Second Brew Started: Liberty Cream Ale

[Doctor_Wily]

Howdy everyone,

I started my second brew today. It's the Liberty Cream Ale from Midwest.

All seems to have gone well with it. I followed the directions that came with the kit so nothing fancy there. I also ordered a grain bag and that was certainly worth the 5 dollars I spent! Almost wish I had gotten a second one.

Anyway, time for some stats:

SG: 1.050, which is interesting because the recipe called for 1.042-1.046.
Refractometer: 12 Brix
5 Gallons

I also ordered the "premium" yeast, which appears to be US-05. I put the yeast in a sanitized jar (left over from apple sauce I think) with some warm water from the brew kettle and an amount of the LME. By the time I was ready to pitch the yeast into the wort they were going crazy! (probably about 2 or 3 hours at that point)

Cooled it all down (i need a wort chiller!) and placed in the bucket, then proceeded to aerate by hand for a solid 5 minutes straight.

Crazy as it sounds I've seen a bit of activity in the air lock already. I am excited for this beer. Next up I have Midwest's "Black Dog Ale" which is planned currently for Friday.

Cheers!

 

[BuddyWeiser]

I love seeing the yeast go crazy! Congrats!

 

[Doctor_Wily]

Thanks! I do too. I am pretty stoked for this brew. Not sure why that SG was so high but w/e i guess.

Cheers

 

[JRapp]

Hey!

I actually just made that same kit for my 3rd batch. Wort smelled amazing, and still does(been in primary for 10 days now) I actually added an extra 1/2lb of DME, but I did not bother doing a starter for it. Doesn't seem to matter, 48 hours later fermentator looked like someone was stirring it around vigorously with a spoon, so awesome.

I actually consider it my 1st "real beer" Since I have a coopers kit, and the other 2 were no boils. The whole specialty grains, wort boiling and hop additions made the entire thing infinitely more rewarding and will not go back to using no boils

My SG was apparently only 1046, even with the extra 1/2lb of DME. This is also taken at a 24C, dont forget to calculate the initial temperature of your hydrometer reading. Oh, i reread what you said, see you are using a refractometer. Now you got me questioning why mine seemed so low

I am thinking about adding a small dry hop to it, because Cascade smells like heaven to me, but dont want to mess with the recipe much more....

Anyway, Enjoy that Cream Ale!!!!(tastes delicious when I did my hydrometer reading this morning, at about 1008)

 

[Doctor_Wily]

JRapp,

Thanks for sharing your experience with this brew. I have heard a lot of people say the same things you have and it seems to be a good brew.

As I sit here in my office, the FV is behind me and I can hear it bubbling away like crazy. It also smells like brewing beer in here and I really like that smell :-D.

Cheers!

 

[Boardndave]

Interesting. I just brewed this recipe on May 5th. Oddly, though, my starting gravity was a bit on the low side, at 1.040. No worries though, as I was looking for a relatively light beer for summer.

My last batch was the Light Scottish Ale from Midwest, which did not turn out to be very enjoyable...too much oak flavor. Also, I ended up with some fusel alcohols .

 

[Doctor_Wily]

Hi Dave,

sorry to hear the scottish ale didnt turn out so well. I actually checked this beer for the first time today and it looks good. The refractometer read around 6 brix and the hydrometer is reading about 1.014 which is within range. So basically this beer is ready. I'll let it sit for a little longer (partially because I need bottles again!) before bottling.

I have to say the sample I took tastes pretty good. I can see this shaping up to be a good beer and I will probably be making this beer again.

More updates as they come!

 

[karmak]

This was my first full boil batch as well as first kegged beer. I really enjoyed how it turned out. Kicked the keg about a month ago.

 

[Doctor_Wily]

sorry I haven't updated this, just been busy! This beer is finished, bottled, and half the batch is gone already! Took it on vacation with me and received a lot of complements :-D

Cheers