Blonde Ale Miller Lite (Really Triple Hopped)

I'm wondering if all of you have AE thats not working. Those of you who didn't get it down to zero, what yeast did you use? I have always used Safale S-05.

Getting down to 1.000 is slowly done, I always rack to the 2ndary on top of AE after 7 days.

I'm wondering if the yeast has attenuated all it can or is just slowly chugging away. With mine it still pretty clean, after the first week. Its virtually clear as can be.

If the beer is down to 1.005 and the corn flavor is gone, then call it good. I think the AE knocks out that corn flavor.

I also mash low, 147F, and I also do the starch conversion test too. If I goes black I keep mashing. Usually another 15-30 minutes.

BeerWars said:

How would you modify the hop schedule to make this beer taste hop neutral (exactly like a BMC light beer)?

Thanks in advance!

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SC_Ryan said:

Do a single hop addition at 60 minutes and use a noble hop. Sazz would be great. I would keep the IBU at 15-17. That level will keep the beer balanced.

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This is good advice!

Well for me, I used S-05. Beer was at 1.010 after 7 days and I racked to secondary and added the AE. The AE bubbled and foamed rapidly for a couple days then it slowly subsided over the next 8-9 days. After 2 solid weeks in secondary (and no further AE Activity, but plenty of clearing) I bottled. FG 1.005.

BigB said:

Well for me, I used S-05. Beer was at 1.010 after 7 days and I racked to secondary and added the AE. The AE bubbled and foamed rapidly for a couple days then it slowly subsided over the next 8-9 days. After 2 solid weeks in secondary (and no further AE Activity, but plenty of clearing) I bottled. FG 1.005.

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Must see pictures of drinking vessels......

For me I used 1 pack S-05. Primary 7 days then racked on top of 1 Tsp powered AE. 7 days later no activity still at 1.010. Ordered more AE from different store (also powered). Used 1 Tbsp (instructions on package) directly into carboy and gently stirred (re-suspended the yeast cake) with sanitized racking cane. 7 days later 1.006 and holding. beer is still slightly cloudy but it taste dry with a very small hint of sour (maybe the corn?). Even though I haven't been able to get it down to 1.000 it doesn't taste bad (for a light beer). So I guess I'll crash cool and bottling soon.

binaryc0de said:

For me I used 1 pack S-05. Primary 7 days then racked on top of 1 Tsp powered AE. 7 days later no activity still at 1.010. Ordered more AE from different store (also powered). Used 1 Tbsp (instructions on package) directly into carboy and gently stirred (re-suspended the yeast cake) with sanitized racking cane. 7 days later 1.006 and holding. beer is still slightly cloudy but it taste dry with a very small hint of sour (maybe the corn?). Even though I haven't been able to get it down to 1.000 it doesn't taste bad (for a light beer). So I guess I'll crash cool and bottling soon.

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Does it taste more like a parched dryness? This is common when this beer is very young. It quickly dissipates after short time chilled sitting w/ CO2.

Yeah I would agree it taste more parched. That's good then I feel better about bottling it now.

How does it taste now???

Didn't read through all 17 pages but this looks like it would be a perfect candidate for a stovetop all grain brew with it's small grain bill. Going to have to give it a shot to make a nice summer thirst quencher that should satisfy some of my light beer drinking friends!

I'm planing to pop one this weekend, and I'll report back.

binaryc0de said:

I'm planing to pop one this weekend, and I'll report back.

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Fricken slow poke!!!!

haha... I was waiting to open one with a friend/fellow brewer this past weekend so I could get his opinion too. It had nice carbonation for only being about a week in the bottle. He claimed he could still taste a slight corn flavor in there, but being a very young beer and seeing as I haven't cold conditioned the bottles yet, maybe time is the answer. When I’ve used corn in the past (without AE) time has worked to dissipate the corn taste. So I'm going to set these in my beer fridge and lager for some time and pull it out again later. Also I ordered the grain pre-milled online. So since I didn't mill this myself maybe there was more corn in there than should have been.

