Blonde Ale Centennial Blonde (Simple 4% All Grain, 5 & 10 Gall)

PartTimeJedi said:

Brewed this yesterday, gearing up for summer. Gravity ended up being 1.044, so I would say that was pretty spot on...Really excited to try it! Thanks BierMuncher!:rockin:

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I just got done brewing this and got 1.042 OG. I'm pretty stoked at my efficiency since this is only my second brewing experience. Did AG BIAB 1.5 gal small batch. Only took 3.5 hours. I'm very ready to try this one in a few weeks.

MarcusKillion said:

I agree with brewmasterbates . Blondes are low on the flavor side . They do not have all them specialty grains that make other beers rich flavored and thus too much hops would make them quite hoppy like a pale ale . I like mine a bit more hoppy so I like to dry hop blondes with hallertauer or kent goldings or fuggles .

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Thanks guys. That makes a lot of sense about too much hops makes it a light pale ale. I don't want that either. I might just up the flavor addition by 1/4 to 1/2 oz.

I did use Notty. What about a yeast like Wyeast Whitbread 1099 or any of the yeasts that leave a slightly more malty flavor? I don't want this to become what it's not, I just want a bit more flavor than what I'm getting.

Spinrathen said:

Thanks, I'm debating doing the exact same thing so am curious to know results.

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Just bottled the strawberry blonde. The picture is the dregs of the bottling bucket which had just a thin film of trub settled out on the bottom. Definite strawberry nose and sweet flavor. Hopefully it will clear some in the bottles. Tastes good when flat and a little warm, looking forward to it with a week or more of bottle time.

Brewed it up this weekend. Couldn't get Crystal 10, so went with 15. Might be a smidge darker, but shouldn't be too noticeable!

This was the inaugural brew on my new stand. Efficiency hit 78% on a LHBS-crush. Not bad!

Excited to see how this turns out!

Cider123 said:

Thanks guys. That makes a lot of sense about too much hops makes it a light pale ale. I don't want that either. I might just up the flavor addition by 1/4 to 1/2 oz.

I did use Notty. What about a yeast like Wyeast Whitbread 1099 or any of the yeasts that leave a slightly more malty flavor? I don't want this to become what it's not, I just want a bit more flavor than what I'm getting.

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I can not say about yeast as I almost exclusively use Safale 05 or nottingham . How ever if you just want a bit more hop flavor add it in late or use a bit more flavor hops or add in some DME perhaps . I usually add in DME to most of my partial mash kits to get a little more flavor and ABV . Should work for this I guess.
If you are not in a hurry maybe dry hop it . Maybe take a gallon out and dry hop that with what ever hops you like and see how that turns out . i use a gallon water jug for doing that . I just drilled a hole in the cap and put in a grommet and stick in a air lock . Tape around the cap to make sure it is sealed off. Nice for trying out stuff without ruining 5 G of otherwise good beer.
If you add in your bitter hops at a later time in the boil you will get more hop flavor and less bitter .
If you dry hop you will get more aroma than flavor I think and not much bitter at all.

I made a 2 1/4 gallon extract batch of this and tossed it in my Mr. Beer LBK last Wednesday. I took a hydrometer sample tonight and it was only 1.014 and the test sample still had bubbles, but I tasted the sample and it was awesome. I can't wait to get it for it to finish and get it bottled. What kind of FG have some of the others who did extract get?

It was my second batch, first was a NB kit, and am quite pleased. I tried to have it ready for when my BMC drinking dad comes in about a week and a half, but I don't think it will make it (or at least won't be fully carbed). I had my fingers crossed that I'd be able to bottle tomorrow, but I don't see that happening. I'll have to see what he thinks about the Irish Red that is ready instead.

Thanks for the great recipe! I might step up to BIAB next time and compare.

Awesome thanks, can't wait to hear how great the strawberry version tastes!

Hmmm, just noticed my cooling plug wasn't properly attached to my stc-1000 box. Pitched about 24 hours ago and its prob been at 72 most of that time. Any off flavors i can expect?

