I just drank a cream ale for the first time ever.

[TNGabe]

If you 'don't brew with adjuncts' this isn't a good style to brew. The style is practically defined by the adjuncts. 'Faint malt notes. A sweet, corn-like aroma and low levels of DMS are commonly found.' Don't be an adjunct hater! Many world class beers are brewed with sugar, corn, and other non-barley malt ingredients.

The Mad Fermentationist has a recipe that involves 2-row and flaked corn along with Carapils and flaked barley in small proportion (5% each). I assume that's for head retention and will give a slightly heavier body. Probably not what I'm looking for overall, but increased head retention would be nice. The Genesee I drank had basically none.

I think I agree that half pilsner would be great, Pappers. To my palate is definitely wasn't all pale 2-row. I don't brew with adjuncts, but I wouldn't call this a "high adjunct" recipe so the use of 6-row for enzymatic purposes doesn't seem necessary. That makes me wonder about the Skotrat recipe and the use of Munich and Vienna.

Can you tell I like analyzing recipes?

 

[BPal75]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think lager malt is 6 row. It's 2 row pilsner malt I believe, some brands refer to it as lager malt though. At least that's my recollection.

I think a lot if brewers avoid cream ales because they use adjuncts and some brewers are very anti-adjunct. They think they're gonna end up with a BMC brew (which admittedly cream ales are sort of the ale equivalent to a BMC light lager IMO). But as people have said on this thread - they are quite good brews. Adjuncts don't have to be the enemy!

 

[GLWIII]

I miss the "Genesee Scream Ale". A college staple during my years at Niagara U. The ratebeer 10 rating doesn't do this one justice.

 

[blakelyc]

No, no.. when I say I don't brew with adjuncts, i'm just trying to say that I haven't yet brewed with adjuncts I don't have a problem with using them, but I'm not familiar with how they behave and what flavors and textures that they provide. That's why I am analyzing recipes and trying to get a sense of proportions and reasons for those proportions.

One of the recipes used 6-row, which from my understanding is normally used in "high adjunct" beers to aide conversion. It doesn't seem like something that is 10% corn is a high adjunct beer, so the use of 6-row isn't necessary for diastatic purposes. I generally prefer the flavor of 2-row over 6-row, so for my own recipe I'd probably stick with 2-row.

Of course, I have been know to read way, way, way too much into a beer recipe

 

[msa8967]

You're going to make me seek out some Little Kings!! When I was in college we used to get a case of those for $13.00... granted they were small, but they were tasty little beers and we saved tons of the bottle caps because they had neat lil' bear claw prints on them.

Thanks for reminding me of the cream ales!!

Uhhh....you might want to just get a six pack of Little Kings. I use to drink this 25 years ago and then I moved to a different part of the country where it was not available. Found an 8 pack last year (cost around $12) and that I would revisit the past. Well....you just can't go home to the past sometimes because they changed the dang recipe and now produce a much lower quality product in my opinion.

 

[progmac]

I just had a 22 of local brewery cream ale. It tasted like a beer cream soda. I am going back to buy more and see if i can get the brewer to give me some insight. If I nail it, it will soon become the house beer.

The west coast style of cream ale (no, not BJCP) often DOES involve additions to make it 'creamy' -- things like lactose, vanilla, who knows what else.

The east coast style (BJCP style) was born out of pre-refrigeration days, where it was brewed cool with an ale yeast and then stored cold. What really separates the cream ale from a Kolsch is beyond me.

Little kings is my favorite cream ale. You can find 12 oz tall, skinny cans occasionally. I prefer this to the weird 7 oz bottle. I find little kings to have substantial body and sweetness. I would guess they mash at like 154.

 

[HeavyKettleBrewing]

The west coast style of cream ale (no, not BJCP) often DOES involve additions to make it 'creamy' -- things like lactose, vanilla, who knows what else.

The east coast style (BJCP style) was born out of pre-refrigeration days, where it was brewed cool with an ale yeast and then stored cold. What really separates the cream ale from a Kolsch is beyond me.

