Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Vanilla Caramel Cream Ale

[CheemsAF]

I just brewed this last night and it's sitting in the primary right now. I ended up with 5.5 gals after the boil (took a bit much from sparging).

The yeasties are going to town! It's insane. I have a blow off tube that's putting out a lot of crap into a big bowl. i'm worried the tube isn't keeping up with the fermentation. The bucket it's in looks like it's about to explode; so I keep opening up the hole to relieve pressure. Looks like this yeast likes 65 degree temps. Can't wait to see how it tastes.

 

[CheemsAF]

Taste Update: This is a love/hate relationship with this beer. After about two months in the bottle it was still on the bit of the sweet side for me (yes repitched yeast for carbing). & the proper carbonation level was attained. I threw a party about a month ago and a lot of people drank'em and I have none left now. My wife liked it a lot, but I wasn't the biggest fan.

 

[GoNova]

I can't figure out how much vanilla to add. The recipe says 4oz of vanilla in both the primary and secondary. But then somewhere else in the thread, the recipe calls for 2oz and then some during bottling. Can someone help? I brewed this yesterday am excited about it, but want to get the vanilla right.

 

[masonsjax]

I used 8 oz after primary settled. It was a little much, but faded in the keg over time. I would probably cut back to 4-6 oz next time. It's a good beer either way though.

 

[GoNova]

I used 8 oz after primary settled. It was a little much, but faded in the keg over time. I would probably cut back to 4-6 oz next time. It's a good beer either way though.

We're talking plain ole' vanilla liquid vanilla extract that you can buy at the grocery store, right? Thanks for the response!

 

[masonsjax]

Yep. Take a close look at ingredients though, a lot of the imitation vanilla has preservatives in it. I'm not certain, but some of those might be harmful to yeast. I found some real vanilla extract that, while pricey, was free of preservatives.

 

[CheemsAF]

@ Novabrew... I meant to reply to ya a couple of days ago. I always take copious notes on all the brews I do. When I brewed this I bought "real" pure vanilla extract and not imitation. I put 4 oz into the primary and then 4 oz into the secondary. It seemed like a lot of extract, but in the end it wasn't too overpowering, and not underdone. I hope your brew turns out good

 

[GoNova]

@ Novabrew... I meant to reply to ya a couple of days ago. I always take copious notes on all the brews I do. When I brewed this I bought "real" pure vanilla extract and not imitation. I put 4 oz into the primary and then 4 oz into the secondary. It seemed like a lot of extract, but in the end it wasn't too overpowering, and not underdone. I hope your brew turns out good

wow. that's a lot. I would have been reluctant to add that much. I'll give it a try. Thanks for the reply!

 

[CheemsAF]

Yeah, it took a few months for the flavors to mellow. You'll taste the vanilla for sure at first. I still have some from this summer and the flavor profile is much more subdued now after sitting in the bottles for about 3-6 months.

 

[masonsjax]

I had this tapped at the same time as my spiced pumpkin ale. The two blended was incredible. Next time I make this, I might just throw some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in there too.

 

[mtbiker278]

I made this a little differently. Started with the base ingredients and hops. Let it ferment out for 3 weeks, transferred and crashed for another couple of days. I also Mashed at around 155F to get more matly caramel flavors. Tasted pretty good without the vanilla. I added 2 TBPS vanilla extract when racking to the keg as I didn't want too much vanilla flavor/nose. After some trial and error I added a total of ~2oz vanilla to the 5gal batch. It ended up being a bit more than I wanted, but it wasn't overpowering. I didn't add any Lactose cause the beer was pretty sweet and malty as is.

Unless you like really sweet and vanilla flavors I would recommending some trial and error sampling. I'd also recommend mashing at a higher temp if you can. If you're doing the extract version some lactose or Malto dextrin might be the way to go.

It turned out to be a crowd pleaser. Not exactly my favorite, but I'll agree it goes great with a good pumpkin ale.

 

[Ddad]

Is this recipe for 5.5 gallons or 11 gallons?

 

[CoreyG]

Hey I've got a question,

I'm looking to do a PM and im comparing the AG and extract version of this recipe.

I don't really get why in this one you have 7lbs:3lbs for 2 row and wheat malt respectively, but in the extract version you have 3lbs:3lbs for the light dme and wheat dme.

I would like to create a similar recipe using a good deal of lme and some wheat malt for the mini mash but confused about which ratio to use?

Any input on which turned out best? Also, the Pm doesnt have perle. I see its in small amount but should I add it too?

 

[mtbiker278]

I can convert this to a partial mash for you. I'll post it up later.

 

[mtbiker278]

Here's what I got through BeerSmith. It's for a 5gal batch.