I ask because I've read a bunch of threads about people hating on nottingham beers fermented above 70 or so as being terrible.

just kegged my first 5 gallon batch of the Blonde. Quite possibly the lightest beer I've ever brewed. Tastes good. I'm dry hopping this with a 1/2 oz of Saaz 2.4AA in the keg while conditioning to give it a little more flavor. FG was 1.008-1.009. I'll call it 4.9 ABV. so far I'm thinking it will come out well.

Any thoughts on using S-33 on this?

I ferment at 72 degrees room temp all the time . the beer will actually be about 3 degrees warmer . Never noticed any bad flavors . Do not allow it to reach 80 or you will get flavors you do not want but may or may not be bad tasting .
How ever Danstar nottingham is 54 to 70 recommended . I doubt going a bit over is going to lead to bad anything it is just the optimal temps for the process to work in .
I like safale 05 because it goes up to 74 degrees and my rooms are at 72 most of the time .
that is my opinion anyway from brewing millions of gallons of beer ( okay that may be stretching it just a little ) with almost all notty or safale . your mileage may vary

I have some problems on the last two batches done with danstar from my LHBS . Did not seem to be very healthy yeast . No action when I added in some sugar to test it after rehydration . so this time in this brew I just tested my FG at 1.013 after 4 days . Not good in my opinion . so I just rehydrated a pack of safale05 and it is good . Added that in through the air lock grommet with a funnel . Should have used the safale in the first place after I rehydrated the notty and it did not look in good shape . My bad .
So my point is , we will see what re pitching yeast after 4 days fermentation does for this beer

I don't know why I hear all this "I had a problem with the danstar notty 05", I have used this yeast, oh maybe 25 times and NEVER had a problem with it. It tastes so outstanding, I have a hard time NOT using it. Why are people having issues with this yeast? Normally, I pitch a 1 qt starter with some golden/light DME, let it spin for 48 hrs to double the yield. Then cool my wort to 65 degrees, stir in yeast while airating seal it up and it ferments out in usually 3/4 days. Gives my golden ales an absolutly delicious taste. I just don't know what the hell people are doing to botch this.

one other thing, is anyone here checking and/or adjust their water PH? We use water from the springs at Saratoga. We have noticed that it changes all the time. Sometimes it at 7.0, last time it was 8.0. So we have added some gypsum to the boil water, and have to add some lactic acid (approx 5-7 drops) into the mash. Usually, these yellow beers need some sort of additives we have found over time. If you are not checking you water, or making adjustments to it, you could be opening yourself up to off flavors. cool site to check out is brewinwater.com, interesting info there for beer geeks.

brewmasterbates said:

I don't know why I hear all this "I had a problem with the danstar notty 05", I have used this yeast, oh maybe 25 times and NEVER had a problem with it. It tastes so outstanding, I have a hard time NOT using it. Why are people having issues with this yeast? Normally, I pitch a 1 qt starter with some golden/light DME, let it spin for 48 hrs to double the yield. Then cool my wort to 65 degrees, stir in yeast while airating seal it up and it ferments out in usually 3/4 days. Gives my golden ales an absolutly delicious taste. I just don't know what the hell people are doing to botch this.

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A lot of people don't make a starter, so you would know you had a problem before you pitched if you did get a bad batch. There have been problems with different lots of notty in the past. I've personally never had any problems, but lots of people have. I think it has less to do with them and more to do with quality or shipping problems on danstars end.

Interesting, at my local zyrmgyst, all the yeast is dated and fresh, and always refrigerated. I have never gotten a bad yeast out of the 100 or so brews we've done. Also, I have never ordered anything in the mail, wouldn't trust it.

brewmasterbates said:

Interesting, at my local zyrmgyst, all the yeast is dated and fresh, and always refrigerated. I have never gotten a bad yeast out of the 100 or so brews we've done. Also, I have never ordered anything in the mail, wouldn't trust it.

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Ya I wouldn't order yeast by mail either. Some people don't have any other option though I guess.

