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

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I brewed a 6 gallon batch this past Sunday exactly to recipe. It was the first time I've tried nottingham and damn it had a fierce but short-lived fermentation. Yesterday it looked like a billion horny sea monkies having a beer-soaked orgy; today it was all quieted down bubbling slowly. The smell coming from the blowoff jug was luscious bananas, I can't wait to taste a gravity sample.
 
anteater8 said:
To those who have brewed this and dry hopped it, what hops and amounts have worked well for you?
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1oz of anything good depending on what you want. This beer won't hide anything, so the dry hop will really come through. I've had good results with modern IPA aroma hops: mosaic, centennial, amarillo, etc -- and some newer varietals like hallertau blanc (was white-wineish and interesting), sorachi ace (green peppers and odd spice, did not enjoy very much)
 
I just brewed this for my first time in a few years. I finally got a conical with temp control because my house is always 75-80+f my beers had a bit of funk to them.

I couldn’t remember if I pre heated my mash tun so I didn’t. My mash came out at 144-145f after an hour. My burner was rusted to hell so it took ages to get a boil going.

My OG ended up at 1.046. Not sure what it’s going to end at or what to expect from that og it’s definitely a bit high.
 
Ariza-Poet said:
Great minds here man. I'm wondering the same thing. The AZ summer is peaking its nasty head around the corner and I need a quafer. This blonde is an amazing recipe, but wanna give it a shot with a kolsch yeast
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Personally, I'd just use the Nottingham at ~54°. It'll do it's job just fine that low and should be about as clean/crisp as the kolsch - without the starter and higher liquid yeast price. I pretty much keep two yeasts for "cold" beers, notty and wlp940. Have done kolsch and just didn't see enough difference to keep it around personally.

At 54°, I'd definately rehydrate though if you're not using prior slurry.
 
natural said:
I just brewed this for my first time in a few years. I finally got a conical with temp control because my house is always 75-80+f my beers had a bit of funk to them.

I couldn’t remember if I pre heated my mash tun so I didn’t. My mash came out at 144-145f after an hour. My burner was rusted to hell so it took ages to get a boil going.

My OG ended up at 1.046. Not sure what it’s going to end at or what to expect from that og it’s definitely a bit high.
Click to expand...
Have made this or a slight variation quite a few times. This and cream of three crops were my "process fixing beers" as both seem to always come out drinkable and neither hide ANYTHING. Have mashed all over the place and had ABVs between 3.5 and 6.5. All were very drinkable, I wouldn't worry.

If you wanted you could always top off with an appropriate amount of water to lower the OG, but I'd leave it.
 
Seems like it's common to overshoot the OG with this recipe. I typically get over 80% efficiency. Brewing this tomorrow. Should I scale back the 2 row a little?
 
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I brewed the 11 gallong batch size of this today. Scaled the 14 pounds of 2 row down to 13 pounds and ended up with 10.5 gallons of wort in the primary fermenter at a starting OG of 1.046. Will probably look to further scale back the grain the next time I brew this.

Is one package of Nottingham enough for 10 gallons?
 
fragged said:
Personally, I'd just use the Nottingham at ~54°. It'll do it's job just fine that low and should be about as clean/crisp as the kolsch - without the starter and higher liquid yeast price. I pretty much keep two yeasts for "cold" beers, notty and wlp940. Have done kolsch and just didn't see enough difference to keep it around personally.

At 54°, I'd definately rehydrate though if you're not using prior slurry.
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So the whole fermentation at 54?
Odd question, but would you take the wort down to 54 before pitching?
I have a temp controlled fridge so that would be fine to keep it low.
 
Ariza-Poet said:
So the whole fermentation at 54?
Odd question, but would you take the wort down to 54 before pitching?
I have a temp controlled fridge so that would be fine to keep it low.
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Yes, with the notty the whole thing would be done at 54F. It's pretty clean in general, but very clean at the lower end of the scale. Note that it will take longer overall than notty at 67F, and you may need to rouse the yeast to get it to FG (though unlikely IME).

And yes, chill to 54F before pitching. With notty I'd guess it would be next to impossible to get it down to 54 for the first 72 hours if pitched warm, given how active it is at warmer temps. Might even finish out before the ferm chamber gets it to 54 if pitched warm...

Think I've had notty finish in 2 days at 68F if I recall - it's a fast one when fermented warm!
 
