Horchata Cream Ale All Grain Beer Recipe Kit

Horchata Cream Ale Creamy cinnamon, smooth vanilla, and the soft character of horchata in a pale, easy-drinking cream ale. Horchata Cream Ale takes the familiar flavors and texture of the classic rice-based drink and builds them into a smooth, pale beer. A clean Pilsner malt base stays out of the way so creamy cinnamon, backed by vanilla, can shine. Rice, lactose, cinnamon, and vanilla represent the familiar horchata ingredients, while oats add a soft, pillowy mouthfeel that mirrors the texture of horchata. At around 5% ABV with restrained bitterness, it is lightly sweet, softly hazy, and easy drinking without turning into a heavy dessert beer. Tasting Notes Aroma: Cinnamon and smooth vanilla over a clean, lightly sweet grain background. Appearance: Pale straw to light gold with a soft haze and creamy white head. Flavor: Creamy cinnamon leads with smooth vanilla and gentle sweetness over a clean Pilsner malt base. Low bitterness keeps the finish refreshing. Mouthfeel: Soft and smooth with a slightly starchy oat character, rounded sweetness, and an easy-drinking finish. Brewing Notes Style: Horchata Cream Ale / Fruit and Spice Beer Brewing Method: All Grain Grain Bill: 9 lb Pilsner Malt, 2 lb Flaked Rice, 1 lb Flaked Oats Fermentation Range: 65 to 70°F OG: 1.057 FG: 1.019 IBU: 16.6 ABV: 5.0% Looking for the extract version? Check out the Horchata Cream Ale Extract Kit. Behind the Brew From the start, we wanted this to feel like horchata in beer form, not just a cream ale with cinnamon and vanilla added to it. Rice and lactose help build that familiar horchata character, while the clean Pilsen malt keeps the base light and leaves plenty of room for the cinnamon and vanilla to shine. The first test batch also showed us exactly what we did not want from the cinnamon. A full 60-minute boil gave it a much softer, faintly fruity and floral character. That expression works beautifully in beers where cinnamon needs to blend into other spices, but horchata needs recognizable cinnamon. We moved the addition to the final 10 minutes of the boil, the same timing already proven in our Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout. Texture was the last piece. Tasting horchata during development made its soft, slightly starchy mouthfeel impossible to ignore, so we added a full pound of oats to help recreate that character in the finished beer. The final mashable grain bill is deliberately simple: 9 lb Pilsner malt for a clean base, 2 lb flaked rice because rice belongs at the heart of a horchata-inspired beer, and 1 lb flaked oats for that distinctive soft texture. We also use 15 grams of vanilla powder, an ingredient and dosage already proven in our Orange Dreamin' Cream Ale. Explore More Kits Vanilla Porter Pumpkin Spice Latte Stout Spiced Apple Ale