Blonde Ale Kona Big Wave Golden Ale clone

I'm going to try it, I need a session beer in my pipeline ASAP, but will have to substitute Warrior for the Galaxy and will shoot for 149F mash to lighten up the body. I'd really like to reduce the crystal malt, but everyone seems to like it as it is so I'm just going to go with it as the OP suggests.

This is my next brew. Getting the ingredients tomorrow.

jschumacher said:

This is my next brew. Getting the ingredients tomorrow.

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Brewing this now!

Anyone ever tried this recipe with a Kveik yeast?

Bago-0 said:

Anyone ever tried this recipe with a Kveik yeast?

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I have. I used hornidal fermented at 90s. Amazing. Do it, you wont regret it. I might change the US-05 to Hornidal forever.

Great Ill be brewing this saturday. What temp did you ferment at? I was thinking cooling to 80 and pitch and then just let it ride.

Bago-0 said:

Great Ill be brewing this saturday. What temp did you ferment at? I was thinking cooling to 80 and pitch and then just let it ride.

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Chilled to 90F pitched one pack of hornidal from omega yeast.
Let it ride in an uncontrolled environment. Tops 100F.

Just kegged it. Was done fermenting in just over 48hrs. Tasted good out of the fermenter. Going to let it cold crash and force carbonate. Ill try it next week when im back from vacation.

Tapped it yesterday. Its a very light beer and smooth with no off flavors from the Kveik. Easy to drink at just over 4%. It will be a poolside hot day beer.

Hi,

What type of kveik did you use?

.Anders

LalBrew Voss Kveik, 1/2 packet.

I'm going to try brewing this with LalBrew Voss Kveik fermenting at 95 F.

seilenos said:

I'm going to try brewing this with LalBrew Voss Kveik fermenting at 95 F.

Code:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.60 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 4.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 82.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 88.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt              Name                                             Type          #          %/IBU         Volume     
7 lbs 8.0 oz     Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)                   Grain         1          90.9 %        0.59 gal   
12.0 oz          Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM)           Grain         2          9.1 %         0.06 gal   
0.30 oz          Galaxy [13.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min                 Hop           3          13.3 IBUs     -           
0.25 oz          Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min                  Hop           4          5.3 IBUs      -           
1.00 Items       Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)                Fining        5          -             -           
0.25 oz          Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min                   Hop           6          2.1 IBUs      -           
1.0 pkg          Voss Kveik Ale Yeast (Lallemand #- ) [50.28 ml]  Yeast         7          -             -           
0.70 oz          Galaxy [13.30 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for  Hop           8          0.0 IBUs      -           
0.50 oz          Citra [12.80 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for 5 Hop           9          0.0 IBUs      -

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Awesome! Be sure and let us all know how it turns out.

Snark_Wolf_Brewing said:

Awesome! Be sure and let us all know how it turns out.

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I had to borrow my wife's heating pad to get my chamber up to 95 F. I actually set my Inkbird to 98 F but it appears that is just beyond the reach of the two heating elements I have in there as it settles in around 96-97 F.

I gotta be honest .... pitching at 95 F felt really weird!

seilenos said:

I had to borrow my wife's heating pad to get my chamber up to 95 F. I actually set my Inkbird to 98 F but it appears that is just beyond the reach of the two heating elements I have in there as it settles in around 96-97 F.

I gotta be honest .... pitching at 95 F felt really weird!

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I made a Pseudo lager with Lutra pitched in the mid 70s, and within a few hours, the airlock was sounding like a machine gun. I've never seen a fermentation kick off that quick before.

seilenos said:

I actually set my Inkbird to 98 F but it appears that is just beyond the reach of the two heating elements I have in there as it settles in around 96-97 F.

Click to expand...

So much for that ... came downstairs to the thermometer reading 102 with a temp gun finding a few 103s! Airlock activity is still going strong but less than last night.

Times like this make me wish I had a Tilt.

Three days in and it is down to within a point of its FG (1.008 vs 1.007) so I dry hopped and turned off the heater to bring it to room temp (~70 F). I'm going to let it sit until Sunday and then cold crash and then keg this time next week.

Kegged and carbed! I have to pickup some actual Big Wave to compare but first taste has me thinking it is going to be really close or better than the original.

I just did a triangle test with my version and the real thing.
My version is a smidge darker and more citrusy.

Comparing my recipe to the original, I used less 20L. I think if I bring that from 12 oz up to 20 to 24 oz it would bring that sweetness in that would balance out the citrus acidity in a more faithful manner.

Have six gallon in the fermenter.

Pitched Lallemand Voss @ ~83°. First time using Kveik. Fast and violent fermentation under 10psi. Looks to be about finished in 24 hours. If the tilt hydro is accurate it finished at 1.010 from 1.042. I can deal with that.

Hydro sample tasted promising. Plan to cold crash and keg this weekend.

Cheers

Mmm mm mm, haven't brewed for two years, but finally my carage is at stage that i can start again.

And ofcourse, Big wave is the first beer to make. Again

A friend of mine used to work there (Kona) and gave me a little insight but sorry I don’t recall quantities. It’s largely being made at AB plants now and maybe the process has changed.
Anyway the only crystal they used at that time was a “tiny bit of C-120.”

And it was dry hopped with azacca and mosaic before the fermenter was filled with wort.

I recently spoke to a rep at AB and he read an email reply regarding the discrepancies between the Hawaiian and mainland Kona websites. The email stated that the difference in the posted IBU and SG is simply due to the difference in the brewing process and equipment at each location, with the Hawaiian location being a much smaller operation. Not really sure why they wouldn’t just adjust the recipe for the equipment to keep more consistency, but that’s the answer they gave him.

The mainland website (konabigwave.com) as of this writing currently has the IBU at 16. They also have an error under Original Gravity where it states “15 IBU”. I pointed this out to the rep who said he’d verify the info and pass it along to the web team. The Hawaiian site (konabrewinghawaii.com) lists the IBU at 21 and OG at 10.3 Plato (1.041 SG).

Regardless, I brewed a batch about a month ago at 1.041/1.008 and around 18 IBU with 2-row and C20, Galaxy and Citra and with a small Citra, 3 day dry hop. I haven’t done a side-by-side yet, but the wife begged me to brew more.

Oooh, I am going to have to try this. A summer crusher!