vanilla cream ale Qs

[mtbiker278]

Hello All

I have a couple of questions regarding adding body to a beer. I'm planning on brewing a modified version of Cheesefood's Caramel Vanilla Cream Ale. The end result I'm going for is a malty medium body, smooth drinking summer ale, that's slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla.

the recipe is as follows:

7lbs 2 row
3lbs wheat malt
1lb Caramel 60L Malt

1oz Cascade 60min
0.50z Saaz 20 min
0.5oz Tettnang 5 min

8oz Lactose
8oz Vanilla extract

German Ale Yeast 1007

I entered this info into beersmith and got something like 1.060 OG, 1.012 FG, 6% ABV, 10SRM, 24 IBUs. The color sounds about where I would like it as well as the alcohol content (could be more like 5%), but the hops I'm thinking should be around 20 IBUs (maybe more like 17).

I have read about adding such things like flaked Maize, instant oatmeal, malto-dextrin can aid in adding body and excentuating the maltiness of the beer. I also know that lactose will add the sweetness, but could I replace it with Maltodextrin? basically I'd like some people's feedback on how they would achieve the desired results.

I'm doing a test batch of this recipe as is, and will modify it afterwards.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Oldsock]

Sounds like a tasty beer, but a cream ale it is not. Cream ale is essentially an ale version of an American macro lager: dry, low bitterness, not much body etc...

Your base beer sounds pretty close to what you are aiming for, the C60 will add some sweetness/body as will the lactose. Oats in the mash can certainly lend to the body without increasing sweetness. Maltodextrin will have the same impact as a higher mash temp, adding some body and sweetness.

If you want a "maltier" flavor I’d suggest using a more flavorful base malt like Maris Otter, or blending in some Munich.

8 oz of vanilla extract will probably be too much. Add it to taste at bottling, 2-3 oz is probably all it will take (but start with less so you don’t overdo it for your beer/extract/taste).

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[mtbiker278]

Yeah the title is misleading. I think it's more to describe the flavor than the style of beer. In any case thanks for the feedback. That's the base recipe copied from Cheesefood. I think I'm going to hold off on the lactose and vanilla until I bottle (or keg).

For the fuller body should I target a temp of 155F for the mash? I'm doing a BIAB mash with the full volume no sparge. The grain have been run through the mill twice since I don't have to worry about a sparge and should hopefully get better efficiency.

Thanks again!

 

[mtbiker278]

Hi all again,

Just wanted to update with some new info. This batch has been in the fermenter for about 2.5 weeks. I decided to take a gravity measurement and a taste test to see how it was moving along.

The OG read at 1.060, and the FG I got was 1.012. Upon tasting I got a lot of sweetness with very subtle hop flavor (if none at all). I'm wondering why the beer is tasting so sweet even though the gravity is really low. I did mash a bit higher at around 155F, but wasn't expecting this much of a change. I used S-05 in leu of the German Ale yeast, whihc I guess has a lower attentuation.

I split the sample and gave one have a very small amount of vanilla extract to see what i might ed up with. I got the vanilla nose, but the sweetness was more than I had intended. Would it be a good idea to throw some hops into the fermenter and dry hop it for a couple of days to balance out the sweetness? I have some of the Saaz and Tettnang left over (1/2oz each).

Thanks for the input!

 

[Oldsock]

It may just be that it tastes sweeter since it isn't carbonated yet. Did you add the lactose already? You're at 80% apparent attenuation, so I'm surprised it tastes sweet. Dry hops will add hoppy aromatics, but not balancing bitterness.

 

[mtbiker278]

No lactose was added yet. I'm going to let it go for a bit longer and crash it out with some gelatin at 3 weeks. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm wondering if the Wheat malt is smoothing out the maltyness and making it appear sweet. Maybe next time I'll do something like 9lbs 2-row and 1lb wheat malt?

Thanks for the help OldSock!

 

[Oldsock]

No lactose was added yet. I'm going to let it go for a bit longer and crash it out with some gelatin at 3 weeks. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm wondering if the Wheat malt is smoothing out the maltyness and making it appear sweet. Maybe next time I'll do something like 9lbs 2-row and 1lb wheat malt?

Thanks for the help OldSock!

If you want to reduce something it would be the crystal malt, maybe the carmel flavor is tricking you into thinking it is sweeter than it is? Time may do the trick as well, plenty of beers take time to come around.