substitute for the Minute Rice? Rice hulls are used to prevent a stuck sparge when using a lot of sticky grains such as wheat or rice. There is nothing fermentable in the rice hulls.

Sorry, meant flaked rice.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Okay, I am ready to try again. How about this:

8# 2- row
2# flaked corn
4 oz honey malt
1 oz biscuit malt

.75 oz cluster

WLP080

Look good. let us know how it turns out.

 

[Minky]

Sorry, meant flaked rice.

There ya go! I knew you must have had a brain fart there.