I have made the Genessee clone before and it’s quite good but I need to make something light for a party and I want to try the following. Please give me your thoughts on what you think this would be like. Bear in mind, this is for someone that said “I wish you could make Busch…” It’s not what I would want to drink but it’s what I need to make (don’t think badly of me…)
6.6 lbs Weyerman Pils Malt
1/2 lb Munich malt - I have to have some sort of complexity.
1 lb Minute Rice
1 oz Hallertau hops at 60
1/2 oz Hallertau hops at 15
WLP007 Dry English Ale (that’s what I have ready - would have used WLP001 if I had time to order it).
My efficiency usually runs about 80%
This beer should be fine. I have never brewed with rice so I dont know much about it. I would throw in .25-.5 oz. hops at end of boil. Let us know how it works.
Honestly, I think 1.5 ounces will be too much for hops if you’re trying to brew for Busch drinkers. My dad is a Busch Light drinker. I made a blonde with only 1 ounce of palisade hops and the first thing he said after trying it, “too hoppy”. What we feel as homebrewers to be water, is like oil to regular light lager drinkers.
I’d leave the munich in and maybe bump it up to a full pound and also bump the rice up a little while bumping the base malt down to keep the gravity in the right place. Also, agree with bigchicken about the hops unless you’re trying to challenge his pallet a little.
Maybe something like:
5.5 lbs pilsner
1.5 lbs rice
1 lb munich
0.5 - 0.75 oz Hallertauer 60 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer 15 min
Thanks. I will down play the hops, up the rice and Munich. I’m not trying to challenge their pallets. I will have a second keg of better beer for those of us who like beer instead of water…
If I was to make this with lager yeast another time, what yeast would you suggest?
You could make the same recipe as either an ale or lager. Also, if you want to bump up the complexity of the grist a little you could split your base malt between 6-row and pilsner. Maybe 3 lbs 6-row and the rest pilsner.
WLP830 is a great yeast for just about any lager. WLP840 if your shooting for Bud. Wyeast 2035 is pretty good for American styles. I just got WLP940. I brewed a light lager with it yesterday. 4.5 gallons at 1.040 and pitched an active 1.030 2L starter that I had going at 50F. My wife needs a lower calorie beer and it will be over 100F here by the time it’s ready. I never made one so light before. It’s really just growing yeast for my summer lagers anyway.
Here is what I put together.
Four years ago I used minute rice in a cream ale and it was nice. It was 2 lbs of flaked corn, 1 lb of the rice and 3/4 lb. of orange blossom honey with some 2-row and Pils malt. Mashed at 152oF and used WLP029 at 66oF. It was very hot that summer and this was perfect for the hot weather. If I used WLP007, I’d ferment as cool as I could - around 62oF-63oF.
I know Miller uses corn, Bud uses rice. No idea about what Coors or Busch use. I normally would use corn but I want the lightest flavour profile I can get and although I like corn flavour in a cream ale, I’m hoping to stay completely neutral. Hence the rice.
For Busch drinkers, 2 lbs of adjunct would get a light enough body without making the beer totally flavorless. I also agree with those who said skip the 15 minute addition and the Munich.
Good luck. I hope they like it.
…homebrewed cream ale can be a gateway beer for light beer drinkers.
I’ve made cream ales with 33% rice and it surprised me with flavor. It was regular white rice with a cereal mash. I think you have to use that much to really taste much difference from corn and rice. AB uses brown rice. They get the broken pieces that don’t look as good for eating–brewery grade.