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

Think I'm gonna make a batch this weekend. DIL will probably like it. I will too Will prob bump the bitter hops as Fett notes above.

Try 1968 if you want it to be clean, clear and accent the malt bill while not getting in the way of the hops at the same time.

Great strain for this beer.

I'm gonna knock it down a bit, and use some of the private collection West coast IPA yeast 1217 in lieu of making a starter, and pitch the big ol IPA on the cake of the blonde.

Crikey !! I finished this all up at about 2pm. At 5.30 I walked past the fermenter and the airlock was pushing something out. Too soon for real fermentation - must have just aerated well. Now 6.15 and kruesen is rising and the airlock is singing an aria. I used rehydrated Safeale 04 for this batch. Think I better go sanitize the blowoff equipment. Sheesh !!

BierMuncher said:

This should get you a very similar beer:

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

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Thanks for the great recipe! I just brewed this today. It's only the second beer I've brewed. Went really smooth and I hit 1045 OG. BAM! Only change I made was 6.5 lbs LME instead of the 5 lbs of DME. First beer was a bit of an adventure, so I was pleased this one went so well. Can't wait to serve it to my family and friends who don't like hops as much as I do. Next up will be an IPA.

LovesIPA said:

I think that's the flavor profile Nottingham gives. I've made this beer a couple of times and every time I make it with Nottingham it has a pretty strong lager flavor. I think I'm going to switch to US-05 next time I brew it.

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I brewed this with Nottingham also after 11 days it taste like a bud ice lager may just need more time I'm hoping to get a better flavor after about 14 days.

garvinator70 said:

I brewed this with Nottingham also after 11 days it taste like a bud ice lager may just need more time I'm hoping to get a better flavor after about 14 days.

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You can always throw 0.5 - 2 oz of pellet hops in your fermenter at the end, and dry hop it a little. That goes well with this beer.

soccerdad said:

Think I'm gonna make a batch this weekend. DIL will probably like it. I will too Will prob bump the bitter hops as Fett notes above.

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I don't know if you saw an earlier post I made in this thread, but I've also changed the flavor hops schedule as well. I'm now doing the following:

.5 centennial (60)

.25 centennial (10)
.25 cascade (10)

.25 centennial (5)
.25 cascade (5)

.25 centennial (flameout)
.25 cascade (flameout)

For my tastes, the .5 has been a little too high, so I plan on dropping it down to around .3. next time I make this. The other hop additions seem to be pretty spot on to got some hop flavor in this beer.

Just as a warning, changing these is starting to pull this beer out of BMC drinkers territory but is more how I like it.

garvinator70 said:

I brewed this with Nottingham also after 11 days it taste like a bud ice lager may just need more time I'm hoping to get a better flavor after about 14 days.

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I guess it's a fine line we're walking. I want a beer that will appeal to my BMC drinking family and friends, but good gawd, please don't let it taste like Bud Ice!!!

+5

I came in a bit low on water, or great efficiency. Ended up a little hot at 13 brix (1.053)

TxBigHops said:

I guess it's a fine line we're walking. I want a beer that will appeal to my BMC drinking family and friends, but good gawd, please don't let it taste like Bud Ice!!!

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2 days later I tasted it and it is getting a lot better , nothing like bud ice now . Getting better with time. Cheers.

This is really a good beer , 14 days from brew date & I bottled it ! Really a good taste smooth , clean and refreshing. I love this beer !it almost seems like I'm drinking free beer . I don't have to go to the store and buy beer . I have my own , and it's better than theirs. Cheers!

Going to try this for my first brew at the weekend. Only a gallon or two AG BIAB. Have US-05 and Nottingham yeast, but will probably use the 05 after looking at the feedback here.