When I first tried this beer young I was like "yuck" but as it aged out it started tasting really good. Of all the batches I done since switching to AG it's been the only one that I actually liked! Now that the keezer is operational I think I may have a go at it again. Of course I gotta try one from my 200 Clone Beer book first.

brewmasterbates said:

I don't know why I hear all this "I had a problem with the danstar notty 05", I have used this yeast, oh maybe 25 times and NEVER had a problem with it. It tastes so outstanding, I have a hard time NOT using it. Why are people having issues with this yeast? Normally, I pitch a 1 qt starter with some golden/light DME, let it spin for 48 hrs to double the yield. Then cool my wort to 65 degrees, stir in yeast while airating seal it up and it ferments out in usually 3/4 days. Gives my golden ales an absolutly delicious taste. I just don't know what the hell people are doing to botch this.

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never used a starter before . I just rehydrate and sometimes add in a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to see if the yeast is healthy. always had real good luck with it but seems the last two batches did not ferment out good . I did do one thing different on them . I used a paint stirrer on a drill to aerate the wort which made a huge amount of foam from the rice I would guess and may not be adding in enough oxygen since the foam could be carrying out the oxygen and not allowing it to mix in .
but I did check one packet of yeast and it did not react to the sugar so I am sure it was just old or something .
the only two problems I have ever had with Notty . Great yeast in my opinion

Spinrathen said:

Ya I wouldn't order yeast by mail either. Some people don't have any other option though I guess.

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I made that mistake once . Ordered liquid and it came while I was at work and sat on the porch in 100 degree weather for who knows how long and also took 4 days to get here .

From the OP's original recipe, what could I do to turn this into a nice hoppy IPA.....Could someone post a good hop schedule ?

Will still be pretty cheap, @ Brewmasters right now I'm at $19.03 for just the recipe.

****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)


Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

Are you saying you want to use this grain bill but make it super hoppy? Kinda like a session IPA? If we're just talking hop schedule I would probably do something like this:

1.0 oz Centennial 60 min
1.0 oz Centennial 15 min
1.0 oz Cascade 5 min
1.0 oz Cascade at flameout

Dry hop with 1.0 each of Centennial and Cascade

Fairly mild hop bill, no hop bomb but it would probably give you a nice session IPA.

^ I dunno? That looks pretty hoppy to me using 1 ounce each.......

But, regarding the grain bill, what would I change to make it into an actual IPA/APA ? It doesn't look like it would take a whole lot of adjustment does it ?

dstranger99 said:

^ I dunno? That looks pretty hoppy to me using 1 ounce each.......

But, regarding the grain bill, what would I change to make it into an actual IPA/APA ? It doesn't look like it would take a whole lot of adjustment does it ?

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I would up the OG to about 1.060-1.070 by upping the pale and Vienna. I might even swap out the Vienna for some MO. I would lower the cara-pils to about 5% and swap 10L crystal for maybe 20L too. That's just my suggestion to get it to IPA status.

I'd also go look in the IPA recipe section and check the BJCP though.

Also if you are going for a "session" IPA I would think that would be a pale ale.

dstranger99 said:

^ I dunno? That looks pretty hoppy to me using 1 ounce each.......

But, regarding the grain bill, what would I change to make it into an actual IPA/APA ? It doesn't look like it would take a whole lot of adjustment does it ?

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Haha I guess it's all relative, my last IPA had nearly 13 oz of hops, so I didn't think 6 oz was over the top

gcdowd said:

Haha I guess it's all relative, my last IPA had nearly 13 oz of hops, so I didn't think 6 oz was over the top

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I agree. I just used 5.5ozs in a IIPA that was 3gals... Mind you I did have an OG of 1.097

I wouldn't mind upping the hops in the OPs recipe for a bit more flavor and aroma. Maybe bumping it up into the low 30s by only adding to the 20min addition and 5min addition with either flame out or dry hops.