Hey Hey BierMuncher: Your recipe has placed 3rd in the first round of the National Homebrew Competition. I made a small tweak to the hop schedule but everything else is the same. I also built a custom water profile for it that seems to make the beer really stand out. All credit to you good sir.
upload_2018-4-16_15-27-28.png
 
andrewmaixner said:
1oz of anything good depending on what you want. This beer won't hide anything, so the dry hop will really come through. I've had good results with modern IPA aroma hops: mosaic, centennial, amarillo, etc -- and some newer varietals like hallertau blanc (was white-wineish and interesting), sorachi ace (green peppers and odd spice, did not enjoy very much)
Click to expand...

Regarding the recommendation to dry hop with 1oz, would that be for 5 gallons?
 
I'm going to brew this for the summer.
I asked this in this thread a few times already but didn't get an answer so sorry for asking again.

How does this last the test of time in the bottle?
If I brewed a big batch at the start of the summer (May) would it still be a decent beer by the end of September or does it stat going down hill after a couple of months?

It will be stored in my basement at 60 to 65F and chilled as needed :cask:

Thanks!
 
While mine doesn't typically stick around for too long, those bottles that I have been able to hold on to still tasted pretty darn delicious after a year. YMMV.
 
The first time I made this recipe was as a payment of thanks to a gal who drove me to the hospital after I slipped and broke my arm. I rechristened it "Bat Out of Hell Blonde" for her. :)
 
I find this beer a little sweet. I'm pretty sure I hit my temps right and nothing went wrong with the brew, so I'm wondering if it's supposed to be on the sweeter side, or if there could perhaps be something else going on?
 
Hope to brew this one as my very first all grain brew. Can anyone give me an approximate mash schedule to compare my calculations with?
 
overseasbrewer said:
Hope to brew this one as my very first all grain brew. Can anyone give me an approximate mash schedule to compare my calculations with?
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Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

Plug the numbers into beersmith (or and online calculator) and it will tell you the steps for whatever kind of system and batch size you have. Don't overthink it!


 
I think I may sub the carapils and crystal 10 with a whole 1lb of Vienna. Would that be suitable?
 
Beeru said:
I find this beer a little sweet. I'm pretty sure I hit my temps right and nothing went wrong with the brew, so I'm wondering if it's supposed to be on the sweeter side, or if there could perhaps be something else going on?
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I've made the recipe multiple times and have ended up with a really balanced, crisp Blonde ale. Are you sure on mash temperature and fermentation temperature? Higher mash temps will typically give higher unfermentables, increasing mouthfeel and percieved sweetness of the fermented beer.
Higher fermentation temps can cause more esters to develop, though I'm not 100% sure if that can have an affect on percieved sweetness. Also incomplete fermentation can cause the same effect because of residual, unfermented sugar(s).
Hope that helps.
 
rrhoads said:
I've made the recipe multiple times and have ended up with a really balanced, crisp Blonde ale. Are you sure on mash temperature and fermentation temperature? Higher mash temps will typically give higher unfermentables, increasing mouthfeel and percieved sweetness of the fermented beer.
Higher fermentation temps can cause more esters to develop, though I'm not 100% sure if that can have an affect on percieved sweetness. Also incomplete fermentation can cause the same effect because of residual, unfermented sugar(s).
Hope that helps.
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Agreed, I've made this quite a few times and it should be balanced, not sweet. What was your OG/FG?
 
If I find time I'm probably going to brew this up on the weekend.
However as base pale malt I only have continental and British pale ale.
Think I'll go for a 50% mix of German Pale Ale and German Pilsner malts to get the SRM down a bit closer to American pale malt.
I wish a European maltster would start producing something like American pale malt.
There would definitely a market for it among my homebrew colleagues but they probably would need some commercial breweries to take some up to make it worth their while. o_O
 
Shenanigans said:
If I find time I'm probably going to brew this up on the weekend.
However as base pale malt I only have continental and British pale ale.
Think I'll go for a 50% mix of German Pale Ale and German Pilsner malts to get the SRM down a bit closer to American pale malt.
I wish a European maltster would start producing something like American pale malt.
There would definitely a market for it among my homebrew colleagues but they probably would need some commercial breweries to take some up to make it worth their while. o_O
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There are plenty of european maltsers that make low colour Pale malt. Low colour Maris Otter is around 2L, Golden Promise is around 2-2.5L, Extra Pale Ale from Simpsons is around 1.8-2L, and on top of these and much more, you have the Pilsner and Lager type malts ( which are around 1.5L ), which are really low coloured. And they are made by german, dutch, belgian, scandinavian, polish and english maltsters.

