Sweet Blond Ale - Additional Thoughts Wanted

First, thanks for all the great info, this site has been a treasure trove of knowledge on how to home brew. I am brewing up my first batch of my own recipe (seventh batch total). I am attempting a light blonde ale with a real nice citrus finish at the end. I came up with the recipe via researching multiple posts over several weeks and plugged the numbers in on a home brew website to calculate the OG and FG. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated before I brew this one up in a few weeks. Thanks and love the hobby/obsession.

OG:1.041
FG: 1.010

3.5 Lbs Light DME
1 Lb American Wheat DME
1 Lb Carapils
.5 Lb Carmel 10
1/2 Cup Orange Zest

.25 Oz Centennial Hops
.25 Oz Amarillo Leaf Hops

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II.

Step grains at 160° for 30 mins, then boil.
Add .5 Lbs Light DME and all Wheat DME at start of boil.
Centennial Hops - 60 mins.
Amarillo Hops - 15 mins.
Flame Out add remaining DME.
Cool to 80° and add yeast.

Primary 7 days
Secondary - 7 days with Orange Zest.

Many thanks all!

That actually looks pretty solid I think you'll get what you are going for.

Is your goal to have the zest take center stage or as a complement to the hops?

BuckSwope said:

Is your goal to have the zest take center stage or as a complement to the hops?

Click to expand...

Buck: I think my goal is for the zest to take center stage.

I really like this recipe.. would like to kick the ABV up a bit... was gonna switch to extra light DME and increase American Wheat to 1.5 lbs... anyone see a problem w this??

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ESP, just a heads up on dry hopping with zest is that sometimes the zest becomes too overwhelming quickly. I'd recommend using a lot less (maybe .25 oz to start) and check after a few days. If it's not up to par, add a little bit more and wait another few days

Other issues I would tweak if this was my recipe:

1) Centennial and Amarillo hops should be moved to 10m, 5m or flameout. Those hops have great flavor/aroma profiles to them so it would be best to use them for that instead of bittering. Use a neutral hop like magnum or warrior for bittering @ 60m

2) Cool your wort lower than 80 before pitching, probably more towards 66-68. Unless it's a Belgian or saison yeast, you run the risk of creating off flavors from pitching at a high temp.

3) Cut the carapils to .5 lb and bump up your LME/DME to compensate. A pound of carapils is a bit overkill

What ibus are you shooting for? ABV?

When it is finished, send me a sixer and I will give you a really good opinion of it.

BuckSwope said:

ESP, just a heads up on dry hopping with zest is that sometimes the zest becomes too overwhelming quickly. I'd recommend using a lot less (maybe .25 oz to start) and check after a few days. If it's not up to par, add a little bit more and wait another few days

Other issues I would tweak if this was my recipe:

1) Centennial and Amarillo hops should be moved to 10m, 5m or flameout. Those hops have great flavor/aroma profiles to them so it would be best to use them for that instead of bittering. Use a neutral hop like magnum or warrior for bittering @ 60m

2) Cool your wort lower than 80 before pitching, probably more towards 66-68. Unless it's a Belgian or saison yeast, you run the risk of creating off flavors from pitching at a high temp.

3) Cut the carapils to .5 lb and bump up your LME/DME to compensate. A pound of carapils is a bit overkill

What ibus are you shooting for? ABV?

Click to expand...

Great feedback thanks! The 80 was a typo and should have been 70. How much DME would you add in place of the reduction in carapils? I want a low bittering taste and looking for high teens/low twenties IBU's. I didn't really give the abv any thought to be honest, really focusing on the taste at this point.

I'm interested in how the zest works out. I usually soak things like vanilla beans in Vodka, then add them at bottling. I soaked some orange zest and it had little impact. But the zest had dried out over a few months. I was considering adding it to the boil, not as a dry hop.

In any case good luck, and please post your results, especially how the orange zest works out.
:fro:

Espkelly said:

Great feedback thanks! The 80 was a typo and should have been 70. How much DME would you add in place of the reduction in carapils? I want a low bittering taste and looking for high teens/low twenties IBU's. I didn't really give the abv any thought to be honest, really focusing on the taste at this point.

Click to expand...

No problem. I'd switch half a pound for half pound with no preference on which DME.

It's brew day. I changed the recipe a little and will repost later.


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Here was the final recipe . . . after less than 8 hours she is down stairs bubbling away as we speak. My OG was 1.040. Cheers!

4 Lbs Light DME
1 Lb American Wheat DME
.5 Lb Carapils
.5 Lb Carmel 10
1 Lb Honey
1/4 Cup Orange Zest - Secondary

.5 Oz Magnum Hops
.5 Oz Centennial Hops
.5 Oz Amarillo Leaf Hops

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II