I've brewed this a couple times, and while I really like the malt profile, I get a spicy hop character that I don't care for. It has to be the centennial, right? Next time I'm going to try equal amounts of cascade and willammette for each of the four additions. I think that will get me closer to what I'm looking for. All cascade would probably work too but I need to find something to do with all that darn willammette in my freezer.....

garvinator70 said:

View attachment 174009
This is really a good beer , 14 days from brew date & I bottled it ! Really a good taste smooth , clean and refreshing. I love this beer !it almost seems like I'm drinking free beer . I don't have to go to the store and buy beer . I have my own , and it's better than theirs. Cheers!

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Glad to hear that it got better. You really had me worried with that Bud Ice comment! So if I understand your time line - 14 days from brew day to bottling, then another 14 days of bottle conditioning to today's tasting? Or add another day or so in the fridge? I just need mine ready for a party on March 1 so I should have plenty of time.

jwalker1140 said:

All cascade would probably work too but I need to find something to do with all that darn willammette in my freezer.....

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I have a great amber ale recipe that calls for 2.5 oz of Willamette.

Brewed this up this past weekend, it was my first attempt at all grain. I ended up using 7lb 12oz of Northwest Pale Ale malt. I didn't really do that on purpose but grabbed the wrong stuff from the LHBS. Wondering if anyone else has made this using that stuff instead of regular old 2-row pale?

BTW, this thing had a massive krausen in the fermenter! So glad I used the 8.5 gallon bucket instead of the 6.5 gallon one I usually use.

Whoops, double post.

LovesIPA said:

I have a great amber ale recipe that calls for 2.5 oz of Willamette.

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I'd love to see it. The only good amber recipe I have is Jamil's. Wouldn't mind trying something different.

I used American Pale malt and it turned out great!

Sheldon

Upthewazzu said:

Brewed this up this past weekend, it was my first attempt at all grain. I ended up using 7lb 12oz of Northwest Pale Ale malt. I didn't really do that on purpose but grabbed the wrong stuff from the LHBS. Wondering if anyone else has made this using that stuff instead of regular old 2-row pale?

BTW, this thing had a massive krausen in the fermenter! So glad I used the 8.5 gallon bucket instead of the 6.5 gallon one I usually use.

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You'll end up with a little darker wort, but not much. You'll actually get more flavor using Pale Malt over whats labeled basic 2 row. I think it taste better, and there's a reason it's slightly more expensive.

Good mistake.

FATC1TY said:

You'll end up with a little darker wort, but not much. You'll actually get more flavor using Pale Malt over whats labeled basic 2 row. I think it taste better, and there's a reason it's slightly more expensive.

Good mistake.

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This is good to hear! Especially since my mash temp was low (started at 150° and ended at 148°-ish) so the extra flavor should compensate for the potential dryness.

Well folks, I subbed biscuit malt for Vienna. I now have the perfect showcase beer for biscuit malt.

Upthewazzu said:

This is good to hear! Especially since my mash temp was low (started at 150° and ended at 148°-ish) so the extra flavor should compensate for the potential dryness.

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Yeah, I don't know if it'll compensate for the dryness.. I think the dryness would be very welcome in the beer. Makes you come back for more.

I usually mash around 149 with it, and while I do scale it up and change it a bit more everytime, it's always good.

It's a beer I use a vehicle for co-workers and neighbors to drink and I slowly add more hops, different varieties and whatnot.. It works out well, and I've moved BMC drinkers from that swill, to Pales and IPA's in a matter of 2 kegs.

I'm super stoked about this beer. Wife and family that are around most of the time are not big hop heads like I am. I typically keep a little Miller Lite or Shiner Blonde (which I believe is a lager) around for them. Hoping they will like this better!

So mine has been in the carboy since Sat Jan 18. Followed the extract recipe to a T. Used Notty and had a nice strong ferment for about three days with krausen all the way up the neck of the carboy. My question is, shouldn't this be clearing up by now? I'm planning to bottle this Sat (2 weeks) and it's still pretty cloudy. OG was 1045 and after 7 days it was 1013, so thinking fermentation is done by now. Beer temp was 65-67 during fermentation and due to cold weather in Texas the last few days its dropped to the 62-64 range. I took it out of the swamp cooler on Saturday. Should I do more to warm it up a bit? Or will it clear up in the bottle?

