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

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Yeah I pretty much just use 05 and it needs a little extra time to settle but it is quite a clean yeast. Much more so than Notty I think.

The starter factor probably helps get you good results.
 
Been reading HBT for the last 3 months and first post. This was the 1st 5 gal All Grain batch I've made (moved up from partials). Still looks a bit cloudy in the keg but it still needs some time I'm guessing. Flavors are nice and clean I gotta say.

Thanks BM!
 
Been reading HBT for the last 3 months and first post. This was the 1st 5 gal All Grain batch I've made (moved up from partials). Still looks a bit cloudy in the keg but it still needs some time I'm guessing. Flavors are nice and clean I gotta say.

Thanks BM!
Welcome to the forum!

If I were you, I would brew the next batch of this beer soon (right now). This one goes fast.
 
You definitely need 2-3+ weeks with US05 for this beer to be awesome. I have used Wyeast 1056, and it was ready within 3 weeks. In my experience liquid yeast always gets the beer ready to serve little faster.

Man I hope you're right.

I tasted mine 5 days in and it was pretty dang bland, and def had plenty of yeast flavor left. Then again, that was FIVE days so there was tons of yeast still in suspension.

I'm really hoping that a nice cold crash sometime next week, followed by kegging/carbing and another wk to age will do the trick. That'd be 2wks aged, 2-3 days cold crashed, then maybe a week or so of conditioning.
 
BierMuncher said:
Yepper...

Decided to go to the trouble of freezing the bottles this time around when bottling and made a huge difference.

Next time you're in town...I'll give the beer I serve you the same consideration... ;)

Why would you freeze bottles before bottling? Never heard of this before...
 
chuckernorris said:
Why would you freeze bottles before bottling? Never heard of this before...

He was referring to freezing bottles before you fill them with a BMBF (BierMuncher bottle filler). It's a counter pressure bottle filler (think homemade Blichmann Beer Gun) for filling bottles from a keg. Warm bottle + cold beer =foamy mess.
 
I've brewed the original, seemed to me that it could have used more aroma. anyone try the last 2 hop additions doubled?

Well it is a blonde...not a pale. I'm sure you can turn it into a pale by upping the late hops and maybe slightly more bitter. Or you can brew a pale with similar hop variety and un complex grain bill.

BM's sierra nevada and kona fire rock are solid recipes.
 
Kyled93 said:
If you were to compare it to a commercial brew. What would be the closest? I have to brew a for a wedding in March and they requested a blonde..

In my opinion, is EXACTLY like [your favorite fizzy yellow beer] but about 50 times better.
 
I did my 8th batch of this yesterday. I can't wait. :p

I did the Wyeast 1056 with a 2 liter starter. 1 night into fermenting & it's bubbling like crazy! 70% efficiency. I'm going to dry hop an additional 1.0 oz of Cascade on top of the secondary of the for my 1st time ever. Sloose said it's awesome!

I do 12 days in the primary and 14 in the secondary before I keg. :D Sure it's a much longer aging process but this beer benefits with age.

BierMuncher is right, when Cascade is combined with Centennial................. Magic Happens!

Thanks Guys!
 
Been following this thread for about a month and finally brewed the extract version in post #10 using a 1 liter starter of wyeast 1056. In the primary at 14:00 active fermentation at 20:30, amazing.
 
i used nottingham, kegged after 7 days, and consumed on the 10th day. it was amazing. a new favorite
Mines been in the primary a 8 days. Cam I bottle this tomorrow to drink next weekend. I'm in crisis mode.

I'M OUT OF HOMEBREW!

The last batch I made was with old extraxt from a clearance sale. Taste was decent for a month but has soured in the last week.
 
Mines been in the primary a 8 days. Cam I bottle this tomorrow to drink next weekend. I'm in crisis mode.

I'M OUT OF HOMEBREW!

The last batch I made was with old extraxt from a clearance sale. Taste was decent for a month but has soured in the last week.

I think bottling takes longer. (never done it myself) If you could keg it then yes you could.
 
Mines been in the primary a 8 days. Cam I bottle this tomorrow to drink next weekend. I'm in crisis mode.

I'M OUT OF HOMEBREW!

