Frosted Flakes cream ale experiment

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If you start adding things with preservatives, it can affect, retard
Hey wait, a beer that has the "r" word in the description? I can think of some people that beer would suit perfectly.....
But back to the recipe, the amount of preservatives in 12 oz of cornflakes has got to be pretty minimal. The pale malt will convert the corn flakes and the yeast will eat the added sugar so you'll get a slightly higher ABV, but besides that I don't think 12 oz of cornflakes in 2.5 gallons of beer will make much of a difference.
 
Hey wait, a beer that has the "r" word in the description? I can think of some people that beer would suit perfectly.....
But back to the recipe, the amount of preservatives in 12 oz of cornflakes has got to be pretty minimal. The pale malt will convert the corn flakes and the yeast will eat the added sugar so you'll get a slightly higher ABV, but besides that I don't think 12 oz of cornflakes in 2.5 gallons of beer will make much of a difference.
That's what I'm thinking.
 
damn, i missed the brewing! so we're here now!


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Update: Fermentation of the frosted flakes cream ale has indeed kicked off. Had a bubble every couple of seconds this morning. As of this evening they're rolling out at machine gun tempo. The observed lag time was pretty typical for what I get with us-05. This is my first brew in a glass carboy since getting my stainless Sovereign over a year ago. I prefer the Sovereign, but wanted to leave it freed up for my next brew. That said, it's neat to be able to watch a fermentation again.

The only thing of note so far is that the krausen, healthy as it looks, seems a little on the thin side so far. Probably not uncommon, but I couldn't help but wonder if this may be a precursor to the minimal head retention the finished beer might have. (This concern was brought up earlier. )

That's it for now. Unless the fermentation goes wonky over the next couple of days, there probably won't be much to report until bottling day a couple of weeks from now. I'm thinking about fining with gelatin for the first time on this one since I'm in experiment mode. If I get a chance, I might share a picture or two between now and then. I also remembered some things about the brew day that I probably need to add in a future post for the record.
 
I've kicked around the idea of making a small batch ipa adding Fruity Pebbles. We should all get together and release a Breakfast Series. :rock:

Check out Bolero Snort Brewery. They already took a run at breakfast beers. Frosted flakes is pretty tame compared to what was on their one-off 'diner' beer menu a month or so ago.
 
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Here it is. Still blowing several bubbles per second. The fermentation seems to be going as well as I could hope, temp still at 63F.

I know I said brew day was pretty uneventful, but I completely forgot about a couple of weird things I haven't had happen before, neither of which really has anything to do with the Frosted Flakes.

I hadn't done a small batch since I got this bigger kettle (10 gallon Gas One), so I took the false bottom out to make sure all the grains would be below liquid line with that shallow volume (less than four gallons this time) for the mash. I BIAB by the way. The grains were resting on the bottom. After mashing for an hour, I always turn my electric stove on high and pull the bag once the temperature reaches 180F. This time I walked away, forgetting that the temp would climb faster with a smaller volume. The temperature was north of 190, maybe even 200 before I pulled the grains out. I suspect this won't hurt anything much, but I know some people worry about tannin extraction at those temps. I have no idea what the ph was.

The bag showed no sign of scorching, but there was a brown spot on the bottom of the kettle my wife noticed when we were cleaning up later. Evidently something at some point got cooked down there pretty good.

I'm really not too concerned with this beer not turning out awesome, but it would have been nice to lay the blame for anything subpar on the unusual ingredient. Now if it tastes weird I may never know for sure which variable is to blame.

Still hoping it just turns out fine though. Any thoughts on the mishaps?
 
Still frequent bubbles today. Krausen appears to be thicker. That's pretty much it for now.

glad you're keeping all of us updated! and this doesn't become a 10 year old necro post! lol :mug:

i mean if we don't get results, there could be someone that google's "can i ferment my corn flakes?" and end up here!
 
Bumped the temperature up to 65F earlier today. Airlock activity has slowed to a bubble every few seconds, but still steady. Krausen is still pretty thick and creamy looking. (I brewed and pitched yeast Monday evening. ) Only a gravity reading will tell for sure, but it appears the cereal isn't affecting fermentation in any negative way so far. It couldn't be more normal when compared to others I've done. Sorry there's nothing more exciting to report, but I think that's a good thing. Now I just need to be patient.
 
Bumped temperature for the final time yesterday, now up to 68F. All visible signs of fermentation have ceased, not surprising this late in the game. I really don't feel like fishing a gravity sample out of the carboy, so I'll probably let it sit until this weekend and grab one a couple of days before bottling day. The smell in the ferm chamber is extremely rich and grainy and not very "beer" like. Not unpleasant, but not appetizing either as far as beer goes. Hopefully it is just too much aroma in a closed space.
 
extremely rich and grainy and not very "beer" like. Not unpleasant, but not appetizing either as far as beer goes.

i love it when my beers are grainy! now you got me wanting to tell someone i know that goes to costco, to pick me up some costco sized boxes for a 10 gallon batch! ;) :mug:

i'm serious! the vanilla would require me to do some thinking on black or white beer though....maybe special b's nuttyness would be good with it? hmmmm 🤔
 
i love it when my beers are grainy! now you got me wanting to tell someone i know that goes to costco, to pick me up some costco sized boxes for a 10 gallon batch! ;) :mug:

i'm serious! the vanilla would require me to do some thinking on black or white beer though....maybe special b's nuttyness would be good with it? hmmmm 🤔
I can't wait to actually taste it. I'll try to share some meaningful notes.
 
