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Help for Tangerine Cream Ale

itmantpc

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This is my first recipe and I am new to home brewing. Please forgive me if it sounds/reads like I have no idea what I am doing, it is partially true!

I am looking to create a tangerine cream ale, it has to be low in bitterness but have a tropical aroma with a decent tangerine flavor. I have not begun brewing this recipe yet as I am trying to get a well rounded recipe to lower mistakes. Well, here it is and what are your thoughts?

This is an extract brew.

Grains:
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 9.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.1 %
5 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9 9.1 %
3 lbs Fruit - Tangerine (0.0 SRM) Adjunct Crushed.
2oz Tangerine Zest (from tangerines)

Hops:
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 17.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 5.7 IBUs

Dry-Hop:
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 10.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs

Misc:
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 4 -

Yeast:
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [35.49 ml] Yeast 7 -

The plan: Heat 1 gallon of water to 165 and steep cara-pils and crystal for 20 minutes. Heat 5 gallons of water to boiling. Add steeped 1 gal of water and 5 lbs of DME and 2oz tangerine zest. At 45 add whirlfloc. At 50 minutes, add Galaxy. At 55 add Amarillo. At flame off, cool wort to 65.

Ferment for 2 weeks and 3 days @ 65ish degrees. Add dry-hop around day 7 and let dry hop for 10 days.

Second Fermentation.
Peel tangerines and crush. Pour liquid and crushed fruit into second fermenter. Add honey to fermenter. Rack beer from primary over fruit and honey. Ferment for 2 weeks.

Many thanks from a noob home brewer!
 
Seems like a decent plan. 

When you rack to secondary, be sure you suck up a little of the yeast cake, so that you have enough yeast to perform the second ferment.  You don't need gobs of it, just suck up 1/2 cup or so.

Minor nit pick:  there's nothing "Cream Ale" about your recipe.  http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php

Your fermentation schedule implies a "timeframe".  2 weeks and 3 days.  This is incorrect.  Fermentation lasts "until it is done".  Yeast dont work on a calendar.  Ferment until you don't see any airlock activity, then take a gravity sample.  Wait 24 hours, take another sample.  If the FG is the same both times, then transfer to secondary. 

Repeat this process for the secondary fermentation.

You say you are new, so I'm guessing you bottle with sugar?  Or do you keg?  If you keg, then I would hold your dry-hop until the keg.  Otherwise, I would move your dry-hop to the secondary.


 
tom_hampton said:
Minor nit pick:  there's nothing "Cream Ale" about your recipe.  http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php

By "there's nothing", do you mean a lack of corn flakes in the steep or the addition of the fruit or hop choices?  I was thinking the "cream ale" had more to do with OG, IBU, SRM and ABV.  This recipe is at:

Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.2 %
Bitterness: 22.7 IBUs
Est Color: 4.4 SRM

I would like to get this as close to a cream ale as I can, what should I add or remove?

tom_hampton said:
Your fermentation schedule implies a "timeframe".  2 weeks and 3 days.  This is incorrect.  Fermentation lasts "until it is done".  Yeast dont work on a calendar.  Ferment until you don't see any airlock activity, then take a gravity sample.  Wait 24 hours, take another sample.  If the FG is the same both times, then transfer to secondary. 

Repeat this process for the secondary fermentation.

Noted.  Many thanks!

tom_hampton said:
You say you are new, so I'm guessing you bottle with sugar?  Or do you keg?  If you keg, then I would hold your dry-hop until the keg.  Otherwise, I would move your dry-hop to the secondary.

Yes, I bottle as I don't have a keg system yet.  I have read that using a keg is much simpler, faster and cheaper so I will eventually switch.  Start-up costs for keg is high!

Thanks again!
 
There is a lot more to a style than the og, fg, abv, srm. The numbers tell a very small part of the tale. Typical grist, yeast selection and fermentation profile have more to do with what a style tastes like than the stats do.

Listen to this episode of the Jamil show.

* Published: 12/17/06 8:00:00 PM

* Episode Download Link (18 MB): http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/membersarchive/Jamil12-18-06.mp3

* Episode Feed: The Jamil Show (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/jamilshow.xml)



 
Ah, thanks for that link.  That was a good listen.  Let me ask this, am I wrong in thinking that cream ales make good bases for fruit beers?  I could have sworn I read that somewhere.  I may as well try it and see what happens...

I have modified the grain bill, here is the new setup.  Thoughts?

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                  Name                                                    Type          #        %/IBU         
5 lbs                Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM)            Extract      1        45.5 %       
1 lbs                Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)          Sugar        2        9.1 %       
0.50 oz            Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min  Hop          3        14.0 IBUs   
0.50 oz            Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min  Hop          4        5.1 IBUs     
1.0 pkg            American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)      Yeast        5        -           
5 lbs                Fruit - Tangerines (0.0 SRM)                  Adjunct      6        45.5 %       
1.00 oz            Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Day Hop          7        0.0 IBUs     
1 ea                  whirlfloc

The plan:  6 gals of water to boil.  add 2oz tangerine zest.  At 15 add .5 Amarillo At 45 add whirlfloc.  At 50 minutes, add .5 Amarillo. At flame off, cool wort to 65.

Ferment for 2 weeks @ 65ish degrees, take gravity sample, wait 24 hours and take another sample.  When samples are the same, move to secondary. 

Second Fermentation.
Peel tangerines and crush.  Pour into second fermenter (including juice).  Rack beer from primary over fruit.  Add dry-hop in secondary.  Add about 1/2 cup of yeast cake from primary to secondary.  Ferment for 2 weeks.
 
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