american blonde

[Jason82]

I'll be brewing this next. Hopefully in a week or so. Any feedback in the meantime appreciated.

I initially wanted to make a beer similar to Ommegang's Irong Throne, which is a belgian blonde. I decided I didn't want the belgian yeast, so I adapted the recipe to use american grains / hops / yeast. I switched from Pilsner malt to pale malt. I'm using the same specialty grains and the same spices. Being an american ale, this should taste significantly different. The abv is planned to be about 1% lower (5.3% vs 6.5%).

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: east coast dirty blonde
Author: J-Bird

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Blonde Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.040
Efficiency: 60% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 5.3%
IBU (tinseth): 23.33
SRM (morey): 5.59

FERMENTABLES:
10 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (80%)
0.25 lb - American - Aromatic Malt (2%)
0.25 lb - Canadian - Honey Malt (2%)
2 lb - American - Red Wheat (16%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 18.75
0.5 oz - liberty, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.9, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 3.67
0.5 oz - liberty, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.9, Use: Boil for 3 min, IBU: 0.92

SPICES:
Grains of paradise - 2-3 grams, 10 minutes
Lemon peel - 1/2 ounce - 10 minutes

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min


YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale V Yeast WLP051
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 72.5%
Flocculation: Med-High
Optimum Temp: 66 - 70 F

 

[DonRikkles]

Looks good to me - I like the yeast choice, though I highly recommend making a starter. The only thing I might change would be to swap out the aromatic for some crystal 20, anywhere from .25 lb to .5 lb. You might want to consider choosing a different bittering hop, perhaps something with a higher AA more befitting an American style, like Centennial or Columbus. Those recommendations are purely on style though and wholly depend on what you want out of the finished product. It'll be a good brew either way. Good luck.

 

[Jason82]

Thanks Don! I assume as long as I have enough willamette to hit my target ibu i will be okay? I wanted to preserve some of the characteristics of Iron Throne (which I liked, despite it getting some lukewarm reviews for it's safe "mass market" appeal). So I'm gonna give it a go tomorrow with the specialty malts I have on hand as planned. But I understand your recommendation to use crystal may be more true to style, so maybe try it in a second go round. Thanks again for the feedback.