Blonde Ale Amarillo Blonde

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FastAndy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
990
Reaction score
159
Location
Socorro
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP080
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.053
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
30.4
Color
4.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
30 @ 65 Degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
n/a
Tasting Notes
Well balanced very sessionable light beer with just enough hop bitterness coming thru
I wanted to make a couple of lighter beers for my outdoor wedding in April with a simple and cheap grain bill, I finally ran across some Amarillo hops that i had been wanting to try and this is what i came up with.

I am really impressed with the Amarillo flavor even though I used less than an ounce for the batch. It shines through with just a enough bitterness. When i do this beer again i will move the second hop addition to somewhere around 5-10 minutes for more aroma. This is lawnmower enough for the BMC fans but packs a bit more flavor.

Mashed @ 148 for 60 minutes.

Amarillo Blonde
Blonde Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 2/12/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer: Andy
Boil Size: 6.25 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
End of Boil Volume 5.20 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 70.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 88.2 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 11.8 %
0.60 oz Amarillo [9.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 24.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Amarillo [9.30 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 4 6.1 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 5 -
1.0 pkg Cream Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP080) [50.28 ml] Yeast 6 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.043 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.006 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.8 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 %
Bitterness: 30.4 IBUs Calories: 176.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 4.5 SRM
 
Amarillo is awesome. I was just thinking yesterday that I'd like to try a pale Amarillo and this looks pretty decent!

Does the full pound of crystal 10 overwhelm with sweetness at all? That's a higher % than I'd normally go on crystal, but I suppose I always use crystal 20...
 
I was kind of worried about the crystal being too sweet but it really isnt. There is a great balance with the Amarillo being strong enough to shine through even with the small amount i used. A 90 minute mash may be a good option to dry this out a bit more if you really wanted too.

Cheers!
 
So i am now halfway through my keg of Amarillo Blonde V2.0

I used Marris Otter instead of the 2 row and moved the 60 min addition to .70 ounce of Amarillo and the 20 min addition is now a 2 min addition of .25 ounce. Its still really balanced but has a more pronounced hop flavor that i like much better, i will not use the MO again in this recipe though.

I think this is a solid base recipe with lots of room for improvements or additions.

Cheers!

IMG_0077.jpg
 
If this was my recipe I would try adding around 1LB of vienna if you are searching for just a little more malt flavor but the MO was too much.
 
Vienna would be good. I love MO and use it in a lot of beers, I just like 2 row better in this beer. this is a beer I will keep making with slight changes until I find the perfect balance.

Cheers!
 
Vienna would be good. I love MO and use it in a lot of beers, I just like 2 row better in this beer. this is a beer I will keep making with slight changes until I find the perfect balance.

Cheers!

Would you recommend adding a lb Vienna in addition to the existing grain bill or would you swap a lb of Vienna for a lb of 2-row? I am hoping to brew this recipe this weekend since the high temps will be in the 80s instead of upper 90s and 100s.
 
Personally I think I would sub the Vienna for a pound of 2 row. You wouldn't want the OG to get to high and throw off the balance of the malt and hop characters. Let me know how this turns out, I really think its a good base and inexpensive grain bill that you can change around.

Looking forward to hear about your version.

Cheers
 
I am putting brewing this beer now ahead of 6 other that I have all ready assembled the grains for. The only problem is that I don't have the correct yeast so I was thinking of using White Labs American Ale. Did you like the result of moving the aroma addition forward to 5 minutes?
 
WLP060 sounds awesome for this beer. I was very pleased with skipping the 20 minute addition in the second batch. 5, 2, or even flame out be fine for the second addition.

Cheers!
 
looking at your numbers I see an estimated Original Gravity to be 1.043 SG and an actual Measured Original Gravity: 1.053 SG. Thus, based on your results with an actual OG of 1.053 would you recommend that I use 1.053 or 1.043 as an estimated target gravity?
 
When I first made this I had never used my barley crusher mill so I over shot my efficiency a bit. When I made the second batch I tried to stay around the same. You don't want to get to light on this one.
 
Did you mean "You don't want to go light on this one" implying that an OG closer to 1.053 is ideal? So if my question is redundant with the first one but I am thinking of brewing 8 gallons of this and using American Ale yeast for 4 gallons and a Cream Ale Blend yeast for the other 4 gallons.
 
Yes, shoot for around 1.053. Sorry, I read my post again and realize it wasn't very clear. A split batch of this sounds interesting, I'm really curious to see how the two yeasts change the overall profile of the beer.
 
Thanks for answering all of my questions. I will let you know how this turns out. PM me in 7-8 weeks if I forget. We are expecting our second child this fall so I can easily forget about doing some things I intended on doing in the near future.
 
