Jimmy's Cream Ale 2-Gallon Beer Making Ingredient kit

Jimmy’s Cream Ale — 2 Gallon Kit

My oldest brother Jimmy was 23 years older than me, which meant he was less like a sibling and more like a force of nature that shaped how all of us turned out. The oldest of five — four boys and a girl — he set the tone. Smart, unpretentious, with a wicked sense of humor and a genuine delight in making people laugh. He pulled pranks, told jokes and teased with the kind of good nature that made you feel included rather than targeted. Kids especially loved him because he never really stopped being one himself. My son, my niece and his two goddaughters would have followed him anywhere.

He was an Air Force veteran who spent 30 years working for the FCC in Washington. He lived in a small house overlooking the Chesapeake Bay in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland — a place that suited him perfectly. When he visited us he’d come back to Arizona and we’d get the brothers together, tell stories, give each other a hard time and drink beer. When I got good enough at brewing I started making a light, easy drinking beer especially for those visits. We called it the Jimmy Beer.

Jimmy was diagnosed with ALS and died in 2019 at 75, about two years after he first noticed symptoms. It’s an awful disease and he deserved better. When I started Woodcock’s Beer Kits in 2020 there was never any question what to name our Cream Ale.

If you knew Jimmy, this beer is for him. If you didn’t, brew it on a hot day with people you love and raise a glass to someone you miss.

Cream Ale is about as unpretentious as beer gets — light, crisp and refreshing, with a flavor closer to a quality American lager than a craft ale. Rice syrup solids blended with malt extract give it its clean, bright character. No specialty grains, no complexity, no agenda. Just a cold beer that tastes exactly like what it is.

This was Jimmy’s kind of beer. It’s ours too.

No Temperature Control Required 

Our kits use a specially selected ale yeast that ferments cleanly across a remarkably wide temperature range — all the way up to 94°F — with no special equipment or monitoring required. Pitch the whole packet and let it work. Brew in July or January and it performs the same way.

The Dry Malt Difference

Our kits are made exclusively with dry malt extract. It’s more expensive than liquid malt extract but it doesn’t darken or pick up off flavors with age and temperature the way liquid extract does. Fresher ingredients, truer flavors — that’s why we’ve always used it and always will.

Color: Straw

Body: Low

Bitterness: Low

Hop Aroma and Flavor: Low

Alcohol: 5.3% ABV

IBU: 15

Kit includes: Dry malt extract blend, rice syrup solids, hops, dry yeast, carbonation drops, bottle caps and step-by-step instructions.

To brew this kit you’ll need: An 8-quart or larger pot, the equipment in our 2-Gallon Starter Kit, and about 22 clean bottles. A kitchen scale is helpful too.