For 5 gallons/20 L of this recipe, you need like 3.5 Kg / 7.7 lbs of grains and if you are using Halcyon, Pilsner, Pearl, Lager malt, etc. you literally have a beer which is far under 4 SRM and close to 3 SRM, so I don't really understand how you cannot achieve the desired colour with the awesome malt variety available in Europe.
 
rrhoads said:
I've made the recipe multiple times and have ended up with a really balanced, crisp Blonde ale. Are you sure on mash temperature and fermentation temperature? Higher mash temps will typically give higher unfermentables, increasing mouthfeel and percieved sweetness of the fermented beer.
Higher fermentation temps can cause more esters to develop, though I'm not 100% sure if that can have an affect on percieved sweetness. Also incomplete fermentation can cause the same effect because of residual, unfermented sugar(s).
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

fragged said:
Agreed, I've made this quite a few times and it should be balanced, not sweet. What was your OG/FG?
Click to expand...

My OG was 1.042 and my FG was 1.004. I believe I hit my mash temp, as well. Fermentation temp does tend to go up and down a little as I don't have control over my heat, but it would have stayed within a range of 15-20c. I think that it might just be my tastes. I might just like a dryer more bitter beer and find this recipe slightly sweeter than what I typically go for.
 
Beeru said:
My OG was 1.042 and my FG was 1.004. I believe I hit my mash temp, as well. Fermentation temp does tend to go up and down a little as I don't have control over my heat, but it would have stayed within a range of 15-20c. I think that it might just be my tastes. I might just like a dryer more bitter beer and find this recipe slightly sweeter than what I typically go for.
Click to expand...
If you dry-hop it with something high-alpha, it may balance the batch out more to your tastes. Maybe try a half ounce of centennial to start, another half if it still isn't there after a couple days.
I've had good luck doing that.
 
andrewmaixner said:
If you dry-hop it with something high-alpha, it may balance the batch out more to your tastes. Maybe try a half ounce of centennial to start, another half if it still isn't there after a couple days.
I've had good luck doing that.
Click to expand...

That is a great idea. I'm new to kegging, but I assume I can just turn off the c02, burp it, throw in a hop bag, and seal it back up? Any issues I might be overlooking there?
 
I too found this recipe to a be a little towards the sweeter side when I first brewed it. What I tried on the second batch was to simply move the the 60 minute hop addition to a First Wort Hop (FWH) addition. So those hops ended up sitting in the wort a little bit longer but it balanced the final result so perfectly I haven't felt the need to make any other changes.

So what happens during my brew day is this: When I start draining the Mash Tun into the Brew Kettle I add the 60 minute hop additions when I get approximately 1.5 - 2.0 gal in my brew kettle. It sits there and adds bitterness as the brew kettle continues to fill, plus the time it takes to reach a boil. Once I get past the hot break I will start my boil timer and continue with the remainder of the hop additions from there.

Simple change in the hop schedule but makes such a huge difference in the finished product for me I can't imagine making it any different!

With my equipment the ABV ends up being somewhere in between a Coors Light and a Coors. Not a bad place to be for a Centennial Blonde!
( ;
 
Beeru said:
That is a great idea. I'm new to kegging, but I assume I can just turn off the c02, burp it, throw in a hop bag, and seal it back up? Any issues I might be overlooking there?
Click to expand...
pretty much. You might want to let it warm up after for a couple days before putting it back in the keggerator. some people weight the hops bad down with a glass or stainless weight

things I've learned:
1) don't put hops into a warm keg
2) be fast to get it closed and sealed, even with a cold keg
3) make sure the bag is completely closed so hops pieces can't get out.
 
JLeuck64 said:
I too found this recipe to a be a little towards the sweeter side when I first brewed it. What I tried on the second batch was to simply move the the 60 minute hop addition to a First Wort Hop (FWH) addition. So those hops ended up sitting in the wort a little bit longer but it balanced the final result so perfectly I haven't felt the need to make any other changes.