The last batch I made was with old extraxt from a clearance sale. Taste was decent for a month but has soured in the last week.

No, probably not. Take some gravity readings. Beer should be in primary for at least 2-3 weeks. Wait the 3 weeks, you will regret it later if you bottle now.

Then it should really be bottle conditioned for 2-3 weeks. Doing a 1 week primary then 1 week conditioning period will not turn out well at all IME.

Also if the previous brew soured, I would step up my sanitation.
 
Mojzis said:
No, probably not. Take some gravity readings. Beer should be in primary for at least 2-3 weeks. Wait the 3 weeks, you will regret it later if you bottle now.

Then it should really be bottle conditioned for 2-3 weeks. Doing a 1 week primary then 1 week conditioning period will not turn out well at all IME.

Also if the previous brew soured, I would step up my sanitation.

I dunno I had mine in primary for about that long, bottled and tasted after 10 days in bottle and it was already really good... But really green. After 2 weeks it has quickly become a really smooth brew. For my setup I may alter my mash temp slightly because its a tad dry. Nonetheless, lots of "wow you made this?" comments
 
I dunno I had mine in primary for about that long, bottled and tasted after 10 days in bottle and it was already really good... But really green. After 2 weeks it has quickly become a really smooth brew. For my setup I may alter my mash temp slightly because its a tad dry. Nonetheless, lots of "wow you made this?" comments

Ageing will almost always provide an even better result. While fermentation can be done in one week, its usually a good idea to let it clear up, settle and consume secondary products of fermentation.

I wouldn't pop a bottle until at least 2 weeks. Of course I've opened at one week in the past (hasn't everyone?), but that's just one beer less when it peaks. IME anyway.
 
Thanks for the input. I don't want to mess up my first ag by rushing to bottles.
Especially since I know once it is bottled I won't be patient
 
I was in a bind so I poured half of two cornys together. They were this with notty and half of the 15 min boil recipie. All I can say is WOW. Combined one corney to the other then went to a gathering. I like both brew separate but dam.
 
I want to make this because I'm looking for a refreshing light ale but I'm just not excited by the hops. I do not like the citrus taste of Cascade and cascade-like hops at all.

I do want to be mindful to replace it with a hops that with provide some additional flavor. I don't want it to just come out like a BMC. I was thinking of using some german hops like Hersbrucker or maybe Mt.Hood or Liberty. I would use Beersmith to get the amounts needed for the IBU's listed in the recipe. It wouldn't be the Cent Blonde anymore, but I would hate to make 5 gallons and not like the taste.
 
Just brewed this yesterday with 1056, cant wait to try it! Looks to be one of the lightest colored beers I've brewed.

1056 is my favorite yeast I've tried out of it, Notty, and WLP001.

Ageing will almost always provide an even better result. While fermentation can be done in one week, its usually a good idea to let it clear up, settle and consume secondary products of fermentation.

I wouldn't pop a bottle until at least 2 weeks. Of course I've opened at one week in the past (hasn't everyone?), but that's just one beer less when it peaks. IME anyway.

No need to secondary this beer. Let it sit in the primary for two or three weeks. It will clear just fine. I've had this after a month in primary and grain to glass in less than 8 days. Both were delicious, but the longer primary definitely resulted in a clearer beer. The only way I would do 8 days again is give it one more day than I did the first time in primary, cold crash, and force carb at higher pressures than I did the first time to get it clearer and fewer pulls of yeasty beer from the bottom of the keg.

I want to make this because I'm looking for a refreshing light ale but I'm just not excited by the hops. I do not like the citrus taste of Cascade and cascade-like hops at all.

I do want to be mindful to replace it with a hops that with provide some additional flavor. I don't want it to just come out like a BMC. I was thinking of using some german hops like Hersbrucker or maybe Mt.Hood or Liberty. I would use Beersmith to get the amounts needed for the IBU's listed in the recipe. It wouldn't be the Cent Blonde anymore, but I would hate to make 5 gallons and not like the taste.

This beer is stupid cheap to make, especially if you're doing all grain. If you don't like it, everyone else will. This beer is delicious. Nothing crazy. The hops are just enough to let you know you're not drinking an MGD or comparable. I like having this beer around all the time.
 
jtkratzer said:
No need to secondary this beer.

