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Wanting to brew a mild cream ale brew

grayeagle

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Don’t know if this is the right place to post this or not but here goes.  I am new to all grain brewing.  I am wanting to do a miller light clone or something that is not bitter or very hoppy.  I have a cream ale recipe I have been working on for some time now but the IBU is 28, Miller light according to the web is around 10 .  I know that most home brewers like a lot of bitterness and hop flavor in their beer so a 28 would be a mild beer.  I want to brew a beer that me and my wife can drink together.  Most of the recipe on the web that I want to use are in the twenties.  So I don't know if 28 would be good for me or not.  I know that the hops put in at the start of the boil is what makes the beer bitter and the kind of hops.  This recipe calls for 1 oz of cluster.  Can I cut the hops down a great deal and get good results?  If so how much should I cut it down?  Thanks for all your help.

Grayeagle
 
Welcome to the addiction grayeagle!
Here is fine, sometimes you can find stuff like this under the 'recipes' forum too. I've done the same thing
Try this one.... It's kinda mild for me, but still has some reasonably good taste, but that's only my opinion. If you decide to brew it, you may think it sucks! ;D That's the great thing about this addiction, we all have our opinions, and we're all right!!  ::)

Style: Cream Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.81 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.21 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 3.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.26 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
6 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)          Grain        1        58.5 %       
2 lbs                Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)                  Grain        2        19.5 %       
8.0 oz                Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                  Grain        3        4.9 %       
0.50 oz              Crystal [2.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min        Hop          4        4.5 IBUs     
1.00 oz              Fuggles [5.70 %] - Boil 20.0 min        Hop          5        11.2 IBUs   
1.00 tsp              Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)              Fining        6        -           
1.0 pkg              Cream Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP08 Yeast        7        -           
1 lbs                Honey (1.0 SRM)                          Sugar        8        9.8 %       
12.0 oz              Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM)          Sugar        9        7.3 %       


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name              Description                            Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash In          Add 13.82 qt of water at 165.7 F        156.0 F      60 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.87gal, 4.31gal) of 168.0 F water
 
Thanks Beernburbon,  It sounds like a great recipe.  I guess  the only thing a person can do is to try a recipe and if it is not what you like invite a bunch of buddies over to drink it up and try again.  The last batch I brew did not have much body and could have had more flavor.  I want a little more flavor and body without going overboard.  I will keep trying and will find something I like thanks a lot.

Grayeagle 
 
American pilsner, as in Miller, Coors, Bud and such, are a very difficult style to make.  Because there is so little flavor, even the slightest imbalance stands out.  With an IBU of 10 there isn't much wiggle room for getting everything else in balance making nearly impossible to scale down to a tiny homebrewer's batch.
But do not despair! There are many other pilsners styles out there, and I make a few each winter when my basement is cold enough. If I can do it so can you.  If you've got a cold winter basement or a spare fridge, you might want to give it a go.
 
Try a Vanilla Creme Ale

.      5.5 lb two row pale malt
• 0.5 lb. wheat malt
• 1.0 lb. crystal malt (10° L) 
• 3.25 AAU Nugget hops (bittering) (0.25 oz. of 13.0% alpha acid)
• 2.0 AAU Mt. Hood hops (aroma) (0.5 oz. of 4.0% alpha acid)
• • 1 tsp. Irish moss
• White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale)
• O.75 cup corn sugar (for priming)

6 Vanilla Beans split down the center in the Secondary.

I have one in the Fermenter that I adjusted to 1.038 OG. 

It's a nice light summer beer that doesn't suck. (Lots of women like it too)

15 IBU's
 
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