Cream Ale - Base Malt Question

IMO, your flavor/quality would be better that way.

 

I like the flavor contribution that Pils malt will give to a beer like this versus what Pale malt will. Personal preference, really.

 

Ya id also argue that pils and flaked corn is gonna have a lighter color for a cream ale which I personally look for.

 

I use the 50/50 concept in my cream ale. To be clear, I use pale malt that is 1.5L in color. Not a Pale Ale malt that can range from 3-4L. This type of pale malt contributes little in the way of color (and flavor for that matter). I like it because it dilutes out the obvious Pils malt flavor that 100% Pils will give. I don't want the malt base to taste like my 100% Pils malt Pilsner tastes like.
Its a personal preference. I recommend giving it a try either way and then if you like it try the other way and compare.

 

Whatever difference there might be, it will be subtle. If you have just pils malt, then go for it. Cheers!

 

I agree with everything that's been said. I prefer Pils but understand using a second malt to "thin" it - I'd suggest something like Briess' 2-Row brewers malt. And to be honest, based on what's on the market today, cream ale doesn't really display Pilsner malt so you'd be more on track. However, no one even knows where cream ale came from so you can just do what you want so I say go ahead and use 100% Pils.

 

I’ve done both 2 row and pils. My favorite one I make is “cream of three crops” which uses 2 row, flakes corn, and instant boxed rice.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cream-of-three-crops-cream-ale.66503/

You can hop it with whatever you like. Makes in an incredibly clear light beer.

 

6 Row would probably be more traditional than either.

 

More traditional? Sure. The best flavor-wise? Not for me.

 

Personally, fuck 6 row.

 

If you can find it

 

Whaaa? I think I see 6-row on every online HBS site I buy from.

 

Go for it!

 

6-row? I don't mind it in a CAP. conditioned with a little water so the husks stay in tact, and mashed at 5.2-5.3 pH.

I toured SN Mills River early in the Summer. The guide said they were using 6-row from aa local farm. The farmer had old heritage varieties of 6-row, and they were said to taste very nice. That was not entirely a surprise.

 

Well, some mice got into my malt storage last week. They ignored the generic American 2 row but ruined a few pounds of German pils malt, even though the pils was in a plastic sack with a liner whereas the 2 row was in thin paper sacks. Maybe the pils tastes better...

 

50/50 sounds good to me. A little complexity in an otherwise straightforward beer. FWIW

 

In my 2 row vs 6 row cream ale experiment I thought I noticed a slightly darker color and husky note to 6 row, but I couldn’t consistently pick it out.

The reason to use pils would be because you want its flavor. But a hypothesis from my comparison experiment is that as you add higher percentages of adjunct, the distinctive qualities of the base malt blur (a no brainer right). For example, I may have just surpassed the threshold with 23% corn so that I really could not distinguish 6 row from 2 row. By extension ill hypothesize that at some level of adjunct i wouldn’t be able to detect the finer characteristics of pils malt.