Redneck Cream Ale

[Mattacox]

So, summer means time for lawnmower beer. Inspired by some pre-Prohibition goodness, I've just brewed this. A three-hour brew session concluded with a pitch of 1056 into the 5.5ish gallons in the fermentor. I'm tempted to let the mash sour a bit tonight and tomorrow, and brew what comes off of it with some high-alpha American hops.

Title: Redneck Cream Ale

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Light American Lager
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.048
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV (standard): 5.65%
IBU (tinseth): 37.14
SRM (morey): 4.12

FERMENTABLES:
5.1 lb - American - Pale 6-Row (48.8%)
3.1 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (29.7%)
2 lb - Flaked Corn (19.1%)
0.25 lb - German - Melanoidin (2.4%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Cluster, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.5, Use: Boil for 55 min, IBU: 24.64
1 oz - Cluster, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 12.5

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale 1056
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 75%
Flocculation: Med-Low
Optimum Temp: 60 - 72 F
Fermentation Temp: 75 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Durham, NC 2013
Ca2: 6
Mg2: 2
Na: 31
Cl: 10
SO4: 48
HCO3: 32
Water Notes:

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

that 2 pounds of flaked corn will be very pronounced, I know thats what they used back then but I personally don't like the corn taste in beer, rice is a good substitute thats flavorless, you could use both and knock down that flavor some 1 pound of each but hey its your beer just a thought

 

[jmcnamara]

i think a little sour twang would make it quite refreshing on a summers day

 

[Hogarthe]

looks good, but why use both 2 row and 6 row?

and if you let the mash sour and run off, I'd think you would have to add a bit more grain to it, since you've already run it off once. otherwise the second soured run off wouldn't have much sugar in it. I think that might fit into sort of a kentucky common type brew though, and a touch of sour would be thirst quenching.

 

[Nosybear]

Agree with Hogarthe: You're pretty dang close to a Kentucky Common, a style I absolutely love (as a true Kentuckian should). For my common, I've done away with the sugar, I use even more corn, some rye, no Melanoidin, some crystal and chocolate, cream ale yeast and some molasses. Recipe is here:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... common-5-1

Please note that at the time Ky. Common existed, Louisville was the sixth largest city in the country. Their brewing and delivery practices were state of the art and any souring happened in trade, not in the brewery. I've tried souring it several ways and don't come up with a beer to compare to the one above, unsoured. Also, the beer was as you say, a redneck cream ale (before there were rednecks). It was the poor man's beer, ideal for a hot Northern Kentucky summer day and quite quaffable. The Cluster/Saaz hop combination really brings out the blackcurrant/blueberry flavor of the hops and the Cream Ale yeast gives the beer a lagery character.

 

[Nosybear]

I also agree with Hogarthe on using six-row, in fact, I'll likely go with 100% six-row and a protein rest next brew of this beer.

 

[Mattacox]

i think a little sour twang would make it quite refreshing on a summers day

I'm hoping the melanoidin will do that for me...

 

[Nosybear]

Melanoidin provides malty sweetness. Use a large dose of acidulated malt or food-grade lactic acid at bottling to get the "twang." The latter is more predictable.

 

[jmcnamara]

Nosy, I brewed a slightly tweaked recipe of your Sourdough Blonde this weekend. Little bit of acidulated malt and used organic greek yogurt instead of tossing in some crushed grain like i normally do. It was also weird to sour the wort rather than the mash, but it made the brew day go much quicker the following day.

anyway, my point is that this sourness seemed to smell a bit different than the other 2 or 3 that I've brewed. a bit restrained maybe, but not in a bad way. that may be an option for you to think about

 

[Nosybear]

I think that's the "lack of complexity" the souring purists complain about with kettle souring. I personally don't mind. Most of what the "purists" call funk I call dirty sweatsocks. The purpose of this brew was to establish a baseline beer for layering fruits over. It already comes out with strong tropical fruit flavors - I get pineapple and mango - so layering strawberries or peaches or some other fruit over it should result in a very nicely flavored, slightly tart beer. But I like drinking it straight so that layering might wait for a brew or two - I want to try it again and get the pH down to 3.5 before boiling.

The original idea was soured with locally produced organic yogurt and it came out slightly different, but still close enough to tell they were the same beers. One side effect of using sourdough is starch haze but it's kind of a neat way of coming to a name, right?

 

[jmcnamara]

Exactly, horse blanket and barnyard are not desirable descriptors of beer IMO. Much prefer a clean sour.

And I always like adding another thing to my "I can brew with that" list

 

[Mattacox]

This came out of primary yesterday. First blush:

It's got a great American beer taste- the corn is there, but not overwhelming. Hops additions where planned well- they aren't absent, but very subtle, in the background. The mouthfeel isn't as watery as a Genny Cream or somesuch, and the alcohol is low, maybe 4% or so (yeah, I broke my hydrometer, so I don't have a good reading on this). Color is a pale straw, and it's super-clear already. The 1056 ate flocced out pretty thoroughly.

I chilled it out, added some gelatin to the keg, and cranked up the pressure to get it up to about 2.5 volumes. This is going to be a very sessionable lawnmower beer.

 

[Nosybear]

My Ky Common comes into balance at about 40 days into the process. All the excess esters oxidize and it becomes a slightly bitter-balanced, more malty cream ale. Give it some time - it may improve!

 

[Mattacox]

With the carb dead-on, this is a fantastic-drinking pale ale. Not really hoppy, corn-forward I'll put this in the regular annual rotation.

 

[jeffpn]

Annual rotation? Wow! My definition of rotation means I always want to have some on hand! How many of those do you have?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Any ideas upon the perfect water profile for a cream ale I'm looking forward to brewing stikks vanilla cream ale and his water profile is spring water or RO water. I'm gathering pilsner style water profile ?. As little salts a possible? I was looking At the Brewers Friend light and Hoppy profile is that a good water profile to aim for this beer style?

 

[Mattacox]

Annual rotation? Wow! My definition of rotation means I always want to have some on hand! How many of those do you have?

I tend to brew a ten-gallon batch of something seasonally. For instance, every spring there's a Belgian Witbier (that I sometimes split in primary and throw springtime berries at it), every fall there's an amber lager, etc. This cream ale was session-y and light enough to be a perfect summertime table/lawnmower beer.

 

[Mattacox]

Annual rotation? Wow! My definition of rotation means I always want to have some on hand! How many of those do you have?

How many bottles, or how many beers do we brew seasonally?

 

[jeffpn]

I think I meant batches/recipes with that question.