Just to clear things up, allow time for secondary products of fermentation to be consumed is what was written. Not secondary this beer.
 
Kyled93 said:
If you were to compare it to a commercial brew. What would be the closest? I have to brew a for a wedding in March and they requested a blonde..

Like a lighter, less hoppy Sierra Nevada ... Or a Sam Adams pale ale (not Boston pale ale)... Except with much more flavorful American hops instead of fuggles and EKG ...

I re brewed this weekend, but after a few high gravity Belgians we screwed up the grain bill, so I threw the hop schedule in the wind and made something different. It's certainly no longer the blonde I wanted!!
 
I'm ploughing through my crate of this, it's damn good to have around in the summer. I might make it again soon with 1056
 
I made a batch of your Centennial Blonde partial extract (with Nottingham pitched dry) recipe on Dec 12, 2012, and christened it "12 Blondes". 5 days in the primary, 5 in the secondary, kegged at 31 psig, chilled until I served it on Dec 24. It was perfect and the party crowd loved it.

So I'm brewing another batch, but, because of this or that, ended up adding a two pounds more light DME with a quart of water after a couple of days. It gets kegged tomorrow, and I'll tell y'all about it if it is awesome.
 
I posted a while back of the split batch I did with notty and us-05 and I liked the 05 much better. The notty was good but I like the cleaner taste of the 05. I have a split batch of cream of three crops done the same way so it will be interesting to see how that comes out.
 
I did a one gal batch of this recently to try it out. The beer has been in bottles for 1.5 weeks and seemed to be carbed pretty decently already. I may pop another one this weekend to see where it is at. I also did a 5 gal extract batch that is fermenting away in my closet. Notty was a slow starter (not sure if this was because of room temp.) but it has been going like crazy since. I have the ingredients to do my first BIAB and I just got my 9 gal kettle today so I'm pretty excited to do that. I should be brewing that one in a week or so when it isn't so cold outside.
 
I'm missing a few ingredients but I'm hoping I can sub in some stuff:

my lhbs doesn't stock cara-pils. Can I sub in .75# more two row?

Also, no centennial hops. Can I sub with cascade instead? I also have some few month old EKG kicking around.

S-05 works with this as well, correct?

Thanks!
 
I'm missing a few ingredients but I'm hoping I can sub in some stuff:

my lhbs doesn't stock cara-pils. Can I sub in .75# more two row?

Also, no centennial hops. Can I sub with cascade instead? I also have some few month old EKG kicking around.

S-05 works with this as well, correct?

Thanks!

The centennial is what makes this what it is.
 
I make this as a lawn mower beer. Awesome cold refreshment from the cooler on a hot day type of beer. I have made it with Nottingham and 1056 -- Notti took it dry, 1056 left a little more body but a very neutral palate for the hops to come thru perfectly for a session beer. Notti was really easy. So take what you want and both are excellent beers ,hard to fail with this one!
 
Hmm. Any similar hops I could use?

If cascade is all you have then use it. Cascade and centennial are about as similar as it gets. Centennial is just...well some describe it as cascade on roids. It won't be the same exact beer but it is good none the less. I've done all cascade with this before with good results. And 05 works very well with this beer and many others...
 
reibrew said:
I'm missing a few ingredients but I'm hoping I can sub in some stuff:

my lhbs doesn't stock cara-pils. Can I sub in .75# more two row?

Also, no centennial hops. Can I sub with cascade instead? I also have some few month old EKG kicking around.

S-05 works with this as well, correct?

Thanks!

No carapils or centennial ?! What kind of brew shop Is that ? Tell me where it is so I know never to go there! :)

Carapils or dextro malt is for body and head retention. 2row has none of those properties. Centennial is pretty crucial IMO to this beers wonderful flavor. I use centennial in about 80% of my brews now. You could use EKG but it will certainly change the flavor ..

S05 works great in this beer, as will any clean fermenting yeast. I use this beer as a starter for my big beers with S05.
 
My lhbs doesn't carry Vienna, but will special order it for 16 bucks for a 10 lbbag and 2 week delivery. Crazy
 
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