Description:

Confused by the name? Is it a lager or is an ale? Well, it is both. The consensus is that the cream ale is an American pre-Prohibition beer style. A high adjunct beer, it is made with corn sugar (dextrose), flaked maize or corn grits. Originally brewed by ale breweries in the late 1800's, it is thought to have been fermented warm regardless of which yeast it used, ale and/or lager, because cold fermentation was not common in the U.S. at that time. The ingredients are traditionally all American; the brew should be warm fermented and cold conditioned; the brew should contain characteristics of both an ale and lager; the finished beer should be effervescent, sparkling and dry.

Adapted from 'American Cream Ale' from the March / April 2005 BYO magazine. The only malts that are used are American 6-row pale malt and American pale malt. 6-row is commonly used in high adjunct beers because 6-row malt has a high enzyme content that helps convert unmalted corn, rice and oats; and has a husk that aids in the lautering process. Brewing with gluten free malts requires the addition of enzymes regardless of the malts used, so we will be using pale malt. The grain bill was increased to match the OG of the original recipe. The original recipe calls for a California style lager yeast, and an American style ale yeast.

Ingredients:

• 10 LBS Pale Millet Malt; or 14 LBS Pale Rice Malt (hulled and/or naked varieties); or any combination or both
• 1 LB Dextrose; or 2 LBS Flaked Maize; or 2 LBS Corn Grits
• 1.75 OZ Cluster Hops
• 1 TBLS Irish Moss
• SafLager S-23 or Mangrove Jack's M54 Lager Yeast; SafAle US-05 Ale Yeast

Additional Instructions

Primary Ferment: 5 - 6 days
Secondary Ferment: 10 days

Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol by Vol: 5.0%
Color SRM: 3.0
Bitterness IBU: 18.0
Recipe Type: all-grain
Yield: 5.0 Gallons

Procedure:

Source: Adapted from the March / April 2005 BYO magazine