I’ve been a big fan of milkshake style beers for some time. I love how they’re fruity, creamy, and just all around tasty AF. Check my Enigmanilla recipe for some background on the style. For this iteration, I was a little closer to the style by adding fruit in addition to the vanilla beans and lactose. I live near Modist Brewing and they’ve been pumping out some nice milkshake style beers (their shook series). Another brewery from MN, Omni, has been pumping out some amazing milkshake ipa’s with their malt shop series. Now, my turn.
I started with a base of 2 row and golden promise, at a 2:1 ratio. I then added some oat malt and wheat for a creamy body, then a touch of flaked oats and honey malt for silkiness and sweetness. I’ve brewed a similar beer, but I tweaked the recipe slightly. I didn’t want this beer to be hoppy, I wanted the strawberries to shine, but still have some hop aroma. I added a little bittering hops at 60 minutes, an ounce of rakau hops at 5 minutes, and an ounce of mosaic at flameout with a little dry hop action with rakau and mosaic before going on the fruit. Check the recipe.
Strawberry Milkshake Ale
Batch Size |
Boil Time |
IBU |
SRM |
Est. OG |
Est. FG |
ABV |
3 gal |
60 min |
~22.74 |
5.29 SRM |
1.077 |
1.024 |
6.88% |

Fermentables
Name |
Amount |
% |
American 2-row |
4 lbs |
44.3 |
UK Golden Promise |
2 lbs |
22.1 |
Fawcett Oat Malt |
1.5 lb |
16.6 |
American Red Wheat |
.5 lbs |
5.5 |
Lactose |
6.52 oz |
4.5 |
Flaked Oats |
4 oz |
4.2 |
Honey Malt |
4 oz |
2.8 |
Hops
Name |
Amount |
Time |
Use |
Form |
Alpha % |
Chinook |
3.5 g |
60 min |
Boil |
extract |
13 |
Rakau |
1 oz |
5 min |
Boil |
pellet |
10.5 |
Mosaic |
1 oz |
0 min |
Flameout |
pellet |
12.5 |
Rakau |
1 oz |
2 days |
Dry hop |
pellet |
10.5 |
Mosaic |
1 oz |
3 days |
Dry hop |
pellet |
12.5 |
Other
Name |
Amount |
Time |
Use |
Form |
Lactose |
6.52 oz |
15 min |
Boil |
Non-fermentable sugar |
Vanilla Bean |
1 each |
5 days |
Secondary |
Spice |
Strawberries |
3 lbs |
5 days |
Secondary |
Fruit |
Yeast
Name |
Lab |
Attenuation |
Temperature |
London III |
Yeast |
72-76% |
64°F – 74°F |
Mash
Step |
Temperature |
Time |
Mash |
155°F |
50 min |
Water
Calcium |
Magnesium |
Sodium |
Chloride |
Sulfate |
123 |
2 |
12 |
151 |
77 |
Fermentation
Step |
Time |
Temperature |
Primary |
7 days |
Ambient (~68) |
Secondary |
5 days |
Ambient (~68) |
Notes
Brewed: 1/8/19 | OG: 1.062 | FG: 1.018 | Kegged: 1/20/19 | ABV: 6.04%
Minneapolis tap water: 1 g gypsum, 3 g calcium chloride (mash) | campden | yeast nutrient @ 15
Vanilla bean to primary (split, scraped, & soaked in vodka for 1 week) | Fruit mashed up and added.
+.26 abv for fruit via this.
Over some brews I’m realizing oat malt really drops my efficiency, so I’m going to go back to flaked oats in my future recipes/ adjusting for the loss.