Cream Ale Cream of Three Crops (Cream Ale)

Kirkwooder said:

IMy starting boil was 7.25 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. I boiled hard for 90 min. Now, I have a bit less than 4 gallons in the carboy, and a 1.076 gravity.

Did I boil away too much liquid? Should I ad some water back?

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Yes you should only need to boil off 8-15%.

Did you really boil off 45% in 90 min? 15% for 90 min is the norm.

Boiloff rate is a function of heat applied and surface area. Assuming those two don't change in the boil, the rate will be the same whether there's 1 or 50 gallons in the pot.

In other words, boiloff is a not a percent of total volume per unit time.

1.07x is IIPA territory. Yoh made the right choice to dilute.

This is getting made with flaked coconut and pineapple very soon.

Johnnyhamer said:

This is getting made with flaked coconut and pineapple very soon.

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Sounds interesting.... maybe use Citra for bittering also? Hmmm Sounds good!! Will maybe have to try that!!!

I was thinking thee exact same thing. I've never used citra but from everything I have read on here it should compliment it well.

I am making an IPA with citra currently with Coconut in it... its amazing!! Just don't use too much coconut.... If I were you maybe just add like half a pound to the boil at 15m.....This beer is a really light mellow beer so you don't want to overpower it IMO. Anyways, would be interesting to try and think I will do so soon!

Appreciate the input. I'm currently doing the DD's watermelon wheat and need to order the hops for a centennial blonde. This recipe is cheap enough. Going to add these grains to my order.

Yes it is cheap! The most expensive thing will be the coconut probably! ha Good luck

I think I have some. Hoping it's unsweetened though. Trying to decide on tossing it in towards the end of boil or in a secondary with the pineapple.

Cream of Pina Colada? Are you going to cask condition in a used rum cask?

That would be awesome but unfortunately no. Closest I can come is soaking the pineapple in rum.

midfielder5 said:

Yes you should only need to boil off 8-15%.

Did you really boil off 45% in 90 min? 15% for 90 min is the norm.

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NO, I figured out latter that I measured all my water before I mashed and sparged. Most of the loss must be due to the grain soaking it up.

Live and learn, my next AG batch will be spot on when I start. lol

Grain absorption shouldn't account for as much loss as you had, if my math is correct. The rule of thumb I have always used for loss from grain absorption is about a 8 fl oz per pound of grain.

Edit: I just reread your post and see that your STARTING BOIL qty was 7.25 and you lost 3.25 gal in a 90 min boil. Any absorption loss should have happened BEFORE your starting boil qty.

My first post was wrong, I never measured my wort before starting my boil, I measured my water before mash and sparge. Then I boiled 90 min. I lost a little over 3 gallons from the start of the process to the end/carboy.

bigtex52 said:

Has anyone else still had a 1" -1 1/2" krausen 10 days after going to primary (Safale US-05)? OG hit the target at 1.047 and adjusted SG today is 1.004 and it's not bubbling any more. I am tempted to rack to secondary and cold crash. Anyone have any comment?

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I've had mine sitting for 2.5 weeks and it had a Krausen up to 5 days ago. It is crystal clear now other than a few globs on top. Bottling tomorrow.

Just tasted mine on day 10 of ferment. Gravity is near 1.010. The beer has a sharpness I don't care for. I hope it's the yeast.

I tasted alcohol burn off my samples too.

It disappears almost entirely when chilled to serving temps.

thadius856 said:

I tasted alcohol burn off my samples too.

It disappears almost entirely when chilled to serving temps.

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Think that's what it is? It tastes like nothing then......boooooiiiiyyyying, there's the boner.

I also chilled the sample before tasting.....could be that it's a ten day old beer! I just worry every time I brew....plus the mash was thin....but ph seemed ok.

Been about a week since I kegged my first batch. Since then I've had plenty, and given away just as much. While I wouldn't normally call this beer my favorite style (more of an IPA fan), I do really enjoy it. It came out crystal clear (I used whirlfolc and gelatin), and tastes very clean and crisp. Everyone I have given this too gives me praise and acts surprised that it's homebrew. Thanks BM for a great recipe! I will be brewing this again sometime this spring/summer for sure, and it will be a staple at my cookouts. I'm looking forward to trying some of your other recipes. I'm thinking either your Outer Limits IPA or Tits-up IIPA. Either way, I'm sure I wont be disappointed!

reinstone said:

Just tasted mine on day 10 of ferment. Gravity is near 1.010. The beer has a sharpness I don't care for. I hope it's the yeast.

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Ok...I quoted myself. Raised the temp up to 70 to finish up strong- suddenly I'm not worried about the taste. Wow. Sippin a gennessy right now....gotta say, three crops is much smoother at day 12. Thanks muncher.

I brewed this Sunday and its still got krausen and fermenting like crazy. How is the gelatin used?

When I checked the gravity at Day 12 there was still krausen remnants, but by Day 14 it had completely fallen in. I know US-05 likes to hang around.

As far as gelatin, it is a clearing agent that you add to cold beer a few days before kegging or bottling. Here is a thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/how-do-you-use-gelatin-finings-129881/

and a youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaVaCyT2yY

I cold crashed my beer for two days in primary, racked it to secondary on top of the gelatin, then put it back in my fridge for another two days and kegged. Some people add the gelatin directly to the keg and skip the secondary step all together. I had the extra carboy, space in my fridge, and the time so i figured I'd just get as much yeast removed from suspension as possible, and not have to worry about stirring it up if I needed to move the keg around later.

Has anyone tried adding in some hops at about 10 minutes ? I was thinking of chinook maybe an ounce since I like blondes that have been poured through whole leaf chinook .

