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

Ravenhead said:

Thanks BierMuncher... great beer.

Cheers,
Todd

Click to expand...

Sudz said:

I've been brewing all grain for about a year now. All the brews I've made have been good but this is the one that stands way above the rest.

I just wanted to go on record and say thanks for the work on this BierMuncher. Simply outstanding....

If you were standing here, I'd buy you a brew!

Click to expand...

Thanks all. Like I say though...the recipe is the easy part. Execution is where it all happens. Nice going on a well brewed beer.

I did the extract version of this about 6 weeks ago. Felt like everything went well, but boy I must have screwed something up. Checked my bottles after 2 weeks, and it tasted green and yeasty, but I figured it would mellow out. 4 weeks after bottling now, and the flavor hasn't changed much. Sour, and a bad tangy aftertaste. It's drinkable, but I was really hoping to have the beer than everyone in this thread raves about. I'll have to try it again.

Just kegged this beer. Only thing changed was honey malt subbed for the carapils (i didn't have any on hand). The sample I just took tastes great. Can't wait till the bad boy is carb'd for this weekends party.

Everything went great, except for a minor equipment FAIL. My newly purchased refractometer was giving me an FG of 1.018, while my hydrometer was reading 1.008. I recalibrated, but I think it's busted. Need to return it. I knew my $30 eBay find would be a bust. oh well

I have 5 gallons of the extract version fermenting right now and this weekend I am going to split it into secondaries. One of them will be the original and the other will be strawberry. I am going to add 3lbs of strawberries to approx just over 2.5 gallons. I have substatuted California Yeast though since I really wanted a liquid yeast and HBS did not have Nottingham. I have tasted it from the fementor during my readings and I am very happy with how it has turned out.

BierMuncher,
My partial mash version came out awesome.. It seems that it might be a bit darker then the all grain pictures but I think its color is within the style and it tastes great! I can't see it lasting too long.
Here is a picture of the final result(a tiny bit of chill haze still..)

Thanks for the great recipe!!!!

We brewed the extract version of this on 8/9. It is a 10 gal. batch with 5 gal. in primary for 1 week and 2 weeks in secondary. The other 5 gal. had 3 weeks in primary only. Bottled 2 weeks ago and thought we would see how it was coming along. Both halves have a distinct camphor taste. Very unpleasant. I know this is still green but I also have read here that this beer is supposed to be drinkable in a shorter time.

So, what did we do wrong and will it clear up with more time?

This was a huge hit @ the birthday party. 20 guests killed the 5gal in under 3 hours... Everyone loved it. Thanks for a great recipe!

serum67 said:

This was a huge hit @ the birthday party. 20 guests killed the 5gal in under 3 hours... Everyone loved it. Thanks for a great recipe!

Click to expand...

Wow. Time to step up to 10 gallon brews.

I just brought BM's blond in to my homebrew club last night as part of the flight and got some great comments. One fellow brewer said it was a great balance between malt and hops and I have to agree. This was my first all grain and it came out great. My next goal is to covert my BMC fans at the next tailgate! Thanks for posting.

BierMuncher said:

Once you rack to a keg (keep it 10 days in primary and 3 days in secondary with gelatin

Click to expand...

Excellent brew. My best yet and preparing to make another run.

I'm considering the gelatin add in the secondary for this batch. Since I'm still a bottle baby, will I need to add yeast prior to bottling after using gelatin?

Some folks think the gelatin removes too much yeast for the bottle carbonation to be effective and I simply don't know if this is a real issue or not.

Thanks BierMuncher

I just kicked my first batch of this saturday. I was actually sad to see it gone. I'll be making it again, just changing the volume to 10 gallons.

I made this for fathers day (PM) it was a big hit. I have an all-grain batch on tap and one in the primary. This beer is great and easy to drink.

If you use gelatin in the secondary prior to bottling, do you need to add yeast to the bottling bucket to ensure carbonation?

I'd hate to make a flat brew just because there wasn't adequate yeast to handle the priming.

Sudz said:

If you use gelatin in the secondary prior to bottling, do you need to add yeast to the bottling bucket to ensure carbonation?

I'd hate to make a flat brew just because there wasn't adequate yeast to handle the priming.

Click to expand...

you should be fine. I keg now but the one bottle conditioned batch I did with using gelatin in the secondary carbed up no problem.

I am thinking brewing up this and the SWMBO Slayer for parties I have coming up soon and this brew sounds like it is a party favorite. I am concerned about the water I have available on tap as it is high in alkalinity. I am prepared to make adjustments by diluting with distilled water and starting from there. What should I be aiming for?

Will Simcoe substitue for either of those? I have about half a pound I'd like to to use at about 13%AAu

IrregularPulse said:

Will Simcoe substitue for either of those? I have about half a pound I'd like to to use at about 13%AAu

Click to expand...

Absolutely. It's a great substitute...just (obviously) adjust for the higher AAU's.)

Enjoying the second batch we've made of this delicious mo-fo. It becomes drinkable so very very quickly and still ages fantastically. Used S-04 this time instead of whitbread... basically the same thing anyway.

Next time we brew this we'll finally be able to try it kegged! My bday came around a guess who got a FAT gift card to the LBHS? WOO!

Once again, BM, thank you for this flavortastic recipe of amazingness... and hooray for fake words!

Sudz said:

If you use gelatin in the secondary prior to bottling, do you need to add yeast to the bottling bucket to ensure carbonation?

I'd hate to make a flat brew just because there wasn't adequate yeast to handle the priming.

Click to expand...