How much do you think it would change the flavor profiles, ABV or other aspects to increase the grains to 2 lbs of each? I have extra hops if that would need to be adjusted as well. A lot of the online vendors sell grains 1 lb at a time & it would be easier than having two random 1/4 lbs of grains sitting around or waste.

2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)
2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(6-row)
2.00 lbs. Flaked Corn (Maize)

Hoping to brew this up soon for something inexpensive & easy to drink for 4th of July.

I made this on 5/7.

2 lbs of 2 row
2 lbs of 6 row
1.75 lbs of flaked corn
.80 oz of EKG at 5% I thought it was Hallertau but it wasn't. Long story.
US05 for 3 weeks
Tsp of AE after a week.
OG= 1.034
FG = 1.004

I ended up with 5.75 gallons with a gal of trub hence 4.75 gallons. I wish it was a bit darker with a little more body. Reminds me of MGD64. It is good, I am drinking it but I want to increase the SRM by 1 and hopefully the OG to 1.040. Overall I like it. What do you suggest to increase the color and OG. Another lb of 2 row? Shot of crystal 10L?

Funny, I made it on a Saturday morning but found that it didn't excite me. No anticipation so I made a English Pub Ale on Monday to create some expectation.

mymbtheduke said:

I made this on 5/7.

2 lbs of 2 row
2 lbs of 6 row
1.75 lbs of flaked corn
.80 oz of EKG at 5% I thought it was Hallertau but it wasn't. Long story.
US05 for 3 weeks
Tsp of AE after a week.
OG= 1.034
FG = 1.004

I ended up with 5.75 gallons with a gal of trub hence 4.75 gallons. I wish it was a bit darker with a little more body. Reminds me of MGD64. It is good, I am drinking it but I want to increase the SRM by 1 and hopefully the OG to 1.040. Overall I like it. What do you suggest to increase the color and OG. Another lb of 2 row? Shot of crystal 10L?

Funny, I made it on a Saturday morning but found that it didn't excite me. No anticipation so I made a English Pub Ale on Monday to create some expectation.

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My recipe as it stands is 2 SRMs The style range is 2-3.

If you want to hit 3 SRM with negligible calorie & cost additions add the following. According to ProMash
.16oz or 4.5g of Black Malt (SRM 600)
or
.19oz or 5.4g of Black Patent Malt. (SRM 525)

Thanks for the response but I already got another batch this afternoon from the LHBS. I added 1 lb of 2 row and .25 of crystal 10L. We shall see how it turns out.

Well, after 3 weeks in the bottle, I finally tried a couple. Flavor wasn't bad, but more like Corona Lite than Miller Lite. Also, very poor carbonation... Not sure what went wrong here. I made sure I used 3/4 cup of corn sugar, conditioned at 68-72 F. I think I may add 1/2 tsp of corn sugar to the bottles and give it another 2-3 weeks.

BigB said:

Well, after 3 weeks in the bottle, I finally tried a couple. Flavor wasn't bad, but more like Corona Lite than Miller Lite. Also, very poor carbonation... Not sure what went wrong here. I made sure I used 3/4 cup of corn sugar, conditioned at 68-72 F. I think I may add 1/2 tsp of corn sugar to the bottles and give it another 2-3 weeks.

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Your problem is volumetric measurement of sugar. You should use a gram scale. Use about 5-6 grams. Edit: Meant Ounces, 5-6 Ounces.

Schlenkerla said:

Your problem is volumetric measurement of sugar. You should use a gram scale. Use about 5-6 grams.

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My bad, I also always weigh the corn sugar. It was 4 ozs. Now I did't weigh each 1/2 tsp because I was just trying to boost the carbonation, and I didn't want to look like a coke dealer measuring out minute grams of a white powdery substance...I have very suspicious neighbors

BigB said:

My bad, I also always weigh the corn sugar. It was 4 ozs. Now I did't weigh each 1/2 tsp because I was just trying to boost the carbonation, and I didn't want to look like a coke dealer measuring out minute grams of a white powdery substance...I have very suspicious neighbors

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So when they see you using the wortchiller they think you are making moonshine.

haha... My father-in-Law (a non-drinker) saw my chiller and thought I was distilling. Which I believe is illegal in my state without a permit, but oh well.

