January Brew and Swap - American Cream Ale

[Tanglefoot]

I just ordered some ale yeast from CML for an Xmas user upper brew.
Impressed with price and service, only an order of one packet but free postage and got a nice follow up email to say thanks for using them and happy Christmas.
Will definitely be using them again in the new year.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Get onto CML. Free postage and good price

Will do, had ordered the hops from them, annoying!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I just ordered some ale yeast from CML for an Xmas user upper brew.
Impressed with price and service, only an order of one packet but free postage and got a nice follow up email to say thanks for using them and happy Christmas.
Will definitely be using them again in the new year.

Had an issue with a delivery not arriving, emailed them and they were great. If they did 25kg sacks of malt I'd pretty much use them for everything.

 

[Alastair70]

I‘ve just realised, I’ve f**ked up. I used lipomax hops, so my IBU is coming out at 31
Oh well, I’ll keg it, carb it and see how it turns out. Fortunately I like bitter beers.

 

[Broken Toe]

Ah bummer. Will probably still be a very nice beer in its own right mind.

 

[Alastair70]

It’s cold crashing at the minute. I’ll force carb for next weekend and try it out. There’s plenty of time to brew again if it’s minging.

 

[Nottsbeer]

In the middle of brewing my Cream Ale . First brew of the new year

 

[Alastair70]

Tomorrow is brew No.2 of 2022 and my second attempt at the Cream Ale, updated recipe attached with hop additions adjusted for Lupomax. The aim is for a crisp refreshing drink, mashing at 65C to add a bit of body. Down sized the batch to 15L as this batch will be bottled and my lumbar spine can just manage filling and capping 30 of them. I've gone with Saaz as my Mrs has a particular liking for it and I can see us both drinking this on warm spring days. I'm a San Deigo Super Yeast superfan, so no question about the yeast choice, although I'll probably be adding Wy1010 American Wheat to the family soon and it looks like an excellent option too.
The first brew actually tastes very promising until the unwanted extra bitterness comes in. It can sit in a keg for a month or two then I'll happily put it to my head, with or without a little added CaCl if it's still got a bit of an edge to take off.

 

[Broken Toe]

Tomorrow is brew No.2 of 2022 and my second attempt at the Cream Ale, updated recipe attached with hop additions adjusted for Lupomax. The aim is for a crisp refreshing drink, mashing at 65C to add a bit of body. Down sized the batch to 15L as this batch will be bottled and my lumbar spine can just manage filling and capping 30 of them. I've gone with Saaz as my Mrs has a particular liking for it and I can see us both drinking this on warm spring days. I'm a San Deigo Super Yeast superfan, so no question about the yeast choice, although I'll probably be adding Wy1010 American Wheat to the family soon and it looks like an excellent option too.
The first brew actually tastes very promising until the unwanted extra bitterness comes in. It can sit in a keg for a month or two then I'll happily put it to my head, with or without a little added CaCl if it's still got a bit of an edge to take off.

I very much like your layout. Is it your own or a piece of software?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Mine is cold crashing at the mo, it's looking disappointingly murky at the mo, hoping the crash will sort it out.

 

[Alastair70]

I very much like your layout. Is it your own or a piece of software?

It’s from the Grainfather App. Its worked OK for so far and I haven’t been able to justify a move to Brewfather. I thought that water would be the driver, but GF seems to be working well from that perspective too.

 

[Alastair70]

Mine is cold crashing at the mo, it's looking disappointingly murky at the mo, hoping the crash will sort it out.

Attempt No1 was super murky at the end of fermentation. It’s now clear as bell after a 7 day crash with 1/2 teaspoon of gelatine on day 4

 

[Nottsbeer]

Attempt No1 was super murky at the end of fermentation. It’s now clear as bell after a 7 day crash with 1/2 teaspoon of gelatine on day 4

I generally don't cold crash my brews...thus should I seriously consider doing this for this style of beer? I generally leave my brews for 10-14 days and bottle when convenient. I can cold crash if needed. Cheers.

 

[Alastair70]

I generally don't cold crash my brews...thus should I seriously consider doing this for this style of beer? I generally leave my brews for 10-14 days and bottle when convenient. I can cold crash if needed. Cheers.

Clarity is mentioned in the style guidelines. I do like good clarity in higher carbonated ales, they all get protoflac and a minimum of 3 days cold crashing. I’m bottle conditioning the second batch so I’ll probably skip the gelatin.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Some people don't seem to need to, depends on the clarity of your beer and how close to what it's supposed to end up you want it to be I guess. I've mentioned elsewhere that my pale ales seem to take ages to clear, whereas pilsners and bitters come out of the fv as clear as a whistle.

 

[Nottsbeer]

Clarity is mentioned in the style guidelines. I do like good clarity in higher carbonated ales, they all get protoflac and a minimum of 3 days cold crashing. I’m bottle conditioning the second batch so I’ll probably skip the gelatin.

Alistair and @pilgrimhudd. When you cold crash will the temp change "suck" any liquid in your airlock into the beer? Contemplating starting a cold crash tonight but worried about contaminating the brew. FYI I have a 12l batch in a 15l FV (plastic) with a normal airlock on it. I'm half-tempted not to mess with my usual routine, but also fancy trying to be close as possible to style.

 

[Alastair70]

I swap the airlock out for a 6L collapsible water carrier filled with CO2 produced at fermentation. That will be almost empty once the temp hits 1C. Here’s one I hooked up earlier today.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Alistair and @pilgrimhudd. When you cold crash will the temp change "suck" any liquid in your airlock into the beer? Contemplating starting a cold crash tonight but worried about contaminating the brew. FYI I have a 12l batch in a 15l FV (plastic) with a normal airlock on it. I'm half-tempted not to mess with my usual routine, but also fancy trying to be close as possible to style.

I think it would do if you overfilled the airlock, I tend to use the minimum amount and it never reaches that far. I also put starsan in my airlock so it doesn't matter if a little goes back into the beer.

 

[Alastair70]

Version 1 is actually a very drinkable beer, but definitely not to style. I’ll send out bottles of both when we get round to swapping.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Version 1 is actually a very drinkable beer, but definitely not to style. I’ll send out bottles of both when we get round to swapping. View attachment 61198

Thats a nice looking beer, how long has that been kegged now? I bottled mine today, it looks terrible, really cloudy, i took a pic because I also bottled a bitter and the difference in clarity is night and day. I didn't even cold crash the bitter but it's crystal clear. I'll post it later but I did mention on my brewthread that I was having a problem with clarity with my pale ales. Pilsner and darker beers always good. I'm perplexed!!