My Adaptation of Kentucky Common Ale

[TasunkaWitko]

Doing a little more research, I found an old advertisement for this beer, from a Louisville brewery:

If you look at this and the advertisement above (which is somewhat cut off), it is plain to see that "back in the day," this beer was referred to as a cream ale.

Based on that, I modified my label a bit:

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I checked on my beer when I got home from work last yesterday; ambient temperatures were still just a hair higher than I would prefer, but were within stated tolerances and moving down to something more reasonable. My experience tells me that 65-ish seems to be just about right, and I am guessing we will be there, soon. Usually, my problem is the opposite, and I am trying to bring temperatures up.

Anyway, fermentation still seemed to be starting slowly, but this seems to be the norm, considering the other couple of times that I have used S-05 yeast. Sure enough, when I checked on it this morning, the beer had that churned up, cloudy look that comes with full-blown fermentation, and the blow-off tube was happily blip-blip-blipping away.

Tonight or tomorrow, I will replace the blow-off tube with an air-lock, and we will let it ride for a while, until it is time to cold-crash and bottle.

If anything comes up in the interim, I will post about it.

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I checked on my beer again last evening and this morning; I am happy to report that all is well. My ambient temperatures are sitting right at 65 degrees, which is where I want them, and fermentation is in definite full swing. I switched out the blow-off tube for an air-lock, and plan to leave the beer alone to do its thing until it is time to bottle.

More as it happens, etc. &c....

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I've been refining some notes on this subject, and am posting them here, so I have everything in one place. Some of it is duplicate information to what is above, but no matter.....

Here are the links to the most useful research that I found:

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/NHC2014-kycommon-handout.pdf

http://bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf - pg 55

A lot of the other stuff that can be Googled seems to be mostly unreliable, as far as reliable historical research goes. Most of it is either for marketing commercial "revivals" of this beer, or from homebrewers who did not take the time to read the research carefully. For instance, some used rye, even though it was never used, and others employed a sour mash, even though the overwhelming research supports that this was not intended to be a sour mash beer. For these and other reasons, I mostly stuck to the article above, which led directly to the BJCP guidelines that are also cited above.

I struggled quite a bit with the "Western" or California Gray" hops mentioned in the article for bittering. I found a couple that are descended from California Gray, but was unsure as to whether they would actually be similar or not. In the end, I simply went with Cluster Hops for bittering, which seem to be the most commonly-used bittering hop by people who recreate this beer; also, Cluster hops are already used for aroma, making it a convenient choice. I chose Hallertau Mittelfrüh as the German aroma hop rather than Saaz because I believe that the Germans who were doing the brewing in Louisville would certainly have known of and used this Bavarian variety.

I brewed this last week and it's still fermenting, so I am not (yet) sure how it is going to turn out. It seems to be darker in colour than I expected (possibly because of my water), but smells and looks great, so far. The IBUs might need to be bumped up to around 27; but then again, the research specifically mentioned that the bitterness is low, and the beer is malt-forward and almost sweet.

The Irish moss may not really be necessary to the beer or the recipe, especially since it was historically served much "younger" than anyone nowadays would be tasting it, and the beer would probably clear on its own just fine - but still, it certainly can't hurt.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I put this beer in the refrigerator to cold-crash on the evening of Monday, 2 October 2017. The next two days, we had a power outage due to a freak snow storm, so I will probably bottle this over the weekend.

I am expecting (and hoping for) good things!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I bottled this beer last night and I'm pretty sure that this beer is going to end up being just about the way that it is supposed to be.

The beer looked great, in my opinion. In the fermenter, it seemed very dark, as I've described above; however, as I transferred it to the bottling bucket, I noticed that is much lighter than I thought, somewhere in the realm of amber and copper. I'll eventually get a photo, but for now, I am going to "borrow" this photo from the InterWebs, which shows just about how it seemed to look to me:

It might possibly end up looking a little darker, once it is in the glass, but this is the very close to the colour that I saw in the siphoning tube, and it looks beautiful, to me.

