Cream of Three Crops Cream Ale Recipe (All-Grain): 5 to 30 Gallons
An all-grain Cream of Three Crops recipe you can brew at 5 to 30 gallons: 4.5% ABV and 15 IBU, with the grain bill, hop schedule, yeast and step-by-step process.
In this post
Cream of Three Crops at a glance: 4.5% ABV, 15 IBU, OG 1.040. A very light, dry, crisp cream ale named for its three grains: barley, corn and rice. It’s cheap to brew and famous for converting lager drinkers.
Recipe credit: Cream of Three Crops by BierMuncher on HomeBrewTalk, #3 on HomeBrewTalk’s all-time Top 100. We’ve put it in our recipe card, scaled to 5 gallons at 72% efficiency, and kept the brewer’s gravity and hop schedule. See the original for the brewer’s own notes and the discussion.
Bräu Supply recipe · All-grain
Cream of Three Crops
Grain · for 5 gal into the fermenter
| 5.8 lb (2.63 kg) | Pale 2-row malt | 70% |
| 1.95 lb (0.88 kg) | Flaked corn (maize) | 24% |
| 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) | Flaked rice (or instant rice) | 6% |
Hops
| 0.5 oz (14 g) | Willamette · 5.2% AA | 60 min |
| 0.5 oz (14 g) | Crystal · 3.5% AA | 60 min |
Yeast and water
| 1 pkg | A clean ale yeast (Nottingham or US-05), or a Kölsch strain | |
| Water | Soft water. | |
Process
- Mash: 152°F (67°C) for 90 minutes for a dry finish
- Boil: 90 minutes
- Ferment: 60 to 64°F (16 to 18°C) for about 2 weeks
- Condition: Cold crash and keep cold for 1 to 2 weeks
- Carbonate: 2.6 volumes of CO₂
Brew it on
Based on 72% brewhouse efficiency and about 5.5 gal after the boil for a 5 gal batch. Adjust the base malt if your system runs higher or lower. Hops scale in a straight line; larger kettles extract a little more bitterness.
About this recipe
The brewer kept it deliberately simple: a single infusion mash, with the long 90-minute rest giving a highly fermentable wort. Their batch finished at 1.005, very dry with no graininess. Instant rice works in place of flaked rice, straight into the mash.
How to brew it
- Mash the barley, corn and rice at 152°F (67°C) for 90 minutes.
- Boil 90 minutes with both hop additions at 60 minutes.
- Chill to 60°F (16°C) and pitch.
- Ferment cool, 60 to 64°F (16 to 18°C), until the gravity is stable.
- Cold crash, keep it cold for a week or two, then package at about 2.6 volumes of CO₂.
Tips
- Ferment cool for the cleanest, most lager-like result.
- This recipe was written for 11.5 gallons; our card scales it to your batch size.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use instant rice?
Yes. The brewer used instant (minute) rice in place of flaked rice. Both are pre-cooked and go straight into the mash.
Why mash for 90 minutes?
A long mash makes the wort more fermentable, so the beer finishes very dry.
Related guides
Our cream ale recipe, Mexican lager recipe, ale vs lager fermentation.