Just bottled her up, my first AG BIAB (3 gallon). Smelled wonderful - pure, clean, refreshing. Efficiency was a tad weak, 1.036 OG, 1.008 FG. Tasty sample from hydrometer. Two weeks in primary, now I have to wait for the bottles. I will be sampling one in a week though! Thanks again BM, my wife's friends are gonna like this I think, along with the guys.

we call the early sampling, hasty pudding..lol I can never wait 3/4 weeks for carb to happen. We also keg, but there's just something about those bottle conditioned ones that are just soooo damn good.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2013/04/12/brewing-water-treatment-in-600-words/

for those of you interested in altering your water, or wanting to know more, check this out.

Just kegged a batch of this I brewed a few weeks ago plus threw 1/2 oz of cascade in a stainless steel tea ball I got at the mall. This is going to be good! I'll end up sampling tomorrow.

Just finished a BIAB batch of this. The only change was using some bottle harvested bell's yeast from some 2 hearted ale. It's my first all grain. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Just brewed 11 gallons of this 2 days ago. Had a slight issue with efficiency (69%), which put my gravity low at 1.038. I added an additional 1/2 oz of whole leaf cascade split between 15 minutes and 2 minutes. I used wlp051 cal ale V, instead of Nottingham. Has anyone used this yeast for this beer? Was this an appropriate substitution? I've gotten in the habit of making starters and made one for this beer. I'm pretty sure I overpitched and probably should have just used the dry Nottingham. How far from the original should I expect it to be?

brewing this up right now for the special lady in my life. She isn't too big into my IPA's and Stouts so this should hit the spot for her!

Curious about the effect adding a half pound of honey malt to this recipe? I know it will darken it a bit, but still well within style. Just looking for a hint of honey flavour. Anyone tried it?

Currently in the process of brewing 5 gal of this stuff. Anybody dry hopped with cascade yet? I love the aroma of it so I'm thinking of 1/2 oz of cascade just thrown in primary at 3 weeks for 1 week.

About half of my first keg is now gone.

It's a good beer to brew on the cheap. But it's missing something for me.

I think for some reason I expected it to have a Centennial hop type aftertaste. Clearly it doesn't.

I may end up dry-hopping with some leaf Centennials I have for a sudo-Pale ale

Here's our recipe for this. All grain 8.25 gallons

boil size 10.50 gal : brewhouse efficiency 78%: total water needed 12.85 gallons

10 lbs 2-row pale malt
1 lb Caramel 10L
1 lb Vienna malt
1 lb carapils
12 oz honey malt

1.80 g gypsum (mash water)
1.20 g epsom salt (mash water)

mash in 4.1 gallons (Ph 5.4) 152 degrees F 60 minutes steep

fly sparge 8 gallons at 168 degrees F

add sparge water to achieve boil volume of 10.50 gallons

estimated pre-boil gravity of 1.038 SG

Boil Ingreients

0.35 oz Centennial (9.7%) boil for 45 minutes
0.35 oz Centennial (9.7%) boil 35 minutes
1.00 oz Cascade (6.2%) boil 20 minutes
1.00 oz Cascade (6.2%) boil 5 minutes

est post boil volume 9.35 gallons Est post boil gravity 1.044 SG

cool wort to ferm. temp

add yeast (.50 qrt starter) 1 pkg Danstar Notty 05 ale yeast (no starter, you may want 2 packages to have enough)

measure actual gravity target 1.044 (our last batch was 1.049)

measure actual batch volume of 8.25 gallons

final gravity est of 1.010 SG

est ABV 5.3%


we can't keep this around for long, it's just so damn good.

SwivelHips said:

Curious about the effect adding a half pound of honey malt to this recipe? I know it will darken it a bit, but still well within style. Just looking for a hint of honey flavour. Anyone tried it?

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we use honey malt in ours, (see my recipe in the post above), it will not add any sort of honey like sweetness to it. It will make it a bit more golden in color, and give it a more crisp, dry finish. that's pretty much it.

I brewed a 3.5 gallon batch of the extract version this weekend.

1 lb Carapils
3 lb DME
0.2 oz Centennial 45 mins
0.2 oz Centennial 25 mins
0.2 oz Cascade 10 mins
0.2 oz Cascade 5 mins

My OG was a little low but it's ferementing nicely now. Smells great.

Bier,

What temp did you ferment at?