For this beer, I elected to use Brewer's Best Carbonation Tablets:

http://a.co/hSS8gHo

I like them because they are versatile (low-to-high carbonation, depending on how many you use), consistent, convenient and fool-proof. For this beer, I chose a "medium" carbonation, which is 4 tablets per bottle.

Due to a glitch on my part I was about 3 ounces shy of 9 bottles for this batch, so my #2 son Mike and I split the extra for a sample, leaving 8 bottles that will be carbonated in 2 weeks. The sample was very good, and very tasty, keeping in mind that this is not the finished beer, yet.

I was again impressed with the colour of the beer and liked that it was a bit on the darker side; that tiny, tiny bit of black malt worked really well! The aroma was malty and had a unique character that I assume comes from the corn and caramel; I don't remember anything relating to the hop aromas, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. My over-all impression is that they blended in well and complimented the profile as a whole, without asserting themselves or becoming dominant. I'll try to report more on that with future tastings.

The descriptions that I have read of Kentucky Common Ale include words and phrases such as "mild in character," "malty" and "slightly sweet," and those descriptions certainly seem accurate after trying this. It tasted the way you would expect with 6-row, corn and caramel malt, and had just enough bitterness to keep it from being too sweet. I am rather inexperienced with these types of beers, but over-all, I think I hit pretty darn close to the intended mark with this. So far, it seems like a very drinkable, very tasty beer, and it is funny that Mike and I both looked at each other and said at the same time, "Grandpa (meaning my dad) would love this."

Of course, the beer isn't finished yet, as some conditioning still needs to happen; I expect these initial characteristics to change a bit and will report on the results.

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I was finally able to sample this on Friday, and it was excellent - simply excellent! I am calling this research project and recipe experiment a complete success. Granted, given the available information, it wasn't too difficult, but my primary goal was to stick as closely to the original as I was able to, and I believe I did do that.

As is usually the case with my first sampling of a beer, I was too busy enjoying it and evaluating it to give any meaningful "tasting notes." It also was the first of several different beers and half a bottle of mead, so there is an added layer of faulty memory involved; however, here are some (very) preliminary impressions:

Appearance: I had jostled the bottles around the night before, putting on labels, so there was just a little bit of haze there. Before putting on the labels, the beer appeared very, very clear in the bottle. The colour was a beautiful amber/copper, just as I was hoping. The head was just a tiny bit off-white and had a very nice texture to it. I couldn't have asked for much better.

Aroma: I remember enjoying it very much, but not any specifics. I do remember getting the over-all vibe that it smelled like good, fresh beer, with a nice balance to it. I don't remember anything specific in regards to the aroma of the malts, but the Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops provided a very typical and expected ambience.

Taste: I remember that I liked it, very much! It had a good, maltiness to it and had a little something extra that was really nice...I don't know the best term, but maybe "graininess" covers it, from other descriptions I have heard. There was just a bit of sweetness in there that was surprisingly well balanced by the bitterness from the cluster hops, which provided a strong counter that had its own character. The finish as I remember it was clean and refreshing, leaving me wanting more. The bottle didn't last too long!

Those are the main things that I remember about it: fresh, refreshing, drinkable and addictive. I can see how this became so popular in Louisville! My father also enjoyed it very much, as did my #2 son, Mike, so I figure that I've done well with this.

Considering that this recipe was a success, and that it is, as far as I know, true to the original with no added distractions, embellishments or historical errors (such as sour mash), I submitted this to the recipe section of the forum:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=638251

If you try it, let me know what yu think, and enjoy!

Ron

 

[brewbama]

Well done!

 

[Nosybear]

My recipe for Ky. Common took BJCP silver this year. Yours looks good. A touch of molasses would be true to style. Get it as dry as you can, don't overdo the hops, this beer was "designed" to be consumed in large quantities on a hot Kentucky summer day by someone who has worked very hard all day. And good luck with it.

