First Attempt at a Blond Ale

**EdWort** · 08-21-2007, 05:31 PM

Here goes. Something new for me. I picked these ingredients because I have them all on hand and can brew at a moments notice.

Bee Cave Blonde

9# 2 Row Pils
2# Vienna
1/2# Flaked Barley

60 minute single infusion mash at 152 degrees.

1 oz. Hallertau at 45 min
.5 oz Hallertau at at 15 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 5 min

Ferment for 10 days at 65 degrees with Nottingham yeast.

O.G. 1.048
F.G. 1.010
IBUs 17
SRM 3
ABV 5.1%

Any thoughts? I think I'll whip up 5.5 gallons of this tomorrow evening.

wwest · 08-21-2007, 05:37 PM

Sounds nice and the ingredients + yeast seem style-appropriate, though I'm not really a blonde connoisseur. Happy brewing!

**Brewer3401** · 08-21-2007, 06:07 PM

You may want to do a protein rest with the Pils malt.

My grain bill:

Maris Otter 15.00 #
Carapils Dex. .50 #

Mash in at 152 F

Hop schedule: 45-30-15 minutes to get 17-19 ibu's

I force carb to around 2.60+

Kids love it. Goes great with crawfish, crabs, shrimp - most any boiled seafood.

**EdWort** · 08-21-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewer3401

You may want to do a protein rest with the Pils malt.

Thanks for the tip. My pils malt is from Canada and is pretty well modified. I don't use a protein rest for my Koslch and it turned out pretty well. If it was German Pils malt, then a protein rest would help as you suggest.

Some day I'll graduate to fancy decoction & multi temp mashes.

**BierMuncher** · 08-21-2007, 07:58 PM

Sounds like a low IBU for Mrs. EdWort. Do you think she'll approve?

**EdWort** · 08-21-2007, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BierMuncher

Sounds like a low IBU for Mrs. EdWort. Do you think she'll approve?

Yep. I think so. If this turns out, I may modify it for a lawnmower beer. I got the idea from a local brewpub where this guy's blonde ale was awesome. He told me he made with 80% pils, 5% flaked barley and something else along with only Hallertau hops. It was a very quaffable beer similar in body to my Haus Ale, but without the Cascade hoppiness.

Since I've pretty much perfected my standard beers, I'm looking to branch out for other enjoyable brewskis. They may not meet any standard style guidelines other than my own standards (which means they need to taste great).

boo boo · 08-22-2007, 11:06 AM

How did you get an SRM of 3?

I would assume that with the addition of vienna that it would go a lot higher than that. Say in the range of 4.

bandt9299 · 08-23-2007, 01:43 AM

I made a beer very similar to this and it came out great, the SRM was around 3 also. pilsner malt is 2 SRM and Vienna is usually 3 so it shouldn't be much darker than about 3. After further review mine was 4.2 SRM.

**EdWort** · 08-23-2007, 09:20 PM

Ok, here's the final cut. I'm about ready to add hops.

7# Pils
2# Vienna
8 oz. Carapils
8 oz. Flaked Barley

Mashed at 152 degrees for 90 minutes. Batch Sparged and extracted almost 7 gallons of wort.

This puppy is gonna be 3 SRM for sure.

90 minute boil to 5.5 gallons.

1 oz. Hallertau Herzbrucker 3.2 AA at 45 min
.5 oz Hallertau Herzbruckerat at 15 min.
.5 oz Hallertau Herzbruckerat at 5 min.

Nottingham Dry yeast.

Update: Only got 5 gallons in the bucket, so the 90 minute boil upped my O.G. two points.

O.G. is 1.050

I will ferment for 10 days at 65 degrees, then crash cool for a few days then keg. First tasting in 4 weeks after I drink the hydrometer jar.

**EdWort** · 09-03-2007, 06:48 PM

Took a hydrometer reading today after a couple days of crash cooling. It's finished at 1.007. Nottingham attenuates pretty darn well. It's a lot drier than I expected. It fermented at 65 degrees for a week before I dropped the temp.

Here's my hydrometer sample for the color.

At 11 days, it's pretty green and bitter like a German pils, but that should mellow out after a few weeks on gas in the keezer. I won't taste it again till two weeks from now.

So far I'm happy, but I may try a different yeast next time. Off in the keg it goes.