Blonde Ale Miller Lite (Really Triple Hopped)

Going to do this one next, made some changes based on my brewersfriend profile and wanting to get the ABV up a tad.

3lbs 2 row
2.25 6 row
2 flaked corn

.5 oz cascade at 60
.5oz at flame out
1oz dry hopped for 14 days.

ABV 4.17 probably a little more with the nutriant adition.
SRM 2.32
IBU 14.06

I think I read mash at 149 for 90
90 min boil.

What temp did you ferment the us05 at, and was it 1oz cascade dry hop for 14 days? Hows does the above look? Also what type water profile would you recomend, balanced or more on the malty side?

cgrivois said:

Going to do this one next, made some changes based on my brewersfriend profile and wanting to get the ABV up a tad.

3lbs 2 row
2.25 6 row
2 flaked corn

.5 oz cascade at 60
.5oz at flame out
1oz dry hopped for 14 days.

ABV 4.17 probably a little more with the nutriant adition.
SRM 2.32
IBU 14.06

I think I read mash at 149 for 90
90 min boil.

What temp did you ferment the us05 at, and was it 1oz cascade dry hop for 14 days? Hows does the above look? Also what type water profile would you recommend, balanced or more on the malty side?

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Your grain selection looks fine.

Your IBU is a bit low. Target is 17, but 3 points is not much.

Mash at 147F. The lower mash will convert better, or more starches will get converted. You need this with a light beer.

US-05 is pretty forgiving on temp. I try to do 65-72F.

I would recommend a Pilsen water profile if you want to go to that effort!

I usually use my tap water with carbon filtration to remove the chlorine. The mash pH should be at 5.2

Does your tap water taste good? If so, use it. Since you ask use the balanced water profile

Dry hop no longer than 14 days. Over dry hopping makes a beer a little grassy. DON'T FORGET the amylase enzyme in the 2ndary. Its a critical addition since you are not lagering.

Cascade in this beer is really different than "Lite". It makes it have a brisk taste to it. Very appropriate after mowing the grass. Practically chug-gable. It has a light citrus taste like that of grapefruit. It makes this beer unique being light, very little malt taste, a touch sweet with citrus. Hops is the prominent feature using cascade, but NOT bitter.

fatherdan said:

Any way of knowing my OG seeing how I added 1.25 gallons to get to 12_galls after boil??

Thanks

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What volume of wort did you have when you took a reading?

Tasting Update - Bottle Conditioned

Schlenkerla just wanted to give you and other readers a tasting update. I did this recipe almost like your original but bumped up ABV with extra 2-row and made sure IBU's around 18-20 with Saaz and Mt Hood,dry hopped with Saaz. Clocked in at 5% on the nose.

1 Month and a day or two in the fridge: Horrible strange bittnerness or something, kind of thought maybe Saaz was the culprit. Kind of disappointing.

6 weeks and 10-14 days in the fridge: Totally different beer. Really good rendition of a pseudo Canadian lager but slight more flavour.

As you have previously stated over and over this beer needs I think a week if not two chilled as low as possible. I do a very similar tasting partial mash of a Coopers Mexican Lager extract but your recipe is way cheaper so thank-you for the recipe and your continued updates and question answering on the posts!

Hordak said:

Tasting Update - Bottle Conditioned

Schlenkerla just wanted to give you and other readers a tasting update. I did this recipe almost like your original but bumped up ABV with extra 2-row and made sure IBU's around 18-20 with Saaz and Mt Hood,dry hopped with Saaz. Clocked in at 5% on the nose.

1 Month and a day or two in the fridge: Horrible strange bittnerness or something, kind of thought maybe Saaz was the culprit. Kind of disappointing.

6 weeks and 10-14 days in the fridge: Totally different beer. Really good rendition of a pseudo Canadian lager but slight more flavour.

As you have previously stated over and over this beer needs I think a week if not two chilled as low as possible. I do a very similar tasting partial mash of a Coopers Mexican Lager extract but your recipe is way cheaper so thank-you for the recipe and your continued updates and question answering on the posts!

