Tropical Blond Ale

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mdwmonster

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Can someone give me an opinion on this recipe? I'm going for a light, crisp and "tropical" session for the patio this summer.

1lb Crystal 10L
1/4lb Honey Malt
4 1/2lb Golden Light DME (4L)
1/4lb Corn Sugar
1/4oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 45
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 10
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 5
1oz Citra (14.1%) @ flameout
US-05

SG 1.042
23IBU
4.2ABV

Thought is that the Mosaic and Citra will give me a lot of tropical mango/grapefruit flavors, honey malt some sweetness, and the corn sugar help to dry and crisp it a bit. Do the proportions sound right?

Thanks for your input.
 
Wow!!! This sounds like a great Summer beer! This will be my next batch... Updates to follow...
 
I got the stuff to make it today, just wondering if my proportions (especially the honey malt) seem good. I'll keep you posted!
 
I would do 1/2# more DME and up the HM and CS both by 1/4#. I like a heavier OG in mine. Other than those tweaks, yours looks great!
 
Everything looks good to me.
Just wondering why the mosaic at 45.
You will only get bitterness from it.
So why not use a neutral high Alfa hop the and move it a late addition to get some flavor and aroma from it.
 
Just wondering why the mosaic at 45.

Yeah, Billy, but I was wanting to stay with a similar flavor profile. Really wanted todo Galaxy, but it seems like no one has any, so the LHBS suggested I try Mosaic. Haven't used it before, so I figured why not give it a go.
 
Two weeks in the fermenter, and three in the bottle and I finally cracked one tonight. Beer was fantastic. Had a very strong pineapple/grapefruit flavor with a real crispness to it. I think the honey malt gave it a nice balance with the fruity flavors, without leaving a sweet aftertaste. As Billybrewer mentioned, I probably wouldn't bother with the mosaic in the future...LHBS was really hopped up about them, but I doubt it made much difference in the final product. Next time, I think I'd be inclined to go all Citra or something neutral.

All in all, I think this is a really beautiful beer that will be very nice on warm summer nights. Finished up at 1.010 giving me about 4.7% ABV.

If anyone else tries it, I'd love to hear what you think.
 
Mosaic is a great hop, and I think it would combine nicely with the Citra. But I'm sure you're correct that it didn't add much outside of bitterness. Any flavor or aroma would have been boiled off at a 45 min addition.

Recipe sounds great for summer and I definitely want to brew it... only change I'll make is to move the Mosaic to a later addition and use Warrior or some other bittering hop. Or, maybe I'll try the Mosaic as FWH... that might help bring the flavor through.

Thanks for posting this! :mug:
 
Yeah, Billy, but I was wanting to stay with a similar flavor profile. Really wanted todo Galaxy, but it seems like no one has any, so the LHBS suggested I try Mosaic. Haven't used it before, so I figured why not give it a go.

Love Galaxy -- if you find any let me know. I added to a brew a few months back with 5 minutes left in the boil and it imparted a really nice peach flavor.
 
1 LB of caramel in this with the honey malt sounds like way too much. I'd drop the honey to 1/8 of a lb. drop the caramel 10 to .5 lbs and add .5 lbs of carapils.
 
I like the 1oz citra at flameout, but have you considered any additional dry hopping or maybe a hop stand with the citra? I feel like having that additional hop burst in the nose could crank the tropical factor to 11. I'm really liking the looks of this recipe and look forward to trying it for my next batch!
 
I like the 1oz citra at flameout, but have you considered any additional dry hopping or maybe a hop stand with the citra? I feel like having that additional hop burst in the nose could crank the tropical factor to 11. I'm really liking the looks of this recipe and look forward to trying it for my next batch!

While the aftertaste was crisp and didn't have much lingering flavors, the front end was quite tropical. I guess it all depends how much of a punch you want. I didn't find it to be lacking the Citra flavors.
 
1 LB of caramel in this with the honey malt sounds like way too much. I'd drop the honey to 1/8 of a lb. drop the caramel 10 to .5 lbs and add .5 lbs of carapils.

I guess it depends on how much sweetness you want to show through. I was trying for something with a sweet note, and I think this came out right were I wanted it. I don't find it to be overly sweet, or have a caramel/honey aftertaste, but it certainly is more on the sweet side than the bitter side. If that isn't what you'd prefer, definitely cut back on the crystal and honey.