Little kings is my favorite cream ale. You can find 12 oz tall, skinny cans occasionally. I prefer this to the weird 7 oz bottle. I find little kings to have substantial body and sweetness. I would guess they mash at like 154.

I agree with you regarding Best Coast Cream Ales

I am going to put one together tonight. The head brewer/owner needs some custom tap handles. If I bring him one that I made, maybe I can get him to give me a little info on the recipe. It was that good that I want to replicate it.

 

[kblankenship11]

+1 to the hometown brew!! I never realized Genny had influence outside Rochester. When I'm not drinking homebrew I'll always pick up some Genny. $7.99 for a 12 pack and $14.99 for a case, can't beat it!!

 

[malweth]

We have a local (to RI) Cream Ale that's great too - my father always talks about Genny Cream ale and my extended family's all from upstate.

You've convinced me . . . I was going to do something big, but now this is my next beer. I think I'm going to do 10 gal, with half of the batch spiced (black peppercorn as mentioned, perhaps also coriander & orange peel) for something a little different.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I brewed the BCS recipe with flaked corn instead of rice and I really like the liberty hops in that one. It is a nice, approachable style and no matter what you decide on it should be enjoyable.

 

[justkev52]

Good Luck.
I somehow seem to screw it up every time I try to brew one.

 

[blakelyc]

Hi Justkev..... What about it goes wrong for you? Maybe we can help you sort it out.

Cheers!

 

[jxm2119]

We had the folks from Genesse at our home brew club meeting a few years ago. We decided to do a clone of Genny cream ale. We used a combination of 2-row, 6 row, and flaked maze as our base grains with a California common yeast. Our brew was placed 2nd out of 9 teams. The brewers from Genesse were impressed by most of the beers and said our recipe was close to the real thing.

 

[whitehause]

We had the folks from Genesse at our home brew club meeting a few years ago. We decided to do a clone of Genny cream ale. We used a combination of 2-row, 6 row, and flaked maze as our base grains with a California common yeast. Our brew was placed 2nd out of 9 teams. The brewers from Genesse were impressed by most of the beers and said our recipe was close to the real thing.

And that recipe is............

 

[RainyDay]

Im willing to try any beer, but cream ales seem to light for me. I like a lot of flavor. I dont think im a subtle kind of guy. That being said, not gonna knock it til I try it

 

[iambeer]

I have been knocking cream ale for years and I have never tried it. Yet here I stand, like a champion.

 

[b-boy]

Drank a lot of Genny Cream Ale in college here in Buffalo. It was cheap, tasted pretty good, and came in 16oz washed bottles. We'd get a case for under $10. Haven't had it in years. There was a side effect to drinking it referred to as the Genny Screamers that you experienced the next morning. it wasn't pleasant.

 

[blakelyc]

So here is the recipe that I'll throw out there.... It is a mash up (no pun intended) of several different recipes. I have tried to take a loot at each ingredient and what it brings to the party.

5 lbs 2-row pale
5 lbs pilsner malt
1 lbs flaked corn
.5 lbs flaked barley
.5 lbs caramel 10L

1 ounce liberty 4.3% pellet 60 minutes
1 ounce liberty 4.3% pellet 5 minutes

Right now I have my efficiency at 70% because I am building a new rig and I am sure it'll take a while to get it dialed in. Please take that into account when looking at this.

I have debated replacing the pilsner malt with 6-row. Any thoughts or feedback?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I don't think 6row is necessary, but that's just one guys opinion. I really liked the flavor of the pilsner in mine when I made it. The Liberty hops will give a slight citrus/lemon flavor when the beer is fresh.

 

[blakelyc]

I put liberty in the recipe since that seem to be the most popular, but I think this may be an interesting place to use the AU Helga hops I just got in the mail. I have never used them, but the description from NB is:

"Typical alpha 4.9-6.3% Formerly known as Southern Hallertau. Bears almost no aroma similarities to it's European cousin - instead, fresh fruit yogurt, crushed super-pungent basil, and darjeeling tea jump out. Low oil and cohumulone, but very unique aroma with moderate bittering. Lots of potential for English-style ales."

