I’m taking my first shot at a Cream Ale tomorrow. I have most dry yeast strains at my disposal, including US-05, Notty, BRY-97, and 34/70. US-05 is the front-runner, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Any recommendations for a fermentation schedule?
I make a nice cream ale using 1056 that’s done well in comps. I hold 60F for 4 days, then ramp slowly up to ~ 68F. Makes a really clean beer.
I believe Cream Ale was the USA answer to all the Pils that was introduced at the time. Therefore, I believe an American Ale Yeast should be used. Based on that, from those listed, US-05 and Bry-97 would fit best. I’ve only used Bry-97 once and despite the long lag time it turned out great.
I recommend it.
Do you do any extended lagering for it, or do you just cold crash/fine before packaging?
I just cold crash in keg and fine. It’s pretty clean right away fermented at those temps. Nothing wrong with a couple of weeks of conditioning, but (once it drops clear) it’s ready to drink IMO.
I’ve used White Labs 001 & Wyest 1056 at 62F with good results. I’ve also had good results with BRY-97 and Notty at that temp. My best results were with…the dreaded S-23. :o I ferment it at 52F x 3 days, 55F x 7 days and then let it rise to ambient temp (depending on time of year, usually in the 70’s to 80’s) for 3 days to clean up/finish up. I then fine and cold crash then keg. Crystal clear though even with just cold crashing it will drop crystal clear in a week or so of lagering. I’ve won more medals in the light lager category & the light hybrid beer category using this yeast vs. the others listed above.
People complain about this yeast; lots of bad reviews but I’ve only had good luck with it. Anyway, just throwing S-23 out there for something different to consider vs. what most everyone else uses.
Not a dry strain, but my twist on cream ale is to use WY 2565 (kolsch strain) and ferment it cool. It gives a unique aroma to the base beer that keeps me coming back for another sip.
I just tapped this tonight and it is amazing. I followed a similar schedule to yours. I used US-05, held it at 60F for the first 5 days, then let it rise to ambient (67F in my basement during this heat) to finish up. I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately, so I’m calling this my “Slumpbuster Cream Ale”.
Awesome, Eric. Pretty damn good on a hot, humid day!
Jinxed myself by calling it a slumpbuster. I walked into my basement just now and noticed that it smelled just like my cream ale. Sure enough, it was all over the floor. Leaky picnic tap = empty keg. Guess I’ll be rebrewing this sooner than expected…
Man, that just plain sucks, sorry to hear it. I luckily found a loose swivel nut on one of the QDs in my kegerator the other day - the one going to my new Brewtan Ofest. Would’ve lost that batch. Damn glad I caught it. Who knows, the next batch of your cream ale may be even better. Still sucks.
Bad news. Sorry about that.
Damn, that really sucks! Sorry for your loss. After I lost a batch like that 6 years ago, I am constantly double checking all my fittings everytime I hook things up or keg a batch just to be sure I am not missing anything. To me, the cleanup almost sucks more than losing the batch.
It always happens when you least expect it. I too have become a paranoid person about kegs - I constantly check, shut off gas, use lube on gaskets, replace post gaskets, etc… Yet every once in a great while the unexpected happens. That’s when I remind myself that it’s time to brew again!
That sucks - been there too. Gave up on picnic taps, in part, for that reason. We had some that worked well if you knew what you were doing but those that hadn’t used them before didn’t know how to close them and on the floor it went.
I’m beginning to think that this beer is cursed. I brewed this recipe again today. This time I forgot to put the temp probe back in my fermentation chamber/keezer after cleaning out the last batch. Thankfully I caught it before the new beer froze, but it was a close call. It will be interesting to see how US-05 works when dropped down to 40F shortly after pitching.
Probabily it will produce some sulphur compounds