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Yup! - The AE is the culprit, with time chilled it fades completely. It makes the beer pretty bone dry and bumps your ABV for pennies.

I stress the fact of time and bottle lagering so people don't dump it when its just a young beer. It would be sad.

Glad you like it now!!!

Post pictures please.

YW!

Tasting update....

tastes like Natural Light. Wonder if I could dry hop it again?

Its not bad in any way. In fact is bordering Mich Ultra territory.

Super Clean. Super Clear. Perfect Carbonation. ABV is 4.5%


I can see brewing this again easily. Upping the hops a bit. I'll post some pics later.
(I tapped this the same evening I tapped a Brewdog Dogfight Imperial Rye IPA so my taste might have been off lol...)

fatherdan said:

Tasting update....

tastes like Natural Light. Wonder if I could dry hop it again?

Its not bad in any way. In fact is bordering Mich Ultra territory.

Super Clean. Super Clear. Perfect Carbonation. ABV is 4.5%


I can see brewing this again easily. Upping the hops a bit. I'll post some pics later.
(I tapped this the same evening I tapped a Brewdog Dogfight Imperial Rye IPA so my taste might have been off lol...)

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How's it tasting today?

Schlenkerla said:

How's it tasting today?

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It tastes like a 'craft' light beer. side by side with a natty it is unique. All jokes aside it needs to taste like 'beer' a little more.

My shameless goal was low calories with 4.5%abv, drinkable and cheap.

I accomplished that and im sure with some bulk purchases of flaked corn and bump up the ibu's I could achieve 'light' beer nirvana. What addition would you bump up? At what point do you think I'd ruin it?

Thanks

I love the dryness and I've aged it plenty, did not have any weird corn or off tastes.

fatherdan said:

It tastes like a 'craft' light beer. side by side with a natty it is unique. All jokes aside it needs to taste like 'beer' a little more.

My shameless goal was low calories with 4.5%abv, drinkable and cheap.

I accomplished that and im sure with some bulk purchases of flaked corn and bump up the ibu's I could achieve 'light' beer nirvana. What addition would you bump up? At what point do you think I'd ruin it?

Thanks

I love the dryness and I've aged it plenty, did not have any weird corn or off tastes.

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Possibly boost the entire grain bill 10 - 20% to scale the gravity higher, to something like 1.035 or 1.040

I would check the light beer guidelines for BJCP though. ( Edit. - 1.040 at 18 IBU are the upper parameters for light beer.)

Don't do the late addition, do only the 60 minute addition to hit your target IBU of 18. The very slight malt flavor will NOT be covered by hop taste/aroma.

If you don't want to scale it back that much, eliminate the dry hop addition do something at 10 minutes.

Either option will get you there.

What hop type did you use?

Cascade in a light beer will always be crafty and unique. German/Czech hops will be more traditional.

She's crafty..... LOL

https://youtu.be/k-ZQs751FkQ

Light beer nirvana. Most beer geeks would think that's an oxymoron.

Has anyone built their own water profile from RO/distilled for this one? I'm wondering... would you go for a light lager profile even though the recipe technically uses ale yeast?

I'm planning to brew this one up this weekend and the water is my only remaining question. The softened well water at my house is pretty much a death sentence for beer, so I always either buy spring water from the grocery store or build my own water from RO/distilled. Not sure which route to go for this one. Spring water might work fine.

Gonna try this recipe with Hallertauer and Czech Saaz and go for something that will really appeal to the BMC crowd in early summer. Can't wait!

I've been itching to brew a super light beer for my not so crafty beer friends. This looks pretty on point!

BeerPower said:

Has anyone built their own water profile from RO/distilled for this one? I'm wondering... would you go for a light lager profile even though the recipe technically uses ale yeast?

I'm planning to brew this one up this weekend and the water is my only remaining question. The softened well water at my house is pretty much a death sentence for beer, so I always either buy spring water from the grocery store or build my own water from RO/distilled. Not sure which route to go for this one. Spring water might work fine.

Gonna try this recipe with Hallertauer and Czech Saaz and go for something that will really appeal to the BMC crowd in early summer. Can't wait!