 

[txtaquito]

My recipe won 1st place at a recent broad-area/local-ish BJCP competition. I used a grist bill very similar to the original posted recipe, using corn flakes in place of grits, bypassing cereal mash. Historically, the German immigrants were very knowledgeable about how darker malts helped acidify the Kentucky alkaline water profile to boost efficiency. Today's grains are incredibly efficient and even more so if you treat your water. I use caramel/black malt now only as a coloring agent. Caramel will go in the mash but I add my midnight wheat during the recirculation stage to eliminate the tannic/bitter extraction as well as eliminate charred barrel/smoky perception. The ale with US-05 is nice but I also lagered a batch and, OMG it is VERY delicious. So much so I am only lagering it going forward. I used the Saflager 23. The 6-row has a high diastatic conversion power so I have full conversion at only 30 minutes in. Typical 60 minute boil. Longer if you filled kettle to 70% but you will get more caramelization. Two weeks lagering then rather than bump temp up slightly for diacetyl rest then drop to 44 for another 2 weeks, I actually pull it out of the fermentation chamber and let it free rise until final gravity, fine with gelatin and crash for a week then keg. Carb stone is ready in 24 hours.

Cheers m8s

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Hi, Tex, and thank you much for your thoughts on this. I could see how lagering would really kick this up a notch and a half! I will be having some extra S23 soon, and might give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

I enjoyed another one of these last Friday evening, 24 November 2017.

Just like before, it was wonderful and exactly as advertised: tasty, drinkable and addicting. I finished the glass wanting more, and I am really loving this colour, as well.

I really can't think of any changes that I would make to this, although some folks might want to bring the IBUs up just a bit. Right now, I have them at just a hair over 24, but I could see that some might prefer them to be a little closer to 30...maybe around 28. I personally wouldn't go over 30, as I feel that would defeat one of the goals of this style, which is to lean a bit malt-forward.

This is a very special beer and I imagine that it will show up on my rotation often. If anyone is looking to give this a try, I don't think you would be disappointed!

Ron

 

[txtaquito]

Happy to make the suggestion! I figured since Cali Common is lagered, why not a KY common? It really has been a delicious beer. My only regret this past batch was that I mashed the midnight wheat. It added a smoky/charred barrel character to it. Its not over powering but I dont really desire it. The reason I did this was because I used RO water in this past batch and built the water profile per 2015 Louisville, KY reports from scratch. I took into consideration the acid from the midnight wheat but not the flavor impact. I like a smoked malt beer but it wasnt expected in this style and I feel it just doesnt belong so I will go back to using it only in the recirc.

 

[txtaquito]

The left was the lager, the right the ale. Also, you are correct in the IBU department. I shot for about 30 IBU. Its a perfect balance with the malt character.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Those look nice - really nice!

 

[bstacy1974]

So I'm originally from Kentucky and have been wanting to brew a KY Common for awhile.
I'll have to substitute a few ingredients as my LHBS didn't have everything I needed, but I'm going to give this a shot on Sunday.
I have to go with 2 row rather than 6 row. No flaked corn, so I'll do my first cereal mash with corn meal.
I got Cluster, but will go with some Tettanger as a finishing hop. Might even use a little Magnum for bittering.
I know I'm straying from your recipe, but I got to brew with what I got.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Hi, BS74 - It sounds to me like you've got a fairly good plan. I don't really know what the implications are of using 2-row instead of 6-row. I am guessing you will end up with beer, and by the sounds of it, good beer! I'll be interested in learning how your cereal mash goes, too. If you don't mind, I'd be grateful if you could describe the process when you do it, so that anyone reading this might have an idea about how to do it, if they give it a try. I think the Magnum will be fine, and I like the idea of Tettnanger finishing things up.

There are some other notes here that may or may not be useful:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/kentucky-common-cream-ale.638251/

Let me know how it goes - looking forward to it!