So what happens during my brew day is this: When I start draining the Mash Tun into the Brew Kettle I add the 60 minute hop additions when I get approximately 1.5 - 2.0 gal in my brew kettle. It sits there and adds bitterness as the brew kettle continues to fill, plus the time it takes to reach a boil. Once I get past the hot break I will start my boil timer and continue with the remainder of the hop additions from there.

Simple change in the hop schedule but makes such a huge difference in the finished product for me I can't imagine making it any different!

With my equipment the ABV ends up being somewhere in between a Coors Light and a Coors. Not a bad place to be for a Centennial Blonde!
( ;
Click to expand...
Sorry, didn't even think about it, I also FWH this beer, and most others.
 
thehaze said:
There are plenty of european maltsers that make low colour Pale malt. Low colour Maris Otter is around 2L, Golden Promise is around 2-2.5L, Extra Pale Ale from Simpsons is around 1.8-2L, and on top of these and much more, you have the Pilsner and Lager type malts ( which are around 1.5L ), which are really low coloured. And they are made by german, dutch, belgian, scandinavian, polish and english maltsters.

For 5 gallons/20 L of this recipe, you need like 3.5 Kg / 7.7 lbs of grains and if you are using Halcyon, Pilsner, Pearl, Lager malt, etc. you literally have a beer which is far under 4 SRM and close to 3 SRM, so I don't really understand how you cannot achieve the desired colour with the awesome malt variety available in Europe.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the informative reply, food for thought.
No doubt I have great malts available to me and of course it's possible to match the colour of American 2-row but from reading other peoples experience there is nothing available that tastes quite like it. I might have to experiment a bit to see if I come to the same conclusion but I don't have any American pale malt to compare :(
Anyway its not so important as I have more than enough choice but it would be nice to have a supplier.
You can get the European malts in the States so why not the other way around?
Honey Malt, 2-Row, Golden Naked Oats and Special Roast would be on top of my list. I did hoewver notice that malt in general is more expensive there than Europe and with import costs on top maybe it would be too expensive.

Sorry for going :off:

Brewed this on Saturday with 50/50 German Pale Ale/Pilsner base malt.
Got an OG of 1.038 and it's chugging along nicely.
I will report back in about a month :ban:
 
I'm gonna make this on Friday so it'll be ready mid May. I'm planning on Using the following water profile for it. I don't have lactic Acid so I was thinking of subbing with Citric to get mash to 5.3ph Anyone else use Citric instead? Bru'n Water says .9 in the mash and 1.4g in the Sparge - Just wasn't sure if that would impart any unwanted flavors.

Since I would have to dilute with 60% of Distilled to use my tap water, I decided to go with 100 distilled.

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Has anyone ever used Lemon drop or Belma hops to add fruitiness to this brew?
 
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tpiton said:
Again a neewbie question ; Is this recipe in us gallon or imperial gallon (canada)

****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Click to expand...

Probably US Gallons. There are no, "ehs" in it.
 
Just made my first batch of this. It is amazing! Thanks for the recipe BM! Was thinking of making cream of three crops soon. Anyone with experience with these two beers, do you think the blonde and cream ale are too similar? I know they are totally different styles but I just don't want two pretty similar beers on tap at the same time. Cheers!
 
I just tried this for my first ever BIAB attempt.
I used 6.5 gallons of water and 1/2 gallons to sparge.
After the hour boil, I was almost 1 gallon short of 5 gallons!
why did I lose so much? There also seems to be a lot of trub too?
How much would I gain by a heavy squeeze?
 
beerbomb said:
I just tried this for my first ever BIAB attempt.
I used 6.5 gallons of water and 1/2 gallons to sparge.
After the hour boil, I was almost 1 gallon short of 5 gallons!
why did I lose so much? There also seems to be a lot of trub too?
How much would I gain by a heavy squeeze?
Click to expand...

I don't know your process or boil off rate but it's always worth it to give a good squeeze.
This beer has a small grain bill but if you are not fully draining the sack you can easily loose a few quarts.
I usually do a 3.5 gallon no sparge BIAB. Take the bag directly out and put it in a sieve over a bucket and let it drain by itself for 10 mins when I do something else. Then squeeze the **** out of it for a few mins to get the last quart or two out of it.
with a larger grain bill this is even more important.
 
I BIAB and always start every recipe with 8.25 gallons cold, giving me 6.5-7 gallons in the fermenter without any sparge water addition. I alway hit 80-85% efficiency, especially with Bestmalz Heidelberg pilsener malt.
 

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