Award Drought is Over!

I don't brew to win awards, but when I do it feels good! Though it was a few weeks ago already, my Cream Ale took 3rd Place for the Light Hybrid flight at the Dayton Draft's Brewfest! It was this same competition that I took my first (and only) award with last year and I haven't placed since. So its nice to have the drought over.

Funny thing is that the Cream Ale was my lowest scoring of the 3 beers I entered. I don't have score sheets back yet, but I was able to get a sneak peak into the final scores to see how the other beers scored. I can't wait to see the feedback I got to see how I can improve. I enter competitions to get feedback!

The other funny part about this cream ale is that it was the first time with this recipe. I tried to take on the SMaSH approach. Cream Ale's are supposed to be "simple" yet flavorful. My previous recipe had some crystal malts for color, etc and those are not really needed. So I really trimmed the recipe down to the basics. I was really happy with the results. It was a slighty variation of a Jamil recipe.

Here is what I did for a 5 gal batch

Grain Bill
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4.25 lb American 2-Row (42.5%)
4.25 lb Pilsner (42.5%)
1.50 lb Flaked Corn (15%)

Hop Bill
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0.50 oz Cluster Pellet @ 60 Minutes
0.50 oz Hallertau Pellet @ 5 Minutes (Boil)


Single step Infusion at 150°F for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 63°F with Wyeast 1056 - American Ale