 

[bstacy1974]

Hi, BS74 - It sounds to me like you've got a fairly good plan. I don't really know what the implications are of using 2-row instead of 6-row. I am guessing you will end up with beer, and by the sounds of it, good beer! I'll be interested in learning how your cereal mash goes, too. If you don't mind, I'd be grateful if you could describe the process when you do it, so that anyone reading this might have an idea about how to do it, if they give it a try. I think the Magnum will be fine, and I like the idea of Tettnanger finishing things up.

There are some other notes here that may or may not be useful:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/kentucky-common-cream-ale.638251/

Let me know how it goes - looking forward to it!

I certainly will.
I plan on following this technique for the cereal mash.
I tried to get a brew day together last weekend, but spent time with my boys instead! The wife and daughters were out of town so we had lots of man time. Hockey, basketball, and BBQ brisket all weekend!

So one remaining question would be what water profile to use for this brew. I'm going with the Brun Water Amber Full profile, with a target mash pH of 5.4, unless someone says otherwise.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I love barbecued brisket - I bet it was great to spend that time with the boys!

As far as water profiles go, I am afraid that I can't be much help, but here are my (very) amateur thoughts on it: In my research, I discovered that the water used in Louisville (at the time) seemed to be rather high in bicarbonates and was influenced by the limestone in the area; this is the reason that the Bavarian brewers there added a touch of Black Malt. By pure coincidence, the spring water that I brew with is similar, if not in actual numbers, then at least in general characteristics. The beer turned out very well using this water, and while I am sure that there is "better" or "more correct" water to use, I was quite happy with it. Here is the profile of that water, which might or might not be a good starting point:

http://bigspringwater.com/about-us

Hope this helps -

Ron

 

[bstacy1974]

Hi, BS74 -
Let me know how it goes - looking forward to it!

So I got a lot going on today, but I have to get this beer started. I have two kegs in the keezer and if I planned this just right, this beer should be ready by the time one kicks.

I got up early to get the smoker going. Put a 6.5lb pork shoulder on at 6:30am. Started this beer about an hour ago.

Right now I'm boiling the cereal mash. Very interesting process. Not nearly as difficult as I expected. And with my limited local supply of malted and flaked grains, I'll start looking for different grains at the health food and specialty grocery stores.

I'll post my final recipe and numbers a little later. With some brew day notes.

 

[bstacy1974]

Brew day was pretty good. Just seemed very long due to the time added by the cereal mash. So, here are the details.

Recipe
BS Kentucky Common

All Grain Recipe

Batch Size: 5.60 gal Style: Kentucky Common (27 )
Boil Size: 6.89 gal Style Guide: BJCP 2015
Color: 13.0 SRM Equipment: Ben's Home Brewery
Bitterness: 29.7 IBUs Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.048 (11.9° P) Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Est FG: 1.012 SG (3.0° P) Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
ABV: 4.8%

Ingredients
Misc
2.50 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60 min) Misc
0.70 g Baking Soda (Mash 60 min) Misc
1.60 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60 min) Misc
3.70 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60 min) Misc
Grain
2 lbs 8.00 oz Yellow Cornmeal (1.3 SRM) Grain
6 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain
8.00 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain
3.00 oz Black Malt (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain
Hops
0.30 oz Magnum [12.0%] - Boil 60 min Hops
0.75 oz Cluster [7.0%] - Boil 30 min Hops
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.5%] - Boil 5 min Hops
Yeast
1 pkgs Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast

Mash (Perform Cereal Mash First)
Single Infusion, 154F, 60 mins, 1.5 qt/lb water ratio, RO water

Cereal Mash
1.5 lbs 2-row subtracted from recipe
2.5 lbs Yellow Cornmeal subtracted from recipe
2 gallons water (I used RO)

Process
Start the cereal mash first.
Add everything to a stock pot with at least a 3 gallon capacity.
Heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly, to 122F.
Hold at 122F for 15 mins.
Heat again, stirring constantly, to 149F.
Hold 149F for 15 mins.
Bring to a boil. You shouldn't have to stir constantly at this point, but still stir occasionally to keep things from sticking. I had a slight scorch mark in my stock pot when completed.
Put cereal mash to the side to let cool.

