Hoppy Cream Ale

[RobinB]

Well Ive just put my hoppy cream ale into the keg..this is the second attempt at this recipe.. first was with tap water , and now with RO water ( + chemicals ).. now after the first attempt , I didnt like too much , the bitter taste ... thinking that , and after help from other brewers , the RO brew would be the bees knees.. BUT no!! after a taste as it went into the keg .. IT TASTES MUCH THE SAME !! Arrrrggghhh !!..

 

[Banbeer]

Did exactly the same a few years ago, sent an email to the water company and adjusted it all with chemicals, I was so excited that it was going to be so much better but alas no different, although my taste buds are pretty knackered nowadays.

Where in Leicester are you, I'm in market Harboro'

 

[Clint]

Is that a cream ale in the American sense? Bit if a long shot...have you tried the style?
I hadn't until I brewed one. It wasn't a bad beer,hit all the numbers,controlled temp etc. It just wasn't a style I enjoyed. A pint here and there was fine and none got wasted but I don't think I'd do it again..

 

[BeerCat]

What additions did you add to the water? What was your fermentation schedule. How much yeast did you pitch and what hops/IBU?
if your making beers that are too bitter it can help to halve the bittering addition and if necessary add some hop oil at the end.

 

[RobinB]

Did exactly the same a few years ago, sent an email to the water company and adjusted it all with chemicals, I was so excited that it was going to be so much better but alas no different, although my taste buds are pretty knackered nowadays.

Where in Leicester are you, I'm in market Harboro'

I live in Fleckney

 

[RobinB]

What additions did you add to the water? What was your fermentation schedule. How much yeast did you pitch and what hops/IBU?
if your making beers that are too bitter it can help to halve the bittering addition and if necessary add some hop oil at the end.

What additions did you add to the water? What was your fermentation schedule. How much yeast did you pitch and what hops/IBU?
if your making beers that are too bitter it can help to halve the bittering addition and if necessary add some hop oil at the end.

• • I used marris otter instaed of Pale 2 row

Buy Ingredients
Hoppy Cream Ale
Method: BIAB
Style: Cream Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.041 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)
Rating:
41
Fermentables

9 lb American - Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 81.8%
2 lb Flaked Corn 40 0.5 18.2%
11 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
1 oz Nugget Pellet 14 Boil 45 min 48.02
1 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 30 min 31.59
0.5 oz Simcoe Leaf/Whole 12.7 Boil 15 min 10.7
0.5 oz Citra Pellet 11 Dry Hop 15 days
0.5 oz Citra Leaf/Whole 11 Boil 5 min 3.72



Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
5 gal
Decoction 155 F 60 min

Yeast
Fermentis / Safale - Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Amount:
1
Attenuation (avg):
81%
Flocculation:
Medium
Optimum Temp:
54 - 77 °F
Starter:
No
Fermentation Temp:
65 °F
Pitch Rate:
0.75 (M cells / ml / ° P) 216 B cells required
Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator
This recipe is shared.

View Count: 3072
Brew Count: 0
Last Updated: 2015-11-30 07:01 PST
Discussion about this recipe:

 

[Clint]

It's the flaked maize that I don't like...

 

[BeerCat]

Your IBU adds up to 93 if i am reading it correctly? The style should be under 20.

 

[The Baron]

As Beercats says massive IBU's if correct. Too bitter for most folk. Knock out the bittering hops and chuck your flavour hops more or less at the end to get the taste with less IBU's

 

[RobinB]

Your IBU adds up to 93 if i am reading it correctly? The style should be under 20.

IBU ??? If its too high .. what have I done wrong .. I followed the recipe and how did you work those figures out ?? Explain to me please on these IBU things ... as you can see am new to this grain brewing ( only done about 4 brews now ), but done loads of tinned stuff, but having moved on to fine something better

 

[RobinB]

What additions did you add to the water? What was your fermentation schedule. How much yeast did you pitch and what hops/IBU?
if your making beers that are too bitter it can help to halve the bittering addition and if necessary add some hop oil at the end.

Light colored and hoppy
Ion Profile in ppm
Ca2+ Mg2+ Na+ Cl- SO42- HCO3-
75 5 10 50 150 0

 

[The Baron]

Hi RobinB IBU stands for International Bitterness Units which is a way of measuring the bitterness in beers. If you have not used a recipe programme I suggest you start with Brewers Friend which is free for the trial basic programme. To explain it would take a long writeup but the gist is that each style of beer has a IBU range and generally anything above 40 is getting to the reasonably bitter end. Now each hop has a Alpha Acid (AA)measurement of bitterness given on the packet. When you put the amount, AA and time of additions of the hops in to a recipe it will calculate the IBU contribution to the recipe. What I do suggest is to get a good brewing book (The Home Brew Book by Greg Hughes being the most common one used by most brewers)and read it to help explain a little more about the brewing process. It is a learning curve but I am sure you will grasp the basics within a very short time. As regards the recipe you have used sometimes they are not always correct and that is why you should always input them into a brewing programme as if it is 93 IBU's it is very bitter as I said most bitters do not generally get to 40 IBU's.
Ps keep reading the forum and you will soon learn and people will generally give you variable answers so read between the lines on some of them as it is a subjective subject and what one brewer likes does not always suit another Good Luck

 

[RobinB]

As Beercats says massive IBU's if correct. Too bitter for most folk. Knock out the bittering hops and chuck your flavour hops more or less at the end to get the taste with less IBU's

So any hops that go into the boil early are bittering hops ??

 

[MickDundee]

So any hops that go into the boil early are bittering hops ??

Yes. The longer they are boiled the more bitterness extracted (up to a point). Different hops (and different harvests with the same hops) have different levels of alpha acids (AA) as well so will extract different bitterness.