Congrats on the kid. I'm just excited someone else wants to try this recipe.

Cheers!
 
Well I screwed up my brewing notes and kegged these today after the had been fermenting for 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks. Do you think that missing week will be any sort of a problem? I am really looking forward to drinking this so I could be drinking soon and thus I may have kegged it too soon.
 
I think three weeks is plenty. Unless I use a complex grain bill, high OG, or a yeast that really needs the extra time to clean up I usually keg after a 14 day primary.
 
msa8967 said:
OK.thanks for letting me know 3 weeks is fine for fermentation..I will let you know how it turns out in 2-3 weeks.

How's it coming along?
 
Glad you asked. I sampled my first taste tonoght and it still needs a few days to get carbonated but I really liked the taste. Even my wife likes it and she goes more for APAs and IPAs. It has a nice lemon style aroma and taste but w/o using lemon peels like in some wheats. I am looking forward to seeing how this one develops over the next 3-4 days as we hit 3 weeks on the gas. I think i will brew this again this weekend and bottle so I can share it with my friends when our daughter is born in 6-7 weeks.
 
Glad to hear its coming along nicely. You're a better man than I. I started my latest batch a few days after you and I couldn't resist so I too had a sample tonight after only 5 days on gas. Again, congrats on the new member of the family.

Cheers!
 
The first keg has been drained and I am now waiting on the second keg to carbonate. My last 2 brew days have been postponed so I might not be able to make this again until after the birth of our second child here in a few weeks.
 
Any updates?
Thank you FastAndy for a great recipe. I brewed this beer 2 months ago. Now it is almost gone. This was my first AG so I used a little more grain 10 pounds of 2 row and 1.2 pound Cristal, hops as per your schedule. Beer was ready to drink a moth ago but it was way too fruity with a strong grapefruit note. Even my wife tasted it, otherwise she hates beer. But after a wile (maybe 3 weeks) everything settled and mellowed into very smooth very balanced English style ale with only a hint of citrus aftertaste. This is maybe my best beer ever. Not butter, everyone can drink it. One important notice: it should not be served cold, just a little under room temp, otherwise it looses its taste and character.

Amarillo-blonde.jpg
 
I will be keen to try this this weekend, the LHBS has run out of Amarillo but I've never used it so will source some elsewhere. Will also use WLP060, thanks for sharing!
 
I will be keen to try this this weekend, the LHBS has run out of Amarillo but I've never used it so will source some elsewhere. Will also use WLP060, thanks for sharing!

I've been told by my LHBS that Amarillo will be even harder to get next year, hopefully you find some. Let me know how it turns out.

Cheers!
 
Thank you FastAndy for a great recipe. I brewed this beer 2 months ago. Now it is almost gone. This was my first AG so I used a little more grain 10 pounds of 2 row and 1.2 pound Cristal, hops as per your schedule. Beer was ready to drink a moth ago but it was way too fruity with a strong grapefruit note. Even my wife tasted it, otherwise she hates beer. But after a wile (maybe 3 weeks) everything settled and mellowed into very smooth very balanced English style ale with only a hint of citrus aftertaste. This is maybe my best beer ever. Not butter, everyone can drink it. One important notice: it should not be served cold, just a little under room temp, otherwise it looses its taste and character.

Glad to hear it came out ok. Thats an interesting take on the serving temp for this beer, i am usually fine with beers being served just below room temp but have not tried this one that wat. What yeast did you use?

Cheers!
 
I've been told by my LHBS that Amarillo will be even harder to get next year, hopefully you find some. Let me know how it turns out.

Cheers!

damnit, I just looked and nobody has them in stock! any suitable substitute you could recommend or is the hop that really made this recipe?
 
daggers_nz said:
damnit, I just looked and nobody has them in stock! any suitable substitute you could recommend or is the hop that really made this recipe?

Hmm, I based this recipe on Amarillo because I had just bought 2 pounds of it at the time. It's a pretty simple blonde so you could really use any hop you have access to. I bet summit or cascade would be good. You could get all crazy and try something earthy like Fuggles and just change the schedule around.

Give something new a whirl and let us know.

Cheers!
 
FastAndy said:
Wow. So does a ounce of hop dust get treated like an ounce of pellets?

Yes I would say so. The pellets and dust are probably the same utilization wise.
 
how do you reckon US05 would fare in this recipe as well? can't be ****ed making a starter :p
 
Waaaayy off topic..... How do the All Blacks look this year? Been my favorite national side for as long as I've known Rugby. Unfortunately here in the US it's hard to catch games on t.v.
 
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