LOL. Funny, I think they do I think I am up to something illegal everytime I brew... well at least they used to... Until one day a very good friend of mine who is a police officer stopped by on duty with a marked patrol car and stood around for about 15 minutes while I brewed. He then came back a little while later after work and had some brews while I finished up brewing. The neighbors don't stick their nose through the blinds anymore!

I made this damn beer. It would have been utterly fantastic if I had of used a different yeast or fermented at lower temps. This is my first negative beer when using Nottingham yeast. I must have fermented it too high because it smells very strange and it tastes like I just dumped a tablespoon of ground cloves into my glass.

I was really looking forward to this beer and I am a little disappointed by the yeast. It is far from undrinkable and still a very good beer, but I shouldn't have cheaped out on the yeast. My lhbs was out of US-05.

I have made IPA's and 1 stout with nottingham yeast and not noticed the weird esters/phenols. Has anyone tried a Nottingham for a lighter beer like this and had good results?

Blauvelt said:

I made this damn beer. It would have been utterly fantastic if I had of used a different yeast or fermented at lower temps. This is my first negative beer when using Nottingham yeast. I must have fermented it too high because it smells very strange and it tastes like I just dumped a tablespoon of ground cloves into my glass.

I was really looking forward to this beer and I am a little disappointed by the yeast. It is far from undrinkable and still a very good beer, but I shouldn't have cheaped out on the yeast. My lhbs was out of US-05.

I have made IPA's and 1 stout with nottingham yeast and not noticed the weird esters/phenols. Has anyone tried a Nottingham for a lighter beer like this and had good results?

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I have, but not this light. How old is your beer? I'd let it cold condition for a little while. I take it you did the AE in the 2ndary. Right?

I'm going to brew a scaled up version of this this weekend:

Miller GD (3x Hops) - Lite American Lager
================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.000 gal
Boil Size: 5.750 gal
Boil Time: 0.000 s
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.009
ABV: 4.5%
Bitterness: 22.6 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 6 SRM (Mosher)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Corn, Flaked Grain 2.500 lb Yes No 80% 1 L
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 3.000 lb Yes No 79% 2 L
Pale Malt (6 Row) US Grain 2.500 lb Yes No 76% 2 L

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Cascade 6.0% 1.000 oz Boil 1.000 hr Pellet 22.6
Cascade 6.0% 1.330 oz Aroma 0.000 s Pellet 0.0
Cascade 6.0% 1.330 oz Dry Hop 0.000 s Pellet 0.0


Anyone see any glaring reason this will come out bad? Should I up the hops a bit more?

Your version looks good, its slightly higher OG takes it more up there to be like Miller High Life. Your ibu is also higher. Lite is more is more like 16-18 ibu. As it is it will be good, less close to lite though. Depends if you want to make it for the BMC crowd. My original recipe comes from Charlie Papazian.

Schlenkerla said:

Your version looks good, its slightly higher OG takes it more up there to be like Miller High Life. Your ibu is also higher. Lite is more is more like 16-18 ibu. As it is it will be good, less close to lite though. Depends if you want to make it for the BMC crowd. My original recipe comes from Charlie Papazian.

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Miller High Life is actually right what I was going for. I'll lose some beer snob cred for this, but I actually enjoy MHL quite a bit, and I figured making a hoppy version of it would be right up my alley. I just figure in a beer that's light it's going to be very sensitive so I'm a bit less gung ho about my hop additions/schedule.

Schlenkerla said:

I have, but not this light. How old is your beer? I'd let it cold condition for a little while. I take it you did the AE in the 2ndary. Right?

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The beer is about 5 weeks in the bottle. I did not do AE in secondary, because I couldn't find it anywhere in the great city of Halifax. I did an extra long mash with rests at 115, 131, 145 and 154. This worked out really well because I got the FG down to 1.002. Underneath all the Nottingham yeast chemicals you can tell it was originally and awesome beer.