Bottling day is scheduled for Monday. I would like to take a hydrometer sample tomorrow. Absolutely no activity for several days. I mentioned the aroma in the ferm chamber being pretty rich. Today I thought it was almost "buttery." I don't know if diacetyl really gives off an odor. I hope not, but I'm excited to take a sip tomorrow. I'll let you know the initial impressions.
 
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First sample today! Appears to have finished at 1.010 (started at 1.058).
So we're looking at an apparent ABV of 6.3% and 82% attenuation from the
S-05. I think it's safe to say nothing about these frosted flakes really hurt the fermentation process. Truth be told, it had probably reached FG by day five. The ABV and SG wound up a little north of where BJCP says a cream ale should be, but the FG is in the sweet zone.

Of course I drank the sample; and now have gone from cautiously optimistic to fairly excited about this beer. I'll be the first to admit that I'm always amazed how different the cold and carbed beer tastes from the hydrometer samples, so we'll have to take these notes with a grain of salt. But overall I'm excited.

Aroma was beer, pure and simple. Reminded me of one of the macros in a pleasant way. Very fresh but not overly sweet to the nose.

Tasted like a cream ale to be blunt. I've had limited experience with commercial examples. Enjoyed the ones I've had, but have never been "blown away" by one. This one truly is reminiscent of the ones I've had. It's very clean. Absolutely no off flavors that I could detect, and little if any yeast character. It does remind me of the big macros, but with more of everything. Good malt flavor. I might be guilty of wishful thinking, but I think I even detected a little hint of the few simcoe pellets I threw in at the end of the boil. There's nothing hoppy about it, but I'm not overwhelmed by sweetness either. No alcohol burn that I could taste. Nothing about this beer so far would tip me off to the fact that a weird adjuct was used.

I'm not going to fine with gelatin after all. The plan is to bottle tomorrow and and let it start carbing up. Fingers crossed, this is turning out surprisingly well!
 
damn, i like the description....but looking at that post all i'm thinking is WTF, looks like there's 2"'s between 1.000 and 1.010! lol

but seriously hows the grainy taste? am i on to 25lb bulk bags at walmart now? or for pure fun ;) (google)

https://www.purefunsupply.com/Hospi..._9Um6F3MTaXuu8IiHVU-Q8ER_mOyLQGBoCN-0QAvD_BwE
did you taste vanilla in it? think my idea of special b, or maybe biscuit would be good/better?


edit: waiting for the beer pron, and a picture of the head retention in a glass!
 
Yeah! The hydrometer is a FG hydrometer. Much easier to read, but I've found it to be pretty finicky.

As far as grainy or vanilla goes, I'd hate for anyone to base any decisions on my untrained palate and poor descriptions. Here goes, though. If there was a vanilla component in particular, I don't think I detected it. The malt backbone was just slightly more complex than I imagined, perhaps a result of the corn being roasted in this form. I do feel confident in confirming that frosted flakes definitely won't ruin a beer (at 15% of the grist anyway). I would imagine it would play nicely with about any other malt you want to try it with. Your comment about that a few days ago got my wheels turning. I never thought I use these again after this experiment, but unless something awful develops between now and cold and carbed, I would say I'll definitely be experimenting with these more in the future.

Don't know if that helps or not. Good find on the army surplus quantities!
 
Yeah! The hydrometer is a FG hydrometer. Much easier to read, but I've found it to be pretty finicky.

As far as grainy or vanilla goes, I'd hate for anyone to base any decisions on my untrained palate and poor descriptions. Here goes, though. If there was a vanilla component in particular, I don't think I detected it. The malt backbone was just slightly more complex than I imagined, perhaps a result of the corn being roasted in this form. I do feel confident in confirming that frosted flakes definitely won't ruin a beer (at 15% of the grist anyway). I would imagine it would play nicely with about any other malt you want to try it with. Your comment about that a few days ago got my wheels turning. I never thought I use these again after this experiment, but unless something awful develops between now and cold and carbed, I would say I'll definitely be experimenting with these more in the future.

Don't know if that helps or not. Good find on the army surplus quantities!

I've always wanted to make a Fruit Loops sour, or maybe Fruity Pebbles. Can't wait for that "pron" as well :p
 
I've always wanted to make a Fruit Loops sour, or maybe Fruity Pebbles. Can't wait for that "pron" as well :p
That's cool. I never thought I would be too experimental, but this has been fun. I'm wanting to ferment all kinds of things now.
 
That's cool. I never thought I would be too experimental, but this has been fun. I'm wanting to ferment all kinds of things now.


brown rice goes good with roast barley! there is that gluten free thread somewhere.....i've gotten pretty creative with brewing before....
 