Start normal infusion mash. Adjust mash water volume for the removal of the 4 lbs of grain. (I forgot to do this and overshot temp due to the thin mash.)
Using Brun' Water Amber Full profile. Add brewing salts to mash water.
Time or somehow adjust both the normal mash and cereal mash to the same temp, then combine the two mashes together in the mash tun.
Add brewing salts to sparge water according to Brun' Water. Heat to temp, sparge, and runoff to boil volume.
Boil. Add hops. Chill. Transfer to fermenter. Aerate. Pitch rehydrated yeast.

OG was low, 1.045, probably due to the thin mash. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This looks great, and I like your recipe! Keep us informed as to how it goes - I love this beer and it will be pretty cool to see how it works out for you.

 

[bstacy1974]

Transferred to a keg tonight. Going with a quick carb technique so I can start drinking late tomorrow or Christmas day.
FG came out as 1.010 for a final ABV of 4.6%. Nice sessionable brew.
The flavor of the hydrometer sample was very tasty. Some caramel with a bit of roastness but very balanced with the bitterness of the hops.

 

[RedIvan16]

This recipe and thread is awesome, guys. I definitely want to give this style a try down the road, but I have a quick question. I brew all grain but BIAB. Would that be an issue with this style because of the corn grits? Or should I use flaked corn instead?

 

[hottpeper13]

I do a cereal mash with BIAB like this.... Do the cereal mash like BS74 said but instead of cooling it add it to the bag with the rest of the mash liquor and get it to the strike temp, then mash in the rest of the grains. This way shortens the day a bit. I prefer the flavor of the cereal mashed beer to the one with corn flakes, it seems fuller at the same FG.

 

[bstacy1974]

A little over a week in the keg. I like the flavor but need to work on the body. It's a bit thin but not too bad. Definitely replaces my house Amber recipe.
And being born and raised in Kentucky, I can say that this recipe may be the 2nd best thing to ever come out of Louisville!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

It looks great to me ~ I think you hit it really well!

I didn't seem to have any trouble with mine being "thin" in the body department. Is it possible that this is due to the 2-row versus 6-row? I don't know...just speculating. Time in the keg might help, too, perhaps? In any case, it looks to me like you did great with it and I really appreciate the account of the cereal mash, which I might try next time, if I can.

I enjoyed the last of this batch on Christmas, and it was as good as the first:

I'll have to make some more of this before too long, because everything about it was great. I know I keep saying it, but it bears repeating: this beer is one of the most drinkable I have ever brewed, and it is simply delicious.

I am thinking that this recipe is really darn good, right where it is. I was trying to decide if the IBUs need to come up just a hair or not...my own personal taste says no, and what I know about the expected characteristics of this beer tells me that it is just right the way it is, so I probably won't.

If anyone tries this, please let me know what you think of it - I sure enjoy it!

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I brewed this again on Sunday; it was an easy brew with no complications, and I think the beer is going to be great, as usual.

Two very slight modification, just because....

1) I swapped the amounts of Black Malt and Caramel 60 with each other, just to see what would happen. Considering the very small amounts of each, I don't think there will be any real, noticable difference.

2) I used Kazbek hops in place of the Hallertau or Saaz, simply because I had it on hand. I've been fascinated with this hop ever since I heard it's description ("like Saaz dialed up to 11...."), and have enjoyed it in the beers I have used it in, so far.

Fermentation was starting on Monday morning, with the blow-off tube giving slow blips...last night I woke up to the sound of it in the hallway closet chugging along at a pretty steady pace. I think we're off to a good start, and I'm glad to be brewing this again.

 

[hottpeper13]

I have one in primary now. Used Bob's Red Mill stone ground yellow corn meal in a cereal mash and 2565 Kolsch yeast,should be awesome. I switched to Proximity malts,so that's new also. I make this beer every spring for a festival that unfortunately won't happen this year,or at least it's looking bleak rite now. It's always a hit and one of the best beers I make.