Blonde Thai Ale

So I've been trying to come up with a nice refreshing ale for the summer time and I'm going to experiment with this recipe on Friday. I work in a kitchen with a bunch of Thai people and I really enjoy a lot of the herbs and spices they use in their food. I already bought my extract, malt and hops but for the rest I'm open to suggestions. I've never used a lot of adjuncts in my recipes, but I figure if I don't like it I can always give it to the dudes I work with.

Grain Bill:
3.3 lbs Light LME
2 lbs Extra Light DME
2 lbs American 2 Row
1.5 lbs White Wheat Malt
8 oz Honey Malt

Hops:
.5 oz Sorachi Ace @60 min
.5 oz Sorachi Ace @10 min
1 oz Sorachi Ace @ Flameout

Adjuncts: All added at 10 min
4 oz minced Ginger
2 stalks Lemongrass (maybe just one?)
10 Kafir lime leaves
1 Lime - zested (might be a bit overkill o the citrus?)
1 oz Coriander

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

Let me know what you guys think. I have a feeling that I went a little crazy on all the citrus flavorings, but each one adds its own unique character.

What? No nam pla? Just kidding. It sounds interesting, although I'm not sure about the Sorachi Ace single-hop (seems like the dill aroma might clash with the other flavors). Also, that seems like quite a bit of ginger. I've done a ginger cider with several ounces of grated fresh ginger, and it was quite pronounced.

Have you thought about doing the aromatics in secondary instead of boiling them, for a cleaner aroma?

Hmm I've never used Sorachi Ace, but I read it has a lemongrass/lemon flavor so i thought it would match well. I also have an oz of Amarillo in the freezer that I've been looking to use up.

As far as the amount of ginger goes I've read a lot of mixed reviews. Some people say an ounce is way too strong and some say they can barely taste the 10 oz they put in. Maybe I'll cut it back to 2 oz and see what happens.

Bassaholic said:

Hmm I've never used Sorachi Ace, but I read it has a lemongrass/lemon flavor so i thought it would match well. I also have an oz of Amarillo in the freezer that I've been looking to use up.

As far as the amount of ginger goes I've read a lot of mixed reviews. Some people say an ounce is way too strong and some say they can barely taste the 10 oz they put in. Maybe I'll cut it back to 2 oz and see what happens.

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IME just under a lb spread through the boil and dry hop made a very and gingery amber for me, with surprisingly little heat to it. Then again im a
ginger-holic!

Wow a full pound of ginger seems a bit intense to me. I don't wanna cover up the other flavors.

Reminds me of this beer. They make it work pretty well

http://westbrookbrewing.com/beers/all/year-round/white-thai/

Xpertskir said:

Reminds me of this beer. They make it work pretty well

http://westbrookbrewing.com/beers/all/year-round/white-thai/

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Huh I've never heard of that brewery before. But that's pretty much the same idea I was going for. I was originally planning a Wit, but figured a clean American Ale yeast would work out a little better.

Well I just finished brewing this and it smelled/tasted amazing. I ended up adding an ounce of Amarillo @ 10 minutes just to use them up. I'll keep updating this thread as it ferments and let you guys know how it turned out.

Let us know the results because, IMHO, the recipe makes my tongue wag! It sounds delicious and I may steal that idea for my first summer batch.

It was fermenting like crazy for the past couple days and it smelled wonderful. It's beginning to clear up a little bit so ill probably take a gravity reading in a few days. The wort sample was really tasty but its hard to tell if anything was overpowered because it was so sweet.

What was your OG? Curious as I brewed this yesterday

My OG ended up being a few points higher than I expected. It came out at 1.068 and right now it's been at 1.017 for the last few days so ill probably bottle later on this week. My gravity samples tasted great. There was a good balance of all the flavors and the honey malt gave it a nice sweetness. I'm really pleased with the recipe.

Cool. Mine was lower, at 1.043. Smelled really good with those Sorachi hops and is already fermenting pretty good less than 12 hours in

Xpertskir said:

Reminds me of this beer. They make it work pretty well

http://westbrookbrewing.com/beers/all/year-round/white-thai/

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I had this recently and it was AMAZING.

So it's possible that I didn't do the calculations right but my ABV is around 3.5? Seems lower than it should be. Anyways, it tasted alright when I bottled (although I'd cut down on the ginger next time). About 2 weeks left until final product should be ready

Sorry, I didn't see your post. I'm not sure how your abv came out so low. Mine was nearly 7% so maybe your hydrometer is broken or there was a problem with your mash. I agree with the ginger being overpowering at bottling, but after tasting it fully carbed I'd say increasing the lemongrass and other citrus flavors is the way to go. The ginger becomes a little smoother with age. I'll definitely have to brew this again and tweak the recipe to get more of a citrus punch.

I've got a refractometer and have triple checked numbers. Oh well, at least it tastes good! Agreed about your comment on the ginger being less intense after full carbonation. Good stuff, I'll have to rebrew and make sure I'm more careful with the mash I guess

Brez07 said:

I've got a refractometer and have triple checked numbers. Oh well, at least it tastes good! Agreed about your comment on the ginger being less intense after full carbonation. Good stuff, I'll have to rebrew and make sure I'm more careful with the mash I guess

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A refractometer is only good for measuring OG. It cannot determine FG accurately because of the alcohol that is now being produced. Several threads on here explain the science. Use a hydrometer to get your FG and ABV.

HeavyKettleBrewing said:

A refractometer is only good for measuring OG. It cannot determine FG accurately because of the alcohol that is now being produced. Several threads on here explain the science. Use a hydrometer to get your FG and ABV.

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I've read the threads but appreciate the advice. There is a conversion you can do to factor in the alcohol when measuring FG, but even without that it wouldn't explain the huge difference in results.

Bassaholic said:

Sorry, I didn't see your post. I'm not sure how your abv came out so low. Mine was nearly 7% so maybe your hydrometer is broken or there was a problem with your mash. I agree with the ginger being overpowering at bottling, but after tasting it fully carbed I'd say increasing the lemongrass and other citrus flavors is the way to go. The ginger becomes a little smoother with age. I'll definitely have to brew this again and tweak the recipe to get more of a citrus punch.

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Bassaholic, Sorry for reviving an old thread. Have you made any changes or improvements to your original recipe? I'm considering getting this brew going soon. Thanks in advance.