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Okay, I've been searching this thread and think I found my own answer. Schlenkerla mentioned on page 56 that his water is like the Burton on Trent profile, so I'll aim for hard water like that for my first shot at this.

BeerPower said:

Okay, I've been searching this thread and think I found my own answer. Schlenkerla mentioned on page 56 that his water is like the Burton on Trent profile, so I'll aim for hard water like that for my first shot at this.

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BeerPower,

I gather your water tastes good enough to drink? If so, try this. This what I did when I was on rural water.

Do you brew outside? I used to brew a lot outside and had a RV Carbon Filter for my water source. Its cheap ~$10 at Wal-mart. I'd screw this onto my white food grade water hose. If you don't brew outside, you just collect water with this method and brew!!!

I used a keggle on a banjo burner with this filter with straight hose sprayer hanging from a hanging flower hook over the keggle.

BTW your carbon filter water will be 50-140 ppm. - Dissolved Solids

If you are entirely concerned about pH you can use "5" pH Buffer...

Schlenkerla said:

BeerPower,

I gather your water tastes good enough to drink? If so, try this. This what I did when I was on rural water.

Do you brew outside? I used to brew a lot outside and had a RV Carbon Filter for my water source. Its cheap ~$10 at Wal-mart. I'd screw this onto my white food grade water hose. If you don't brew outside, you just collect water with this method and brew!!!

I used a keggle on a banjo burner with this filter with straight hose sprayer hanging from a hanging flower hook over the keggle.

BTW your carbon filter water will be 50-140 ppm. -

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Wow! Thanks for all the advice, Schlenkerla. I actually do brew outside, when weather permits, or in my garage, which also has easy access to the outside spigot. And my well water is good enough to drink when it goes through a filter. Straight out of the outside spigot it's very high in iron and has a funky smell/taste. So I think this might work if I filter it. The only reason why I stopped trying with my well water was because I was using the softened water from inside the house and it's too high in sodium. But straight from the outside spigot is a good idea.

I'll pick up the food grade hose supplies and carbon filter you recommend and give that a shot soon. It would be nice to be able to brew with my own water source again instead of buying spring water or distilled water every time I brew. And perhaps after I get the filter, I'll have the company that manages our water softening system come out and test a sample of it. They do free water testing and provide a detailed report. That way I can know the details of my brewing water and make modifications in the future, when necessary. I've actually grown to like tinkering with the Bru'n Water spreadsheet and using brewing salts

Make sure to tell us your brew day goes. Run plenty of water through the hose and filter. Make sure its pretty good -n- flushed out. Smell and taste the water before brewing with it today.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get the food-grade hosing and carbon filter to brew with my well water. We were hosting a family birthday party on Saturday so I barely even had time to get to the homebrew shop for my ingredients. Long story short, a buddy of mine (and fellow homebrewer) ending up bringing 2 buckets of his known good water and I brewed with that. He has city water and it works for virtually any style. We brew together a lot so I know firsthand it's good water.

My brew day actually went quite swimmingly. Hit my mash temp right on target at 147. Collected almost exactly 5 gallons of wort. It was definitely the lightest colored wort I've ever brewed. The only number that didn't line up was my OG which came in at about 1.036. Not sure if my efficiency went way up from the 90-minute mash or what, but I won't complain about that. I always welcome more alcohol I typically average around 70% efficiency so this was a little surprising to me.

For hops I decided to go with all Czech Saaz. Bittered to 18 IBU @ 60 minutes then the 1 oz. at flameout as prescribed. Thinking I might skip the dry hop since I'm brewing this for true BMC'ers. We'll see how I feel when I rack to secondary on the AE.

I'll keep the thread updated and post pics once the brew is ready! :rockin:

Do the dryhop, it wont be over the top at all.

fatherdan said:

Do the dryhop, it wont be over the top at all.

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Yeah? I wasn't sure if it would be too much in such a light beer, but I'll go for it. Thanks for the advice!

Schlenkerla said:

If you are entirely concerned about pH you can use "5" pH Buffer...

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Except that it is pretty much universally accepted that this ph stabilizer doesn't really work and adds too much sodium/off flavor to your brews.