4.26 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 48.09 %
1.87 lb Wheat Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 21.13 %
1.61 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 18.14 %
0.69 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.77 %
0.43 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.87 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 18.5 IBU
0.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (40 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (20 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.5 IBU

 

[PolishStout]

8oz of vanilla extract seems like a bit much. how much of the flavor carries through? how vanilla-ey is this brew?

 

[masonsjax]

This was discussed throughout he thread, you should skim through to see what some of the opinions were. I used 8oz and it seemed a bit much at first, but after some time in the keg was perfect IMO. Some others thought 4oz was too much.

 

[mtbiker278]

Best thing to do is when you're ready to bottle/keg add a little at a time until you get the vanilla taste you're looking for. For bottling you would do this in the bottling bucket, and for kegging just add it straight to the keg. Same goes for the Lactose.

Just to note what I did, I only added 2oz of vanilla to the keg, and no lactose at all since I mashed at 155F.

 

[riromero]

I'm down to my last few bottles of this. I added exactly the amounts of lactose and vanilla recommended in the recipe. For my first few bottles, the vanilla sweetness was just a little too much in your face. After a couple of weeks the subsequent bottles were perfectly mellow and delicious. Now after two months the vanilla has largely disappeared and the bittering hops really show their bite. I don't think I've had a batch change this much in just a few months. So if you follow this recipe, give it an extra week or two in the bottle and then drink it quickly.

 

[perrypainter]

Added it to the primary, will add more prior to kegging.

Quick question... did y'all split the four ounces of Lactose between primary and prior to kegging? I mean, 2 ounces to primary, and 2 ounce to keg? or 4 ounces each?

I boiled 4 ounces in 2 cups H2O and added it to primary. Just trying to figure it out, kegging tonight.

*update*
I went ahead and kegged, but wasn't happy with the foam, so I added another four ounces and re-force carbbed. I am SO glad I did.
also, I used 4 lbs of wheat, and a half pound of corn plus the correct AA% with my own hops.............. DEE-LISCIOUS!

 

[perrypainter]

Okay...I guess I'll have to bug one of you through pm.

 

[masonsjax]

Replied via PM, but for the record, I used 4 oz lactose total, added to last 5 mins of the boil.

 

[xeerohour]

I'm planning on making this beer this upcoming weekend, as I was hoping for a sweeter beer for watching football this fall.

Is there a particular kind of 60L grain that imparts more of a caramel flavor, or will any 60L grain work?

 

[dracus]

I did the allgrain version. I didnt find this beer to be all that caramelly actually. It did have a lot of sweetness from the lactose at both end of boil and bottling. It was balanaced by the hops were a bit stronger than it seemed they should be. I loved this beer quite a bit. I especially love the biscuity quality from the yeast and the vanilla. My biggest gripe is that people alwaya "think" its a cream ale and its not. Its one of those caramel candy things with the white center.

 

[america]

I'm still a bit confused with the size of this recipe. It says:

Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Size: 4.64 gal
11.0 gal collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 11.0 gal

Is it a 5.5 gal recipe that you boil down from 11 gal? It says to add 9 gal of water for mash and sparge, that seems like a lot for 5.5 gal, but isnt enough for 11 gal. And what is the "45.0 min" mean after "11.0 gal collected" is it how long it took to collect your runnings?

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

I have recently brewed, kegged, and gave away it away for a christmas presents to co-workers, firends, and family. I did everything this recipe called for except I added 8oz of lactose at the end of the boil about 2 minutes left. After fermentation, I kegged and aged it. Now its gone. My thoughts, when I plugged this recipe in beersmith using the Cream Ale style, the IBU, OG and ABV's, where in the red zone for the style. But I disregarded my feelings about the red zones and brewed this recipe following each direction except using more lactose. Brew session went great no issues. Fermentation went awesome, ultra clear brew (Give thanks to irish moss). Keg carbed it. Took first taste, and bam! I was hit with bitterness, then sweetness, finished with vanilla. I did not expect for it to be as bitter as it was. I followed the hop schedule. I feel with a little tweaking this ale has potential. I'm waiting to hear back from the people I gave it to as presents. Maybe its just me. Anyone else have the same issue?

 

[HBrew71]

subscribed!

 

[dracus]

One thing here.

This is a hybrid ale not a "cream ale".

The name should be read like this "vanilla Carmel cream"-ale not "vanilla Carmel"-cream ale. It's supposed to be as I understand going after those little caramels with the white creamy inside.

I have made it and the hops are definitely there and quite nice. This works well since the vanilla is perceived as "sweet" and it has a fair bit of lactose as well. If it were less bitter I think it would be too sweet.

I used klosch yeast and it gave nice biscuity taste. The only area I might improve on is a bit more caramel taste plus and this could have been a mash issue on my part it seemed to be a bit hollow in the middle.

 

[Vomtaylor]

Hey guys, I'm going to give this a try..... Are you adding lactose at primary? Before pitching, or at boil?

Mash at 153?

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

I did end of boil