As to the Carapils, this brew didn't have a lot of body, but I wanted something crisp and light - which is why I added in the corn sugar. If you want a bit more body, that would be the way to go, or leave out the 1/4 pound of corn sugar.
 
That's quite a lot of crystal malt, but I think that it's sweetness is overstated. If a beer has a cloying sweetness it's more likely to be attenuation or yeast rather than crystal malt. That said, I do find that large proportions (15% and above) of medium crystal malt can make a beer taste nutty or toasty.
 
I'm kind of a nooby with this but is this a partial mash or do you just steep the grains?? what temp did you use and for how long....i showed my wife this recipe and shes really interested in doing it being that its a lighter beer with the fruity flavors...
 
Here's a photo - for what it's worth.

2013-05-15 18.04.16.jpg
 
I'm kind of a nooby with this but is this a partial mash or do you just steep the grains?? what temp did you use and for how long....i showed my wife this recipe and shes really interested in doing it being that its a lighter beer with the fruity flavors...

I just steeped the grains for about 20 minutes at 155.
 
Looks good to me. I love hoppy session beers. Did you do a full or partial boil?

Also, Australia is in their harvest season now, so hopefully we'll be getting a lot more galaxy hops soon.
 
Sounds good. Any idea how the recipe would look if I wanted to do all grain?

I'm not an all grain guy, so maybe someone else here can answer this...I'd guess about 7-1/2 LBS of 2-row, but I'm not sure of the mash temps and all that data...
 
I'm not an all grain guy, so maybe someone else here can answer this...I'd guess about 7-1/2 LBS of 2-row, but I'm not sure of the mash temps and all that data...

I believe its more like 6 1/2# of 2 row and since the recipe says this is a pretty crisp finish i would probably mash around 150-152. I had a question about the hop bill though, will post boil hops contribute to the bitterness? or do hops that are not boiled only give the beer/wort a smell and flavor of hops with absolutely no bitterness?
 
I believe its more like 6 1/2# of 2 row and since the recipe says this is a pretty crisp finish i would probably mash around 150-152. I had a question about the hop bill though, will post boil hops contribute to the bitterness? or do hops that are not boiled only give the beer/wort a smell and flavor of hops with absolutely no bitterness?

When you add flameout hops in Beersmith, it does add to the total IBUs for the beer, but very little. You're not going to get a significant increase in bitterness.
 
I wouldn't write off the mosaic in this recipe (which looks great by the way). Just add it much later (it's awesome for flameout) or use it to dry hop. Super fruity and delicious. Nice pic - your beer looks great.
 
Could one just add more Mosaic? The grain bill just shows a 1/4 oz at 45 minutes. Maybe the low amount was why there was little to no bittering. What if you did a full ounce at 60 minutes?

I've been eyeing this recipe and was thinking about this for a all-grain version (changes in red).

1lb Crystal 10L
1/4lb Honey Malt
6 1/2 lbs of 2 row
1/4lb Corn Sugar
1 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 10
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 5
1oz Citra (14.1%) @ flameout
US-05

mash at 152F

I'm still new to all grain, so if that looks horrible......go easy. I've thought about just doing it as the OP did, but change the DME to 2 row. Nothing against extracts, but I just like trying to improve on my (what little I have) technique.
 
Could one just add more Mosaic? The grain bill just shows a 1/4 oz at 45 minutes. Maybe the low amount was why there was little to no bittering. What if you did a full ounce at 60 minutes?

I've been eyeing this recipe and was thinking about this for a all-grain version (changes in red).

1lb Crystal 10L
1/4lb Honey Malt
6 1/2 lbs of 2 row
1/4lb Corn Sugar
1 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 10
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 5
1oz Citra (14.1%) @ flameout
US-05

mash at 152F

I'm still new to all grain, so if that looks horrible......go easy. I've thought about just doing it as the OP did, but change the DME to 2 row. Nothing against extracts, but I just like trying to improve on my (what little I have) technique.

You could definitely do this. But personally I would use a neutral bittering hop and save the mosaic till later in the boil to get the full use of its flavor and aroma profile.
 