If your pH is close to 5.2 you don't need it. I was just throwing out the idea not knowing his water problem.

Couple acidic water with a bunch higher kilned malts you might want it to raise your pH.

Schlenkerla said:

If your pH is close to 5.2 you don't need it. I was just throwing out the idea not knowing his water problem.

Couple acidic water with a bunch higher kilned malts you might want it to raise your pH.

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https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

"That evidence shows this product does produce some pH moderation in waters with high Residual Alkalinity. However, the mash pH tends to center around 5.8. While 5.8 pH is acceptable, it is at the upper end of the desirable mashing range. The evidence also shows that in waters with low Residual Alkalinity, this product shows little effect on mash pH. Since Five Star 5.2 Stabilizer is a compound with high sodium content, its use will elevate the sodium concentration in the brewing water. High sodium content can be undesirable from a taste standpoint in beer. "


"But his [the chemist] comments on it [5.2 ph stabilizer] were basically that most brewers shouldn't use it/need it and that it was put together for a particular brewery that had variable source water and no desire to make any effort to track that variability."

Still trying to get through all of the posts, so I apologize if this has been asked and answered already. Can I add the ae to the primary once the fermentation starts slowing down vs using a secondary?

attyindaburgh said:

Still trying to get through all of the posts, so I apologize if this has been asked and answered already. Can I add the ae to the primary once the fermentation starts slowing down vs using a secondary?

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Yes, but you need to mix it in somehow. Try a teaspoon of AE dissolved in a cup of distilled water. Pitch that into your fermentor.

Awsome, will do. Thanks.

Np.

One week since I brewed this so I took a gravity sample today and it's down to 1.006. Tomorrow I'll rack onto the AE in secondary. I think I'm on track to get this down to a flat 1.0 😊

Finally tapped the keg of this. Delicious and quaffable beer, exactly what I wanted/expected. Thanks for the recipe!

jstaas said:

Finally tapped the keg of this. Delicious and quaffable beer, exactly what I wanted/expected. Thanks for the recipe!

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Awesome!!!!

Pictures please.

I brewed my first batch of this and my efficiency was on the high side and I got a og of 1.039. Should I still add the amalaze enzyme?

attyindaburgh said:

I brewed my first batch of this and my efficiency was on the high side and I got a og of 1.039. Should I still add the amalaze enzyme?

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Yes - The AE cleans up the beer and makes it dry to the bone. It's exactly what you want in this beer; very light, crystal clear, no corn aftertaste, but has a little hop flavor.

Thanks, will do.

attyindaburgh said:

Thanks, will do.

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Just note, AE will leave a temporary acrid bitter taste for a few weeks. It clears itself up really good. Roughly two weeks.

Deleted double post.

I added the enzyme to the primary as the fermentation was slowing down, should I leave it in the primary to clean up or keg it and let it clear up (the bitterness ) in the keg?

attyindaburgh said:

I added the enzyme to the primary as the fermentation was slowing down, should I leave it in the primary to clean up or keg it and let it clear up (the bitterness ) in the keg?

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Let it go 2 weeks at your fermentation temp.

I assume you are using a primary bucket. Typically in a carboy you can see 1000's of bubbles forming with a flashlight. It will pass bubbles every 5-6 minutes then tapers off to nothing.

Consider kegging after 2 weeks after adding the AE or if you see the final gravity bottoming out at 1.000 ~ 1.003. Remember temp compensation for the your hydrometer reading.

When you rack to your keg don't sweat any of the perceived bitterness. It disappears shortly.

It will be really crisp and clean tasting when that temporary bitter fades. The cold crash will help too.

I'm thinking of trying the extract version of this recipe, and I have a quick question. Does the dry hop addition go in when primary fermenting or during the secondary fermentation with the amylase enzyme?

Michigan_Wolfman said:

I'm thinking of trying the extract version of this recipe, and I have a quick question. Does the dry hop addition go in when primary fermenting or during the secondary fermentation with the amylase enzyme?

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One always dry hops in the secondary. The recommendation is AE in the secondary as well.