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

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I brewed this up - primary for a week, secondary for a week. Let it sit in the bottles for a week or two before chilling a few and trying them with high hopes...and absolutely hated them. Not sure what it was, they tasted too sweet, I can't remember all the details other than I would get halfway through one and switch to something else.

Anyways, I was leaving on a couple business trips and a wedding so I threw a dozen or so in the fridge where they sat for a few weeks while I was gone. Came back Sunday and it's a totally different beer. I'm usually one for strong IPA's or Porters/Stouts, but I gotta say I could drink this all day now. My girlfriend is really digging them too, so i'll definitely be brewing it again - just giving it more time to condition before cracking them open.

I need to keep reminding myself that patience is a virtue every now and then, if I have to, I guess... :mug:
 
MrTheKing said:
I brewed this up - primary for a week, secondary for a week. Let it sit in the bottles for a week or two before chilling a few and trying them with high hopes...and absolutely hated them. Not sure what it was, they tasted too sweet, I can't remember all the details other than I would get halfway through one and switch to something else.

Anyways, I was leaving on a couple business trips and a wedding so I threw a dozen or so in the fridge where they sat for a few weeks while I was gone. Came back Sunday and it's a totally different beer. I'm usually one for strong IPA's or Porters/Stouts, but I gotta say I could drink this all day now. My girlfriend is really digging them too, so i'll definitely be brewing it again - just giving it more time to condition before cracking them open.

I need to keep reminding myself that patience is a virtue every now and then, if I have to, I guess... :mug:
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Did you use sugar for priming? Might have been residual sugar making the beer taste sweet.

Any reports from brewers using US-04 in this recipe?
 
flatrockbrewing said:
Did you use sugar for priming? Might have been residual sugar making the beer taste sweet.

Any reports from brewers using US-04 in this recipe?
Click to expand...

I will be kegging mine this weekend. I used S-04. I made sure to keep it in the mid 60s during active fermentation. Early taste tests were excellent. The S-04 ripped through this beer in about 2 days and dropped quickly. The beer was crystal clear after a week in the fermenter. I took it the extra mile and crash cooled with gelatin a few days ago. I'll post the final product an about a week when it's carbed up.
 
shadows69 said:
Sounds like you were tasting " green" beer at first.
Click to expand...

And that's what I kind of figured, hence leaving it in the fridge for a while before chucking the batch. I guess I just expected it to be much better, sooner, given what others have found.

I'm happy in the end though, so no harm no foul.
 
How would I alter the grain bill to give this about 5% ABV? I'm looking for a nice blonde ale, but 5% is pretty much a session beer for me.
 
So, we're getting some decent snow, and I don't really want to make the drive to my LHBS tomorrow. I'm kind of excited about this recipe...not only do I have everything, but with washed yeast and bulk grains and hops, my cost is $12.24 for 5 gal. :ban:
 
12.24... wow... I need to start washing yeast, buying in bulk, and all grain...
my next step, and next batch will be all grain... step after that will likely be washing yeast or just growing/freezing yeast from fresh yeast... choices...

On topic though, just kegged this tonight after 11-12 days... was at 1.012 ish... but my OG was higher as well... tasted great and can't wait for the carbed cold version!
 
IMG_20120211_152923.jpg

Racked this to the keg today so I had to do a "quality control" test :) followed the recipe exactly as it was posted, except I used S-04. 11 day primary. 4 day cold crash with gelatin. Its burst carbing at 30 psi right now. Should be ready to drink in a few days. The sample was very tasty. I'll post the final results once it is carbed up.
 
Just bottled my first batch of all grain Centennial Blonde. Used S-04 and left it in the primary for 14 days. Finished at 1.012. The color was spot on. Can't wait to see how it tastes after a couple of weeks.
 
After reading through a bunch of the posts I decided that this is my next brew. Went out and got all the ingredients for the extract brew and will be doing it next week.
 
Been on the keg for 4 days... still very cloudy (I assume this will clear up in a week or so?)...
But first impression is its great... very mild/pleasant/smooth... hard to explain imho...
 
centex99 said:
Been on the keg for 4 days... still very cloudy (I assume this will clear up in a week or so?)...
But first impression is its great... very mild/pleasant/smooth... hard to explain imho...
Click to expand...

You could always add some gelatin finings to the keg and give it a few days. I'm assuming the beer is already cold, so the gelatin will work very quick. After a few days pour the first pint or two of all the gunk that has settled and your good to go. Take a look at my picture a few posts back.

To add gelatin I simply fill a glass measuring cup with 1 cup of cold water and add 1 teaspoon of finings. Let it sit for 5 minutes, stir and then microwave for 30 sec. Check the temp and microwave for another 20 or so until you reach about 170*. Don't let it boil. Then pour into the cold keg. That's it.
 
A buddy of mine has challenged me to make a wasabi beer. I've read the few forum threads about that, and they all seem to be failures or inconclusive. Beyond that, however, does anyone agree that this CB would be a great base for a subtle heat from something like wasabi?
 
Chew, sounds like your grain needs to be crushed spittle finer. If your getting your grain crushed from your lbs try adding an extra pound or some lme. You should be able to hit this dead on. Being it's your first all grain it will take some tweaks to get it right. I didn't get my first all grain right off the bat either, my problem was my grain crush, now I hit my numbers almost everytime. Just some food for thought.
 
chew78 said:
Used this recipe for my 1st all grain batch. It was really easy and it came out great. Only complaint was that the ABV was a bit lower than it should have been. Pretty sure that was just because of my inexperience though. I will definitely be brewing this one again.
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What were your gravity readings? what did you use to measure FG?
 
Tapped the keg last night. We have a winner! Start to finish in 3 weeks, this beer tasted great! My neighbors loved it too. One of them asked me to make him two cases.
 
Making this today. Just doughed-in about 20 minutes ago. Strike was a touch high and covered the mash, started timer at about 151.5 (if my thermo is calibrated!).

Also misread the recipe in the LHBS and got all Cascade hops. Oh well, sure it'll make beer. :mug:

Edit: Neighbor gave me 0.5 Challenger for bittering. Doing that at 60, then 1/3oz. of cascade at 40, 20, 5 (1/3oz. each addition)
 
I'm about to make the extract version of this centennial. Is there a reason why the hop additions differ from the all grain recipe. The all grain calls for a total of an ounce of each centennial cand cascade hops. The extract version only calls for an half oz each?

Help!
 
When I was steeping the grains...I picked up up the grain bag and dropped it in. A dark color, from the carapils, filled then water. How big of a problem is this?
 
No, I did the extract version. I only had to steep the carapils for 20ish minutes before adding the Dme. When the bag was steeping I picked it up and dropped it.
 
No, I had it tied. I read that you can't squeeze or drop the bag in the water. If you do the beer will have an off flavor? Sorry for the stupid question. This this my second brew.
 
I pitch the yeast in the upper 80s for the centennial. I got impatient because it was so late. Should I be worried? Off flavors? Forgot to add that I do have fermentation activity.
 
So, even though I had 1.032 OG due to the mistakes I detailed earlier, the beer turned out pretty good. Smooth, very light, just a touch of hoppiness and very light sweetness. I'm very satisfied.

421836_10150687133361018_596441017_11191524_930300557_n.jpg


429615_10150687133661018_596441017_11191525_1002080872_n.jpg
 
Just kicked my first keg of this. I definitely need to brew this again. Thinking about dry hopping the next batch and/or upping the cascade hop additions.
 

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