You ever had a Kona Big Wave? This recipe looks pretty similar to those stats. Would be interested in hearing how a side-by-side went...
 
You could definitely do this. But personally I would use a neutral bittering hop and save the mosaic till later in the boil to get the full use of its flavor and aroma profile.


EDIT: After going back through this thread, what do you guys think about this:

1lb Crystal 10L
1/4lb Honey Malt
6 1/2 lbs of 2 row
1/4lb Corn Sugar
1 oz Magnum (10-14%) @ 60
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 10
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 5
1oz Mosaic (10-12%) @ flameout
US-05

mash at 152F


Basically just replaced the Mosaic with Magnum and then switched out the flameout hops from Citra to Mosaic.
 
EDIT: After going back through this thread, what do you guys think about this:

1lb Crystal 10L
1/4lb Honey Malt
6 1/2 lbs of 2 row
1/4lb Corn Sugar
1 oz Magnum (10-14%) @ 60
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 10
1/2oz Citra (14.1%) @ 5
1oz Mosaic (10-12%) @ flameout
US-05

mash at 152F

Basically just replaced the Mosaic with Magnum and then switched out the flameout hops from Citra to Mosaic.

Without running the number I can't be 100% sure, but I think 1oz magnum is way too much.
I think 1/2 oz would be closer, but it all depends on what you want your IBU's at.
 
Without running the number I can't be 100% sure, but I think 1oz magnum is way too much.
I think 1/2 oz would be closer, but it all depends on what you want your IBU's at.

Since the original 1/2oz amount of Mosaic was at 45 minutes, I didn't know if the extra 15 minutes of boil time required more of an amount for the bittering hop.

:off:

On another note, if you have one batch with the first hop addition at 60 minutes, and another batch with it's first addition at 45, is it safe to assume that the 60 minute addition is going to be higher in IBUs, or is it the other way around?
 
I like where this is going, although im going to use Willamette or tettnang. Is the 1 lbs of crystal and 1/4 lbs of honey malt not to sweet? Just seems like alot.
 
Is the 1 lbs of crystal and 1/4 lbs of honey malt not to sweet? Just seems like alot.

I think there is a bit of sweetness to it, but in my opinion, it isn't overbearing or even dominant. With that much Citra on the back end, I find the residual sweetness plays well with the tropical fruit flavors of the hops. I don't know if you'll still see that with the Willamette and Tettnang as I don't find their citrus flavors to be as pronounced.

I think trujunglist's comparison with Kona Big Wave is apt. While its been a while since I had Big Wave, I would estimate that mine has more of a honey flavor to it. Maybe a bit more sweetness (or the perception of sweetness).
 
I think the overall recipe looks good. I just got done reading "For the love of Hops" and learned some great stuff about hop additions, etc. So I have a couple of suggestions. First, I think Mosiac and Citra will go well together so good choice on that.And if you really want to ignore the suggestions you are receiving, by all means go for it and I'm sure your beer will still be great. But if you are wanting the hops to bring out the tropical notes, you'll need to really focus on late additions/flameout schedule to do that, IMO. Completely forget the 60 min. addition. You don't need it for your recipe if you are wanting to establish tropical aromas/flavors. With that in mind, and if you don't mind using more hops with later additions, I think you'll get an amazingly smooth, aromatic and flavorful tropical aroma by doing the following:

1/2oz Citra @ 15min.
1/2oz Mosiac @ 15min.
1/2oz Citra @ 5min.
1/2oz Mosiac @ 5min.
1oz Citra @ flameout (steep/whirlpool for 10 min.)
1oz Mosiac @ flameout (steep/whirlpool for 10 min.)

And then I'd also dry hop with 1oz. of Mosiac for 7 to 10 days in the secondary.

I'd also scrap the US-05 yeast and go with US-04. US-05 is a good yeast but I think the english yeast strain is good at taking a back seat to hop aroma.

Good luck !
 
I have some good Orange Blossom Honey. What do you think of adding that in place of the corn sugar?
 
I have some good Orange Blossom Honey. What do you think of adding that in place of the corn sugar?

taste wise, I do not think such a small amount (~4 oz) of honey will stand out in the 5 gal batch. Carbonation wise though, there should not be any difference in using honey versus dextrose.
but by all means, try something new and add the honey :)
 
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