Extract Centennial Blonde-ish start to finish

Hey all... third solo batch time, thought it would be cool to document with pics here. Noobing it up and showing you how easy it is to noob it up as well. We don't need kits and instructions... just a recipe and some ingredients.

This is based on BMs Centennial Blonde extract recipe with some small changes.

Boil size: 5 gal
Batch size: 5 gal (top up after boil to account for evaporation)

6 lbs Golden light DME
1 lb Carapils
.5 oz Centennial pellets
.5 oz Cascade pellets
1 packet Nottingham

Steep carapils in 5 gal water @ 160 degrees for 20 min
Bring to boil add 1.5 lbs DME
.25 oz Centennial @ 45 min
.25 oz Centennial @ 25 min
.25 oz Cascade and rest of DME @ 15 mins
.25 oz Cascade @ 5 min

Cool to 60ish and pitch one packet Nottingham.

Estimated OG 1.055
Actual OG 1.052
Estimated IBUs: ~20

Cost me 30 bucks for everything at the LHBS. I'll have hops left over.






Crushing carapils like a boss. Bonus points for spilling them everywhere.









More to come. Time to make SWMBO breakfast.

To ensure complete noobness... it is important that both your primary and secondary tanks are almost empty.













Well... after a three hour delay due to a kid that would not go to sleep, i'm getting started.

People often ask, "How do you brew with a kid?"

Well, this is how. Get yourself an iPad and a Microwave to time your hop additions.

Steeped Carapils @ 160° for 20 mins, then I - very scientifically - added ~1.5 lbs of DME to the pot.








Hop additions... rest of DME added @ 15 mins, 4.5 lbs.





Cool your wort using sweet, sweet, SoDak winter.





Was ready to pitch in about 4 hours with stirring and sitting... yep, next investment is an IC.



DON'T FEAR THE FOAM!





Shake the crap out of it... pitched yeast dry. Blowoff tube and you're done.





.003 Shy of estimate at 1.052



And that's how it's done. Incorrectly.

It's alive! Right around 34 hrs after pitching Nottingham... might not have needed the blow-off tube after all, but we'll see. I've only used SA-04 previously and needed a blow-off for both of those.

Temp has risen to ~68° from 65-66°, I think that's as warm as it will get, but if it gets any warmer, I'll be moving it to the cement floor.










4 Hours later... damn am I glad I had my blow-off tube on. Don't think I'd ever ferment without it. Temp is @ 67°... good enough for me.

Update: Day 8

Well, it's the 8th day and I had planned to bottle this brew this coming weekend. I did end up moving the fermenter to the cement floor. The temp during initial fermentation got up to 69°, and I was able to knock off 6° by setting it on the floor. Fermented out at ~63°.

Let's see how the Notty did so far:








Wow... killer yeast. I'm suspecting 1.010 is about as low as it'll get. I'll take two more readings and start the cold crash on Wednesday if it is indeed done.

Yes, this is one fat blonde, clocking in at ~5.5% ABV.

Color is great (no green hue, as the photo suggests... crappy cell camera), and the taste is somewhat akin to a warm/flat Budweiser with a bit more maltiness to it. This will definitely be an easy drinking beer, chilled with some carbonation, of course.

It was a bit cloudy yet, but that's to be expected.

Things seem to be going well.



Day 9: SG is once again 1.010, taste is "good" (tastes like a BMC with more malt flavor)... this brew is done.

Starting cold crash today. Depending on how it looks, I may hit it with gelatin, but I suspect I won't need it for this beer.




Day 11: What the hell? I'm doing everything "wrong" to begin with (fermented 8 days before cold crashing)... why not go ahead and fine with gelatin? Throwing caution to the wind again and seeing where it gets me.

There was still some noticeable hazy-ness after two days crashing around 38°, so I'm fining this one. I really want it to sparkle BUT, I also want to get this into the bottle as soon as possible (two ends working against one another).

Picked up some Knox unflavored gelatin and stirred half a packet into cold water, heated to 155° and dumped directly into the carboy (minimizing splashing) and gave the carboy a nice gentle swirl. I could see the gelatin going into solution as soon as I poured it in, but couldn't get a good picture of it, looked neat and scary at the same time. I'm interested in how this will turn out.









And ~20 hours later, Gelatin is already pulling crap to the bottom and leaving the top pretty clear. Notice the white spots stuck to the side, just above the trub. That's what is being pulled out, assuming they are gelatin/protein blobs.

Bottled this today... day 14. One man operation, 1.5 hrs start to finish. Thank you 1/2" auto siphon.

Well... this brew turned out pretty darn good. Definitely like a Budweiser with more hop/malt character... if I were to do it again, I would probably add another flavoring addition and dry hop, but not too much. Very clear beer, the gelatin worked wonders, 28 days brew to glass, bottle conditioned for 2 weeks. Fermented with Notty 9 days at ~68° peak - finished out at 63°. Cold crashed on day 9, fined with gelatin day 11 and bottled day 14.