If you have a fridge you can put it in for a day or 2 to cold crash, that will help greatly with clearing up. Otherwise, bottle it when you're ready and it will clear up in the bottle.

Gelatin will help clear it, I just bottled mine last weekend and cleared with gelatin for a couple days before bottling... somone can correct me if im wrong, but I think it results in less yeast sediment in the bottle and I like that, especially for a light flavored beer like this. Gelatin won't reduce the chill haze if you can't cold crash, but I should still help drop yeast/ clear your beer with it at warmer temps....maybe put it back in the swamp cooler with ice to chill it best you can if you can't fridge it?

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I've read a little about cold crashing and I think I can remove a shelf or two from my beer fridge and fit the carboy in. So do I do it right before bottling, or put it in now for a day or two, then take it back out to warm back up before I bottle? The fridge temp is probably under 40 degrees. Is that the right temp for cold crashing?

The colder the better but don't freeze it. I would try to shoot for 33 to 34 in the fridge.

Crash it for about 2-3 days before you bottle. It's not necessary to warm it up, in fact it's better if you don't.

Thanks guys. I made some room and put the carboy in the fridge tonight. I'll leave it there until Saturday morning when I will bottle. I took a second gravity reading and it was 1013 again, same as last Saturday. Looking forward to seeing the results of this new process.

Have this Ag recipe in my carboy now, can't wait!

Just wondering, how long to you guys primary this one? I was thinking two weeks is plenty long, but wanted to check with folks that have done it before.

Thanks.

Two weeks is plenty. I think you could probably package it after 10 if you really wanted to.

Upthewazzu said:

Just wondering, how long to you guys primary this one? I was thinking two weeks is plenty long, but wanted to check with folks that have done it before.

Thanks.

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I did 10 days then kegged.

I have done this receipe 5 or 6 times now and most of those have been kegged at day 10. I don't think there's anything wrong with a 3-4 week primary if that's your thing, and/or its a big or complex beer that needs time to meld, but I think Yoop has a good quote in a few folks signature blocks to the effect that if you're sanitation is good, process is good, and temp control is good, the yeast don't need a really long time post fermentation to clean up any byproducts b/c there aren't any (or as many). This being a low grav and relatively low complexity recipe I think one of the best things it has going for it is the quick turnaround time. I have done this several times for festivals and have gone from grain to glass in 14 or 15 days. Would it probably be better 5-6 weeks out from brew day, maybe, but I haven't ever had it last that long, and have always gotten good feedback from folks and its usually one of the first to kick.

So this thing fermented all the way down to 1.007 (yikes!) and is pretty damn dry. Will an extended stay in secondary help it out at all or is it a lost cause?

Upthewazzu said:

So this thing fermented all the way down to 1.007 (yikes!) and is pretty damn dry. Will an extended stay in secondary help it out at all or is it a lost cause?

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Once it's cold and carbonated it will taste better. I don't think it's a lost cause.

One of the best centennial blondes I have made finished at 1.007.

Upthewazzu said:

So this thing fermented all the way down to 1.007 (yikes!) and is pretty damn dry. Will an extended stay in secondary help it out at all or is it a lost cause?

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Mine stopped at 1013. I was thinking it would go lower. Did you use Nottingham? AG or extract? Where did it start? Mine was a little high at 1045, ended up at ABV 4.2, so pretty close to where it's supposed to be I guess.

OG was 1.043, used US-05. All grain, mash temp was low @ 148.

Upthewazzu said:

Just wondering, how long to you guys primary this one? I was thinking two weeks is plenty long, but wanted to check with folks that have done it before.

Thanks.

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I just brewed this last Friday 01/24/14 and I cold crashed 1 week later in the morning, racked about 10 hours later into keg and force carbed all night, it was ready the next day around 4pm. 8 days from grain to glass. I pitched at 75 and let it fall during lag time to 67, then after 4 days primary raised it back up to 72.