All that makes it sound interesting for this recipe.

 

[Woodyswoodchuck]

Best cream ale I've tried is called Kilkinney. It's brewed by Guinness from what I've been told. Unfortunately there are only two places in the USA where you can get it. One is at the Rose and Crown in Disney World. If you ever get a chance to try it I highly recommend it. It's awsome.

 

[TNGabe]

My first cream ale is cold crashing now! I'm pretty excited, 1oz crystal at 60, 30, 15, & 0, fg @ 1.004, thanks to sugar addition. Not bad for fermenting at 56 tops.

 

[huhwha]

It could have been that 4 of us sat down to play cards 35 years ago with a 1/4 keg of Genny. It could have been that we were back at the package store 2 1/2 hours later to get another one. In those days, $12 a 1/4 keg (7.75) gallons.

These days, Tap1 on the keezer always has a cream ale on it. Nice easy drinker.

 

[day_trippr]

I've been reading about Cream Ales for a long time, but I don't eat dairy and as stupid as it sounds, I thought they actually had some sort of cream in them so I never searched for one or a recipe until I just read this post. […]

Fyi, there's no milk in a milk stout, either...

Cheers!

 

[TNGabe]

Fyi, there's no milk in a milk stout, either...

Cheers!

oyster stout, on the other hand... oh wait cream ale, right....

 

[eyemind79]

This is a pretty great thread! I was looking to brew my boyfriend and his sister a cream ale as my next brew. Genne is one of their favorite brews and they recently lost their father. Looking through old family photos, what was the old man drinking? Squat top bottles of Genne!

I am newbie to brewing, so would anyone have an extract recipe for this? I have little experience with adjuncts. I saw Northern Brewer has a kit available, has anyone tried it? I would really like to make this my first extract true recipe shot, not a kit. Advice appreciated. Although you can get a case of it for around $13 here, I would really enjoy putting some love and time into it.

 

[jonmohno]

Best cream ale I've tried is called Kilkinney. It's brewed by Guinness from what I've been told. Unfortunately there are only two places in the USA where you can get it. One is at the Rose and Crown in Disney World. If you ever get a chance to try it I highly recommend it. It's awsome.

I tried that a few years ago,got it around here somewhere but then it vanished shortly after,never seen it since. I didnt know that was a cream ale, I remember likeing it though.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

I can vouch for this recipe ... me and probably a few hundred others on HBT:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/

ask me in a few weeks... it's in the fermenter right now... but it looks really good.

 

[Yooper]

This is a pretty great thread! I was looking to brew my boyfriend and his sister a cream ale as my next brew. Genne is one of their favorite brews and they recently lost their father. Looking through old family photos, what was the old man drinking? Squat top bottles of Genne!

I am newbie to brewing, so would anyone have an extract recipe for this? I have little experience with adjuncts. I saw Northern Brewer has a kit available, has anyone tried it? I would really like to make this my first extract true recipe shot, not a kit. Advice appreciated. Although you can get a case of it for around $13 here, I would really enjoy putting some love and time into it.

You can buy corn sugar to replace the corn, and extra light DME for the extract. There are a couple of things that can really help- cool fermentation temperatures (60 if you can do it!) with a clean neutral yeast like nottingham. Good water, like reverse osmosis water, is important in a super light beer like this also. If you want to start a new thread in the "recipe area" asking for a specific recipe for extract, I'm sure you'll find some great recipes and we'll be glad to help with specifics.

Northern Brewer's "Speckled Heifer" kit is a nice cream ale, and I've actually sampled that one (a friend made it- an extract brewer). I haven't tried any other cream ale kit by them, though.

 

[eyemind79]

Thanks! I will be snooping around the recipe threads for sure. Appreciate the tip on temp. I think I can attain that temp in our loft, will have to monitor the temps up there (we keep the window open up there).