Vanilla Cream Ale

[romen]

Thought I'd do things a little differently and get your guys' feedback *before I brew a recipe this time. I was inspired by Calvin talking about using vanilla at our last meeting. I have some homemade vanilla extract made a few years back during Covid that's been aging nicely, so I thought I'd go for a Mother Earth style cream ale and put it to some good use.

Here's what I have.

[recipe]
5.5 Gal batch size
Original Gravity 1.049
Final Gravity 1.009
ABV 5.3%

Grain Bill 9lb 13.4oz
43% 2-Row Pale
22% White Wheat
18% 6-Row
5% Flaked Corn
5% Crystal 20
2% Flaked Barley

Standard Mash profile
152F for 60 min

Hops
Shooting for 18 IBUs
.4 oz Cascade at 60 min
.45 ox Cascade at 20 min
.5 oz Wilamette at 5 min

Yeast
US-05 at 68F

Misc Additions
6oz honey added at flameout
2oz homemade vanilla extract added at flameout
4 vanilla beans soaked in vodka in secondary
1oz homemade vanilla extract added in bottling

Water Additions
I start with distilled water
4g calcium chloride
3g gypsum
approx. 3oz acid malt in mash
[/recipe]

Open to your comments and feedback!

[CurtisG]

Yo Ro,

I think this would taste great! If you're going for a cali creamin' this recipe would work out.

I have a few suggestions;

Traditionally cream ales wouldn't have wheat in them, but then again they don't have vanilla either You could omit the wheat for more 2 row/6row. I also prefer mine with a lot of corn, but it may clash with the sweetness.

I would add the honey and vanilla even later after flameout. Start chilling and then add them when it's just warm enough to dissolve and keep the aromatics. Honey should be sterile and safe to add at lower temperatures since the water content is so low. And vodka is vodka.

Cali creamin' also has lactose, so if you want that sweeter kick I would add some as well.

Honey malt could be a good alternative to the crystal 20. You can swap them 1:1

What are expecting out of the flaked barley? It seems like a very small addition

[romen]

Hey, thanks for that. I'm definitely shooting for Cali Creamin. I started with a recipe I found online, so honestly don't know what the barley is supposed to do.

[CurtisG]

It could be for head retention. I feel like flaked barley would add too much bite and would recommend carapils or something instead.
If you keep the wheat it will likely not need anything else.

[romen]

Alright, so, with your feedback I've swapped out the crystal for honey malt and the barley for carapils. I knocked down the wheat and increased the corn to try to make it more in line with the cream ale style. I also bumped down the bitterness slightly. I like the idea of adding lactose but I'm worried it will be too sweet.

Here's a link to the recipe as it stands https://share.brewfather.app/Xbregs0nbvXpUR

[CurtisG]

That looks good to me! planning to bring it to the homebrew fest?

I was planning to brew a cream ale next week for it

[lexuschris]

I like the feedback Curtis gave you, and am looking forward to trying some!

--LexusChris

[romen]

I'm planning to make it after the homebrew fest.

[CurtisG]

I'm planning to make it after the homebrew fest.

Dang we could've had a cream ale showdown lol

[romen]

I don't have the capacity in my homebrew pipeline at this stage. Got to empty one keg in order to refill it.

[Megastout]

good luck!