Under $20 with yeast for a 5gallon batch! Substituting Crystal with Mt. Hood

MarcusKillion said:

Has anyone tried adding in some hops at about 10 minutes ? I was thinking of chinook maybe an ounce since I like blondes that have been poured through whole leaf chinook .

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I'd be careful not to over hop this one. On one batch I tried an ounce of cascade at 60 minutes and the cascade's citrus note overwhelmed the little bit of malt in this one. My favorite with this recipe is to split one ounce of centennial over 60, 15 and 5 minutes to bring IBU to 19 - 20; a bit over the upper limit for this style, iirc.

Kegged this today after 3 weeks of lagering (couldn't wait any longer, needed to free up the keezer) The sample was most excellent! Can't wait to try it when it's carbed up

Brewed today with Willamette and Mount hood. Smelled,looked and tasted great. Now the wait begins.

Homebrewing will definitely teach patience.

has anyone tried a late edition of citra with this?

I've been wanting to brew this been out for a while and I finally brought up 9 gallons of it my ABV ended up at 6.1 which was a little high but um it's going to be awesome once is full of carbonated.



-= Jason =-

Made a large 8 gallon batch with a SG of 1.048. Substituted agave nectar for corn sugar for a 3-gallon carboy but used corn sugar for the remaining 5 gal in a separate carboy.

To make things interesting I waited 6 days till fermentation was starting to slow (1.018), then added to 5-gal primary a blended mixture of 4 large, super ripe bananas (no peel) and 22oz crushed pineapple with juice. Also added 1.5 cups of toasted non-swetened coconut flakes. Fermentation has slowed a lot after 3 more days (9 total) and the beer has a subtle pina-colada, tropical taste, with a hint of pineapple acidity to counteract the banana sweetness. Exactly what I was looking for. Will rack to secondary with gelatine to remove the serious haze resulting from the fruit.

3-gal carboy to be kegged in two days for a bachelor party this weekend. Will be a little young, but very drinkable nonetheless.

Cream of three crops seems like a great beer to add fruity flavorings to.

Edit: looking back, I see I'm not the only one to think of "Cream of Pina Colada." Seems I'm not crazy after all.

Johnnyhamer said:

I think I have some. Hoping it's unsweetened though. Trying to decide on tossing it in towards the end of boil or in a secondary with the pineapple.

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Pretty good stuff! Head retention is a little lacking.( maybe a little carapils next time) but overall...great summer quaffer!!

I did this a couple weeks ago and man the results so far are awsome OG 1.046 after 2 weeks 1.009 and into the secondary clear as gin (almost) and a nice crisp lagerlike flavor cannot wait to bottle next week and pop the first one open 3 weeks later! I ferment all my beers in an igloo cube cooler with water and change out the refreezeable ice bags temp stays in the high 50s. This will be one of my favorite goto beers will do 10 gallon batch next.

ten80 said:

Made a large 8 gallon batch with a SG of 1.048. Substituted agave nectar for corn sugar for a 3-gallon carboy but used corn sugar for the remaining 5 gal in a separate carboy.

To make things interesting I waited 6 days till fermentation was starting to slow (1.018), then added to 5-gal primary a blended mixture of 4 large, super ripe bananas (no peel) and 22oz crushed pineapple with juice. Also added 1.5 cups of toasted non-swetened coconut flakes. Fermentation has slowed a lot after 3 more days (9 total) and the beer has a subtle pina-colada, tropical taste, with a hint of pineapple acidity to counteract the banana sweetness. Exactly what I was looking for. Will rack to secondary with gelatine to remove the serious haze resulting from the fruit.

3-gal carboy to be kegged in two days for a bachelor party this weekend. Will be a little young, but very drinkable nonetheless.

Cream of three crops seems like a great beer to add fruity flavorings to.

Edit: looking back, I see I'm not the only one to think of "Cream of Pina Colada." Seems I'm not crazy after all.

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hmm, this sounds good and fun for summer!

I have one 16oz can of pineapples. Any suggestion on how many to use? I'll dump the syrup it's in down the drain.

Finally its ready to try after 4 weeks and force carb.

The beer taste a little light and a little sour after taste. Is it correct brew?

Johnnyhamer said:

I have one 16oz can of pineapples. Any suggestion on how many to use? I'll dump the syrup it's in down the drain.

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I threw ripe bananas and the pineapple into a blender and blended till super smooth. I figure this would improve fermentability of the fruits by increasing surface area. Pineapple is usually in juice rather than syrup. If yours is in juice, then throw it all in! I was careful to sanitize the pineapple can, can opener, and blender to avoid introducing any errant bacteria.

Bubbling has slowed to 2 bubbles/minute after a week on the fruit so I'm going to rack to a secondary, adding some gelatine and pectin enzyme to remove haze and a little yeast nutrient to make sure the beer ferments to a dry finish.

Taste at 12 days (7 with fruit) is pretty good with a subtle tropical flavor (I was expecting more!) and I'd almost drink it now but I think the beer could stand to clarify a little and the yeast still has a little activity left. I'm considering adding a little Kraken spiced rum prior to bottling if the pina colada flavor is still weak.

chrislzh said:

Finally its ready to try after 4 weeks and force carb.

The beer taste a little light and a little sour after taste. Is it correct brew?

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Any views on this?

Mines not sour at all. Probably the best beer I've made so far.

chrislzh said:

Finally its ready to try after 4 weeks and force carb.

The beer taste a little light and a little sour after taste. Is it correct brew?

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The sourness might be from the beer being a little green. Give it a couple more weeks in the keg and see if the sourness is still there. I've made this recipe before, in 2011, and it turned out fantastic.