Boston Cream

[dalpets]

Hi all,
Sometime ago I bought the Boston Cream masterbrew from Grumpy's. Unfortunately their forum is defunct & apparently its new owners are not supplying home brew kits any more.

At the time I asked for a kit for a partial mash & I was sent a bag of cracked grain (2520g), another bag labelled Boston Cream American Cream Ale (1600g)-it looks like a mixture of malt & grain. Also provided was 11.5g W34/70 dry yeast, a bag of hops for the full boil & hops labelled for the last 5 minutes of the boil.

This would be my first partial brew, but with the effluxion of time I have forgotten how to proceed with this kit.

Could someone please help me with the procedure to brew the supplied kit for this beer,including recommended times & temps etc.

Actually, I have recently geared up for all grain brewing which I haven't attempted yet (that is next on the agenda) so I have all the necessary equipment available.

I would be grateful for your help.

 

[BoilerBoy]

Hi all,
Sometime ago I bought the Boston Cream masterbrew from Grumpy's. Unfortunately their forum is defunct & apparently its new owners are not supplying home brew kits any more.

At the time I asked for a kit for a partial mash & I was sent a bag of cracked grain (2520g), another bag labelled Boston Cream American Cream Ale (1600g)-it looks like a mixture of malt & grain. Also provided was 11.5g W34/70 dry yeast, a bag of hops for the full boil & hops labelled for the last 5 minutes of the boil.

This would be my first partial brew, but with the effluxion of time I have forgotten how to proceed with this kit.

Could someone please help me with the procedure to brew the supplied kit for this beer,including recommended times & temps etc.

Actually, I have recently geared up for all grain brewing which I haven't attempted yet (that is next on the agenda) so I have all the necessary equipment available.

I would be grateful for your help.

G'day dalpets,

If its a partial kit supplied from Grumpys with "cracked grain" it would have to be quite old now and therefore the grain would be just about useless.

I'd be looking to be replacing that and maybe the hops as well depending on how they have been stored.

I'd seriously look at just going AG if your nearly already there, the mashing procedure between Ag & partial dont really alter greatly just the size of the equipment. Indicate what side of town you are from and I'm sure nearby brewers can help or search this site fpr plenty of info

Cheers,
BB

 

[dalpets]

G'day dalpets,

If its a partial kit supplied from Grumpys with "cracked grain" it would have to be quite old now and therefore the grain would be just about useless.

I'd be looking to be replacing that and maybe the hops as well depending on how they have been stored.

I'd seriously look at just going AG if your nearly already there, the mashing procedure between Ag & partial dont really alter greatly just the size of the equipment. Indicate what side of town you are from and I'm sure nearby brewers can help or search this site fpr plenty of info

Cheers,
BB

Everything is sealed just as it arrived. Only the dry yeast has been continuously refrigerated.
I'm at Tea Tree Gully, SA.

 

[manticle]

Hi,

I'd not be expecting too much depending on how old the grain and hops are but here is a description of partial mashing which may help;

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=5393

Is the grain base malt for a partial mash or spec malt for steeping?

 

[jbirbeck]

+1 for the old grain...would be a bit wary. And of the hops not having the same 'kick' to them. but take a risk and have a go. better to live an hour as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm.

BUT if its your first it will make a nice warm up for AG, provide a good way to practice because if it stuffs up then you haven't really lost anything and if it works then you're sweet.

Mash grains - I'd aim for 65, do all the usual stuff, sparge and boil etc based on the mash size, then once the boil is done add that second pack and the second lot of hops and if you can whirlpool and chill, or if you can't no-chill it and ferment as usual. If you're geared up for AG you should be set for most of the deal, the only diff between partial and AG is that sack of malt you'll add once you've turned the heat off at the end of the boil.

Brew like a King. Enjoy.

 

[Bribie G]

If I were doing an American Cream Ale I'd definitely ditch that W34/70 which is a lager yeast, and replace it with US-05 .
Cream ales were a working man's drink back in the days when N.E. America had big industries in places like Baltimore and Philly, the beer was cranked out by local breweries who could turn out a lager-like brew fairly quickly for the local market without having to invest squillions in plant such as Budweiser or Stroh etc. They are light on the hops and a light malty flavour should predominate, and are a great candidate for a partial.

I'd give it a go, but sub the yeast with some US-05 and get some Galena or Chinook hops and do just one hop addition of around 20g - should turn out good. Also a bit of white sugar in the fermenter, say 300g

 

[jbirbeck]

If I were doing an American Cream Ale I'd definitely ditch that W34/70 which is a lager yeast, and replace it with US-05 .
Cream ales were a working man's drink back in the days when N.E. America had big industries in places like Baltimore and Philly, the beer was cranked out by local breweries who could turn out a lager-like brew fairly quickly for the local market without having to invest squillions in plant such as Budweiser or Stroh etc. They are light on the hops and a light malty flavour should predominate, and are a great candidate for a partial.

I'd give it a go, but sub the yeast with some US-05 and get some Galena or Chinook hops and do just one hop addition of around 20g - should turn out good. Also a bit of white sugar in the fermenter, say 300g

From what I understand it the Boston Cream is a far cry from the BJCP style 'cream ale'... but would agree with US05 ahead of the W, but in saying that use what you have, only difference is temp of ferment

 

[bradmcm]

Hi Dalpets.

What we would have done was given you 2.5 kg of Joe White ale malt and a bittering hop, so that after mashing and boiling you would have what would have happened if you had used a 1.5kg tin of bittered malt extract (a beer 'kit'), only a much tastier wort.
Then you would brew the Masterbrew as per the bag's instructions and add that to the wort in the fermenter.
You must have asked us to supply a lager yeast, usually we would have supplied US-05.

As BoilerBoy suggested, the kit is not really worth worrying about any more.
The kits were designed to be used with in weeks of purchase, and unfortunately this one has been sitting around for at least three years by my reckoning. The hops would be ruined and even though the bags are sealed, the hops sitting at room temperature for those years would be rank. I doubt very much you would get much extraction from the crushed grain either.


If you need more help, drop Phil & I a line at the address in the signature line below.


Cheers,
Brad