Frosted Flakes cream ale experiment

[Stormcrow]

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!

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.

 

[Stormcrow]

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.

 

[Stormcrow]

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!

 

[bracconiere]

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!

 

[Stormcrow]

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!

 

[Falstaff]

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

 

[bracconiere]

Good find on the army surplus quantities!

i brew 10 gallon batches, and try to keep the price low!

 

[Stormcrow]

I've always wanted to make a Fruit Loops sour, or maybe Fruity Pebbles. Can't wait for that "pron" as well

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.

 

[bracconiere]

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....

 

[Stormcrow]

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.

 

[Jim N]

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...

 

[Newsman]

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.

 

[Stormcrow]

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.

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. )

 

[Stormcrow]

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.

 

[bracconiere]

just for fun.

for reasons known only to you.

see above! (and i do expect see a pour with a head above the rim next time! just prove you can get it! )

 

[Stormcrow]

see above! (and i do expect see a pour with a head above the rim next time! just prove you can get it! )

Will do!

 

[bracconiere]

Will do!

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.....

 

[Stormcrow]

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.

 

[Stormcrow]

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?!!?"

 

[bracconiere]

"What about that foam though?!!?"

now you need to see if it stays foamy in milk! do one of those things where it's got stratisfied layers...

 

[Stormcrow]

Cracked open a few more bottles tonight for my father, brother, and a family friend to try. As expected, my dad and brother (macro fans you may recall) really liked it. My brother wants me to brew a bigger batch for our upcoming neighborhood Christmas party. I doubt I'll get around to it.

My impressions of the beer were mostly the same as what I reported above. I still enjoyed it, but definitely not my favorite style. If I brew it again, I may use a little less malt and try to get the OG more in line with traditional cream ale numbers. I like malty, and I like hoppy, but this is a little too malty for this color range IMO. The word I heard most from tasters was "smooth"; further evidenced by how quickly everyone drained their red Solo cups.

I still need to coax a good foamy pour in a glass for a picture, but I did notice tonight that it indeed does take some effort to wrestle a head out of it. The head didn't persist very well on the pours that didn't foam up well either. So we may still have a problem there. I hope to find out for sure in the next day or two.

 

[bracconiere]

I still need to coax a good foamy pour in a glass for a picture, but I did notice tonight that it indeed does take some effort to wrestle a head out of it. The head didn't persist very well on the pours that didn't foam up well either. So we may still have a problem there. I hope to find out for sure in the next day or two.

i'm dying for the picture...

 

[Beermeister32]

Glassware…

 

[Stormcrow]

Here's a foam shot! Poured right down the middle. (Sorry I chickened out before it got above the rim.) The foam thinned out considerably, but a thin blanket of it persisted to the end.

This silly beer just keeps getting better. To be honest though, it's only been in the bottle about two weeks, so I probably shouldn't have even tried one till now. I'm taking back what I said earlier about it being perhaps too malty or grainy for the style. Ithink i finally understand what "green" beer is. Tonight's glass was smooth and balanced, really hitting the spot. I practically chugged this one and had to resist grabbing another (it's a small batch you know). Also, I don't know if @bracconiere has just gotten into my brain or what, but I could swear that I even detected a vanilla note for the first time. Pretty cool. I can't wait to give this to some other folks I know who just haven't been able to get into craft beer. Will definitely be brewing more.

I don't know what else I can say about it. I think we've laid the foam concerns to rest too. If anyone else wants to try making one, please let us know how it turns out.

 

[bracconiere]

View attachment 743971Here's a foam shot! Poured right down the middle. (Sorry I chickened out before it got above the rim.) The foam thinned out considerably, but a thin blanket of it persisted to the end.

This silly beer just keeps getting better. To be honest though, it's only been in the bottle about two weeks, so I probably shouldn't have even tried one till now. I'm taking back what I said earlier about it being perhaps too malty or grainy for the style. Ithink i finally understand what "green" beer is. Tonight's glass was smooth and balanced, really hitting the spot. I practically chugged this one and had to resist grabbing another (it's a small batch you know). Also, I don't know if @bracconiere has just gotten into my brain or what, but I could swear that I even detected a vanilla note for the first time. Pretty cool. I can't wait to give this to some other folks I know who just haven't been able to get into craft beer. Will definitely be brewing more.

I don't know what else I can say about it. I think we've laid the foam concerns to rest too. If anyone else wants to try making one, please let us know how it turns out.

the secret is the double pour! you gotta get a bit more foam then that, then let the protein coagulate...when it gets down to about where you want it above the rim, gently fill it back to the top...i learned that from HBT....

 

[Stormcrow]

the secret is the double pour! you gotta get a bit more foam then that, then let the protein coagulate...when it gets down to about where you want it above the rim, gently fill it back to the top...i learned that from HBT....

I'll remember that.

 

[bracconiere]

well i just ordered this off ebay! $5.99 for 3.5lbs of flaked corn ain't bad!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224166880333?hash=item343163244d:g:u7kAAOSwqY5fapHN
next 10 gallon batch after it shows up, the whole container's going into the mash, lol...i'm getting tired of light beers though so i'll probably brew it about 8oz of chocolate malt too....


edit: damn you! now i have to order cocoa puffs too!

 

[Newsman]

*SNERK* Next batch could be interesting. Someone needs to try Boo Berry next (seasonal cereal for a seasonal brew?)

 

[bracconiere]

Someone needs to try Boo Berry next

sounds like something for the cider forum? maybe add them to apple juice with alpha, and gluco amylases?

edit: and are cocoa puffs a collectible now? seems like all i find?

 

[RufusBrewer]

I expect the next recipe has to be a Lucky Charms Irish Stout.