090905 - 6A v.3.0 Cream Ale brewed...

This is my first Cream Ale since I completed the American Amber Ale series.

This beer has a corn adjunct (Corn meal). Prep work began AROUND 8:15 AM. Prep work: Cook 2lbs corn meal in a pressure cooker for 15 min. at 10 lbs. in 5-1/2 quarts water which was drawn from 8 quarts in a bucket. After finished cooking added cornmeal to remaining of 8 quarts water in the bucket and stirred til it was mostly homogenized. Added the final 1.2 quart of water to achieve 101°F, within 1° of goal. Placed barley and wheat into Mash bucked and added the corn/water mix, stirring to include all but the bottom inch of grist. This worked to prevent a stuck mash, as I had hoped! NOTE: Next time, heat corn and water over MED heat in cooker and stir to keep in flux, and when it is starting to steam, put the lid on the pressure cooker! This batch burned on the bottom but I didn't use the burned parts.

Started brewing at 9:30 when mash was started in tun.

Boil began at 1:20 PM: Volume Into Boiler: 7 g. Next time, add 1/2G. water to at 60 min. OG Into Boiler: 1.032 @ 144°F = 1.048 OG

4 g. sparge;
Had to do a decoction, 6 qt. thin mash, to bring up to mash out temp.

I use a large muslin bag that is normally used to remove seeds and husks from grape pressings to separate most of the hops and crap from the wort. After cooling, I line the bottling bucket with the bag and pour the contents of the kettle into the bucket, then remove the bag with all of the toss-ables in it.

Tapped, to using my false bottom in the bottling bucket, (This works well) into Primary. Pitched the 2nd generation of the yeast that I saved from my V3.0 of American Amber Ale. Will save this last generation of yeast after primary, before buying new vial.

I have 4.5 gallons of beer in the primary bubbling merrily away. A nice brew session with very little clean up necessary to floors & driveway...