Sharing Golden Blonde Experience

Hi all. I'm a new brewer, but longtime beer fanatic. I live in SF, so i'm extremely fortunate to have access to the greatest beer in the world.

I recently purchased 2 kits of the "golden blonde ale" from a reputable online beer shop, morebeer.com....

-first batch i followed the instructions exactly. followed their outline, which was a bit different than how i am used to doing it. long story short, i am very unhappy with the final product. 2 weeks in. almost no carbonation. i feel it's probably my fault during bottling. not boiling the corn sugar long enough (i have used dextrose before...same thing, i know) and probably not sanitizing the pot i used to mix it with water in. it's almost sour. i can really taste the off-flavors. I could have left it on the yeast too long. it's not a huge deal as i bought the cheap packet and it was my first try at that specific type of extract brewing.

-2nd Batch - i repitched the yeast (with a lot of trub, unfor.) and made the same kit again. this time, i added 2 oz of Simcoe (1 oz at 60, 1 oz at 30) and created a vanilla kit (see below). i let the vanilla mixture sit in the fridge for almost a week. after racking, i added the vanilla mixture and 1 lb of wildflower honey to the top. I used my auto siphon cane with the L shape to stir up the carboy every day. strange gravity flux - started at 1.048 - 1.006 (sweeet!) and after additions to racking, then it was around 1.14 at bottling. This thing is already carbed up at 1 week. tastes AMAZING. tons of vanilla on the nose, but not too much on the back. honey comes through.

*should i be careful for bottle bombs with a high FG?

-BIG QUESTION - How does my increase in Gravity affect the final beer? can i just take a hydro reading?

vanilla mixture:
-3 vanilla beans sliced, cut into 1" pieces
-3/4 cup Stoli Vanilla Vodka
-1/3 cupt Vanilla Concentrate (mine i purchased in mexico....pretty same as "extract", but i prefer the concentrate)

any questions or requests for the full recipe, just let me know.

been a lurker and wanted to share my experience.

*i have also heard rumors that using local honey can help those with allergies. you must use local bees to your area, but from what i've been told by many friends, it can work.

thanks for reading. keep on brewing!

Hi, welcome to homebrewing! I'd strongly recommend that you read through something like http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html from beginning to end. It has some outdated info but would still be really helpful for you since I think you need to nail down some basics. I'm seeing all sorts of things in here, such as stirring your wort every day and some carbonation issues that would probably be addressed with brushing up on this. As far as your question, did you also use priming sugar in addition to your vanilla mixture? Great news about being happy with your second batch! Welcome aboard

I have the same one thats been in the keg for a week "2 week fermentation". I added a half bottle of cherry extract and i have to say its on the money.

using local honey helps with allergies to plants and pollen. it doesn't help allergies to dog fur or anything. I know people who eat a spoonful of local honey every day and they swear it helps.

as for your beer, you did let the honey ferment out before bottling right? if you didn't, get the bottles chilled to stop the yeast from fermenting any further, or your bottles will explode. I can't think of any reason your gravity would be higher at bottling except for the honey not being fully fermented yet.

Hogarthe said:

I can't think of any reason your gravity would be higher at bottling except for the honey not being fully fermented yet.

Click to expand...

I was kind of wondering if the gravity sample was taken after adding priming sugar but I'm not really clear about it from the write-up.

Hi all.

I let the honey sit in the secondary for 7 days. Took hyrdo before priming.

I will probably put these in fridge to slow carbonation.

Thanks for the input!