I'm going to be harvesting several thousand bushels of corn pretty soon. Might try malting some or grinding it up to do a farm fresh cream ale in the future. I know what I would really like to try with it, but the feds can never know.
 
Has anyone ever added GrapeNuts cereal to a recipe. Tasting a small bit of the dry cereal is amazingly similar to sampling a few grains of crystal malt. Just gets me thinking...
 
Has anyone ever added GrapeNuts cereal to a recipe. Tasting a small bit of the dry cereal is amazingly similar to sampling a few grains of crystal malt. Just gets me thinking...
Worth a try. I'm going to be trying V8 Splash, and we just tried Frosted Flakes. Give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.
 
Bottled the Frosted Flakes cream ale this evening. I miss bottling small batches!

Not surprisingly, the gravity had not dropped over the last 30 hours. I did however see my first sign of possible bad news. As the beer was being transferred into the bottling bucket, my wife and I saw something resembling an oil sheen on the surface. This reminded me of concerns others had shared about this very possibility earlier in the thread. So we're not out of the woods on the head retention thing yet. Imight have to retract my previous declaration that Frosted Flakes definitely won't ruin your beer. We couldn't come to agreement on whether we've seen beers have something like this in the past. It was barely noticeable, and wouldn't have raised any red flags if not for the cereal being involved. Could just be a mystery film that amounts to nothing.

If it is oil, I guess there's chance that it all gathered at the top and will only effect the last bottle filled. I always use green bottles for the first fill and final fill to denote that they may be more oxidized or otherwise weird and drink those first. (I store them in the dark.)

If this beer is excellent, I'll just say that a layer of oil on top in the fermenter provides a sacrificial oxygen barrier for the better beer below and start the latest LODO craze. :cool:

Will probably sample one in a week and share a picture with some tasting notes. (I know two weeks is better, but I always try one early. )
 
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Success!

Poured a bottle of "General Miller Cream Ale" ( thanks @bracconiere ) tonight.
It's only been 8 days in the bottle, but I wanted to try one. Threw it in the fridge yesterday.

As the pic shows, head was a little thin. Probably could have coaxed more foam with a different pour. The head did persist though for the entire session much to my surprise.

Appearance was fairly clear for a beer this young (no fining agents used). That was the first thing my wife noticed as well.

The aroma was very appealing. I would still describe it as "grainy".

The taste was clean and a little malty with a somewhat sweet finish. I would use grainy as a descriptor here as well. If anything, it wasn't as dry as I was anticipating, which was slightly disappointing. I didn't detect any hop presence in the aroma, but there was just a whisper of citrus in the taste mid palate. (I initially didn't note that, but after my wife commented on it, I couldn't help but notice she was right.) The best way I can describe it overall though is to say that it tastes a lot like a macro lager. It was just slightly more interesting, but reminded me of Hamm's; so you can decide if that's a good thing or not. I'm attributing the grainy flavor to be a combination of suspended yeast and so called green beer flavor. There is nothing objectionable about it, but I expect it to fade nonetheless. If it persists, I would guess these extra flavors are due to how hot I allowed the grains to get before pulling the bag. Overall, I was impressed with this beer and really enjoyed it.

So I'm excited on a couple of fronts. This beer is super approachable. My wife tries to like beer, but just hasn't got there yet. She really enjoyed this one, and said she could easily drink a whole one. My dad and brother both drink the macros and haven't truly enjoyed any of my homebrew. I can't wait for them to try this one.

Even though this beer (or others it reminds me of) aren't my favorite style, I'm pumped that it came out as well as I could have imagined, and I truly liked it. I could see this being a base from which I could turn up the hops a little bit or just use a lager yeast in the future to crisp it up a little. Never thought I'd use this grist again, but might make it a small annual tradition now just for fun. I might post some more notes here in a few weeks if the beer changes much in the bottle. For now though, I'm calling it. You can brew a good beer with Frosted Flakes, period.... if you ever want to... for reasons known only to you. :p
 


sounds like you know how to do it!

wait the whole time i was reading your tasting, i didn't hear anything about vanilla? was there any? and maybe something in the flakes is why the foam was persistant, and could be a good recomendation for people that complain that they can't get any head...we could all start telling them to use some frosted flakes "They're great!"...lol

could be like the opposite of whatever that stuff is to stop a boil over or whatever.....
 
Good points. Definitely need to get to the bottom of this head question! I'll pour another one next week. I've got a buddy who is a chemical engineer. Maybe he can drop some real science on us if I tell him about the experiment. (He'll want some of my beer though, and there's not much of this one.)

Completely forgot about vanilla. If it was there, it didn't hit me over the head, but I'm not a sophisticated BJCP master taster either. I'll see if I can talk myself into tasting that in the next bottle.
 
I was just patting myself on the back for the fact that, even if the thread ends tonight, we went all the way from concept to tasting and avoided a dead end necro thread. Now all I can think about is some poor Googler ten years from now yelling at the screen. "What about that foam though?!!?"
 
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