I will attempt to cold condition this beer, but It will go quickly if the whole lot is left in the refrigerator. at this point, will cold conditioning make any noticeable difference? how long should I "lager" this?

Try as little as two weeks. You could see a change almost weekly. I think you are right in that it might not last long once it gets some age and some time to lager in the bottle. Believe it not, miracles happen with time.

I once had a pale ale that desolved a fine steel mesh screen. It tasted very metallic. Pretty much undrinkable, but two months later I couldn't detect the off metallic taste. It seemed perfectly normal. Whodathunkit was possible?

Cold conditioning works miracles, although its not usually required for this beer.

Here is mine after a second round of carbonation... finally better, but still tastes nothing like Miller and more like Corona.

I found out how to make this taste more like corona (Just tried it today)... Just sit a bottle out in the sun for 15 mins or so on a summer day, refrigerate and pure skunk corona

BigB- I wonder if the base malt changes this?

Specificly the brand. Mine have been very similar to miller. There are several 2-row, 6-row varieties. Other variables are quanty used and the kilning. The grain bill is small, so it easily impacted by subtle differences in the grain.

How disapointed are you with the results?

Hello,
If I want to make this taste as close as possible to Miller Lite, I would just add Hallertua (spelling?) hops to the mash for 60 minutes and then what, if anything?

How many oz of hops also please?

thanks Kevin

Schlenkerla said:

BigB- I wonder if the base malt changes this?

Specificly the brand. Mine have been very similar to miller. There are several 2-row, 6-row varieties. Other variables are quanty used and the kilning. The grain bill is small, so it easily impacted by subtle differences in the grain.

How disapointed are you with the results?

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I'm fine with the beer. It is a very easy drinker and the the cascade really gives it that extra little kick. I'll make it again. Maybe what I am tasting is the citrus of the cascade and it reminds me of the lime that people throw into corona. I had several people over yesterday and they all thought it was like corona. I honestly cannot remember the base grain... I just go to my LHBS and ask for the grains. It's probably Breiss though.

haeffnkr said:

Hello,
If I want to make this taste as close as possible to Miller Lite, I would just add Hallertua (spelling?) hops to the mash for 60 minutes and then what, if anything?

How many oz of hops also please?

thanks Kevin

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Kevin - Reread the first post. I would suggest doing the 90 minute mash (not 60) and use Hallertauer. If you can get a IBU calcuator use it to tweak the hallertauer alpha acids to get 18 IBUs with a 60 minute boil, plus the 5 minute addition.

If you don't have an IBU calculator use this; http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

You will need to enter the recipe into the system so it can figure it out. You'll understand it all as you do this. Add more or less hops at 60 minutes. Look at the hop package for the AAU number.

This is on the hop section....

I will be kegging mine on Thursday, I will be cold conditioning for at least three weeks before drinking!

i saw a bad experience with this beer and notty, but that's all i have and my lhbs price their yeasts like gold (or diamonds maybe)...anybody else have any thoughts on using notty?

bafroom said:

i saw a bad experience with this beer and notty, but that's all i have and my lhbs price their yeasts like gold (or diamonds maybe)...anybody else have any thoughts on using notty?

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I'd order half a dozen packets of US-05 from the internet and keep them in the fridge if I were you. They last a while.

munche said:

I'd order half a dozen packets of US-05 from the internet and keep them in the fridge if I were you. They last a while.

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yeah, that's my plan, but i've got to deal with the here and now!

so, should i take that to mean that notty is probably a no go?

bafroom said:

i saw a bad experience with this beer and notty, but that's all i have and my lhbs price their yeasts like gold (or diamonds maybe)...anybody else have any thoughts on using notty?

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If you can get s05 that would be better. I made a very nice light beer with notty. See my Tasmanian Cascade Pale Ale. Notty is not as clean as s-05 but it will clean up with time. Also on the example you are referring to, he did not use amalyse-enzyme in the 2ndary.