Orange Creamsicle Cream Ale recipe

This is a killer homebrew recipe, perfectly suited for the summer. I served it at a charity event open to the public and people were going crazy over it, even offering me money for a batch! I even heard rumors that middle aged women were gossiping about it in the bathroom. The key aspects are a velvety mouthfeel, multiple sources of orangey goodness, and a LOT of high quality vanilla.

Specifics
5.5 gallons
OG: 1.057
IBUs: Very little
SRM: 3.0
Mash temp: 160*F (it's high, but trust me)

Water
You want to use fairly soft water, though getting into the details isn't really necessary. My strategy is to cut my tap water 50% with distilled or RO water. Spring water would be fine too.

Fermentables
6 lbs Pilsner Malt
3 lbs Flaked Oats

Unfermentables
1.5 lbs Lactose (yes, it's a huge amount)

Hops
0.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria at flameout (could sub anything orangey such as El Dorado or Summit)

Flavorings
Zest of 4 blood oranges, 4 minneola tangerines, and 2 seville oranges added at flameout
6 tablespoons high quality vanilla extract into fermenter
1 teaspoon McCormick orange extract (yes, the cheap stuff) into fermenter

Yeast
US-05 or similar very clean American ale yeast

Fermentation
You want this to be very clean, so ferment on the low side. 62*F is about right. It may taste a little weird after 2 weeks, that's likely just the yeast interacting with some of the flavor compounds from the zest and extract. Give it a bit more time, the flavors in this won't fade all that quickly.

Details
The biggest thing in this beer is balancing the orange and vanilla notes. This will somewhat depend on the fruit you can get your hands on and the extract you're using. You definitely want bold oranges, so seville/sour oranges and blood oranges are great. Minneola tangerines are fantastic as well, they may be more important than the oranges. If you can't find the exact fruit in the recipe, don't worry, just use a few extra regular oranges and/or a couple extra tangerines. You really can't overdo it. You want to pick the darkest orange fruits you can find, and then remove the zest with a microplane. You don't want the bitter white pith, and you definitely do not want to add the juice. I typically squeeze the juice and have breakfast for dinner on brewday, it's wonderful.

Many people favor adding zest to the fermenter, but I find that this leads to a flavor that doesn't 'meld' into the beer as well. A flameout addition does a wonderful job, and I much prefer it personally.

The McCormick orange extract seems a bit silly, but if you taste it, it tastes almost exactly like the orange character in a creamsicle. That makes sense, since frozen treats like that are typically made as cheaply as possible. So, combining the fresh zest and the inexpensive orange extract flavor gives you a great well-rounded character. You may want to add more extract, what you should do is pull a sample, add more extract to taste, and trust your palate.

The vanilla is the same way, you may wind up needing more than the 6 tablespoons in the recipe. The whole beer is based on this vanilla note, so don't be afraid to make it bold. I've used both high quality store bought extract, and homemade, both work quite well. I'd recommend Madagascar vanilla beans if you make your own extract.

Nielson-Malley vanilla is always good

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So that's the recipe, you're now well armed to make a crowd-pleasing homebrew that'll have everyone wondering what brewery you work at!