I put gelatin in keg after transfer from primary and its crystle clear now.

settled, I'll be doing an all Simcoe version of this for my next brew. Thanks again BM. This will make my 3rd recipe of yours and my 35th gallon of your recipes brewed!

BM, I've brewed this twice with great results. Last batch I added some lemon and flaked rice to kick up the abv a little. Still super clear beer! Thanks for the recipe!

Gonna brew 10G of this with all Sicmoe hops. Curious as to what I could add post fermentation to get two different beers?

Also curious. I see your 10G batch also only calls for one pack of Notty. Is this true or did you use 2?

IrregularPulse said:

I see your 10G batch also only calls for one pack of Notty. Is this true or did you use 2?

Click to expand...

I used two packs.

The pint in the pic above sat in a secondary for about 2 months.

IXVolt said:

I used two packs.

The pint in the pic above sat in a secondary for about 2 months.

Click to expand...

Any Clarifiers? Gelatin or Irish Moss?

IrregularPulse said:

Any Clarifiers? Gelatin or Irish Moss?

Click to expand...

I used 2 tsp of IM in the 10 gallon batch at 15min till flameout.

I have a bunch of whirfloc but need to use up my IM first

Cool, i just remembererd I have some Whirfloc tablets form the GWR brew.

Going to go with the following hop schedule using my ~13%AA Simcoes

0.25oz at 55 Minutes
0.5oz at 35 minutes
0.5oz at 20 Minutes
0.5oz at 5 Minutes

Puts me at 21.4 IBUs.

Is this all I need to adjust or will this throw the balance out by only adjusting the 55minute addition?

[/url][/IMG]

turned clear after 5 days in keg using gelatine. The Centennial flavor is realy coming out now...

Anyone try this with late Goldings additions?

Brewed this on Saturday. Everything went really well, except my OG ended up being about 10 points too high, so I'm not sure what happened. The only thing I can think of is I had 6.75 gallons pre-boil, which I got down to 5.2 gallons. I'm thinking the longer boil might have increased the OG?

Anyway, the beer tasted great post boil. So it's in the conical now, bubbling away. Whats the worst that the high OG will do to the beer?

Thanks,

Edit: OG was 1.050

I tried this as my first all grain, and some how managed to really screw it up. It was in the primary for 8 days at 68 degrees F. It fermented like crazy. I had to leave town and checked the gravity when I got back. The reading was 1.004. I knew I had left it in the primary for too long, so I decided to bottle it right then and there. I used 2.5vols corn sugar to bottle with and aged it for 3 weeks at 52 degrees F. Popped one open to have a drink and found there was a thick layer of "stuff" on the bottom. The beer started great but quickly turned terrible. I assume I can attribute the bad taste the the layer of crap. Question for the pros: What is that stuff and how do I avoid it? PLEASE HELP....I WANT TO BREW AGAIN!! Thanks in advance.

That "layer of crap" is normal, all bottle conditioned beer will have that...some more so than others. Describe what went wrong with the taste? I'm thinking if it tasted good at bottling and now it doesn't there may be an infection that came during the bottling process?

Elaelap said:

Brewed this on Saturday. Everything went really well, except my OG ended up being about 10 points too high, so I'm not sure what happened. The only thing I can think of is I had 6.75 gallons pre-boil, which I got down to 5.2 gallons. I'm thinking the longer boil might have increased the OG?

Anyway, the beer tasted great post boil. So it's in the conical now, bubbling away. Whats the worst that the high OG will do to the beer?

Thanks,

Edit: OG was 1.050

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that. It will have a higher %ABV. The downside is you will have less volume of beer cause you boiled it all away.

I was thinking about replacing the vienna and 4lbs of the 2 row with toasted 2-row for a slightamber color and a light nutty taste. What do you think. I will be using the same hop schedule and yeast.

Never mind I was thinking vienna was toasted 2-row it is not victory is.

It tasted bad at bottling too. I don't think it has an infection. It just leaves a bad after taste. I've never done it, but the taste it leaves is what I would think a dirty gym sock tastes like.

Give a little more information about your brew day. What exactly did you mash with, what temp, what yeast did you pitch, etc. 68F is a little high for most ale strains, maybe your getting some fruity flavors?

I wouldn't really describe the flavor as fruity.

7 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.7 SRM)
.75 lb cara-pils/dextrine 1.5 srm
.5 lb carmel crystal malt - 10L 10.0 srm
.5 lb vienna malt 3.8 srm
.25 oz centennial 8% for 55 min
.25 oz centennial 8% for 35 min
.25 oz cascade 6% for 20 min
.25 oz cascade 6% for 5 min
1 whirlfloc for 10 min
1 pack danstar nottingham (as 800 mL starter)

held mast at 150 for 60 min
sparged w/ 180 degree water
also, I used bottled water

I tried to calculate all of my liquid volumes to be exact and give me a final batch size of 5.5 gal. Next time, should I boil a smaller volume and then dilute it when I transfer to the primary?

Thanks for the help

hermanthegerman said:

I tried to calculate all of my liquid volumes to be exact and give me a final batch size of 5.5 gal. Next time, should I boil a smaller volume and then dilute it when I transfer to the primary?

Thanks for the help

Click to expand...

You don't want to have to top off with AG. It won't hurt anything if you do, but planning before hand and hitting your numbers allows a full boil and a yield of full volume.

Looks good to me, from experience though Nottingham can do some less than ideal things at 68F. That being said, don't give up on it yet, let it sit a few weeks, forget about it and see if it has cleaned up.

Will do. What temp do is ideal for the Nottingham?