Belgian blonde. Is this recipe ok?

[MauroG]

Hi all,
I'm fairly new to brewing. I've always used kits so far and I'm trying to build a recipe based on ingredients that I can find locally and recipes I found online.
I love Belgian blonde style Ales so I'm trying to build a non too complicated recipe.
How does this recipe look like to you?

Batch 15L:

Fermentables:
Pale Ale UK malt 2 row: 3000g
Munich Malt: 600g
Caramunich: 150g
Table sugar: 300g

Boil time: 60mins

Hope:
Cascade @60min 18g
Cascade @30min 9g

Yeast:
White lab WLP550

Any comment/suggestion is very much appreciated

 

[dmtaylor]

It will taste good, but at 9 SRM it will turn out too dark for the style, more an orange color than blonde. To lighten it up to about 7 SRM, you could change the amounts of the fermentables as such:

Fermentables:
Pale Ale UK malt 2 row: 3700g
Munich Malt: 300g
Caramunich: 50g
Table sugar: 300g

Hopping and yeast look great. Good luck, and welcome to the hobby and the forum! Please let us know how it turns out.

 

[MauroG]

It will taste good, but at 9 SRM it will turn out too dark for the style, more an orange color than blonde. To lighten it up to about 7 SRM, you could change the amounts of the fermentables as such:

Fermentables:
Pale Ale UK malt 2 row: 3700g
Munich Malt: 300g
Caramunich: 50g
Table sugar: 300g

Hopping and yeast look great. Good luck, and welcome to the hobby and the forum! Please let us know how it turns out.

It will taste good, but at 9 SRM it will turn out too dark for the style, more an orange color than blonde. To lighten it up to about 7 SRM, you could change the amounts of the fermentables as such:

Fermentables:
Pale Ale UK malt 2 row: 3700g
Munich Malt: 300g
Caramunich: 50g
Table sugar: 300g

Hopping and yeast look great. Good luck, and welcome to the hobby and the forum! Please let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for your reply. I will adjust the fermentables accordingly as see what happens. On my original recipe I should get an ABV of 5.6%. I suppose it should be pretty much the same with your suggestion. Is it too daring trying to increase it for this particular type of beer?

 

[dmtaylor]

Thanks for your reply. I will adjust the fermentables accordingly as see what happens. On my original recipe I should get an ABV of 5.6%. I suppose it should be pretty much the same with your suggestion. Is it too daring trying to increase it for this particular type of beer?

I already saw the ABV was kind of low and already increased the malt accordingly to try to bring you into the 6.5-7% ABV range. You can bring it back down a tad if you prefer, just change the 3700 to 3500 or whatever.

 

[MauroG]

I already saw the ABV was kind of low and already increased the malt accordingly to try to bring you into the 6.5-7% ABV range. You can bring it back down a tad if you prefer, just change the 3700 to 3500 or whatever.

I'm planning to brew it this weekend based on your suggestion. WLP550 is out of stock from my supplier. Do you think WLP570 would do a good job too?
Thanks!

 

[Kee]

I'm planning to brew it this weekend based on your suggestion. WLP550 is out of stock from my supplier. Do you think WLP570 would do a good job too?
Thanks!

Yeast strain is very much a matter of personal preference. I've never been able to coax the esters that, say, Duvel gets from this yeast, but it would be fine to use this one.

 

[dmtaylor]

WLP570 should work great. Good choice.

 

[MauroG]

Thanks guys, I will keep you posted

 

[MauroG]

WLP570 should work great. Good choice.

Hi guys,
I've made my 1st yeast starter using a 5months old WL870. Left it in a jar for 26 hours (no Krausen but definitely bubbling). Now I transferred it to the fridge (12hours ago) and it's still producing bubbles from bottom and have very little foam at top. Wort is not very clear either at the moment.
I'm planning to brew today but I am just worried the yeast is not good enough.
Im planning to brew a 15L Belgian blonde batch.
I made a starter using 2 pints water with 90g of LME. OG was 1.030 covered with foil and manually swirled for 24hrs.
Any comment suggestion is very much appreciated!

 

[Kee]

Hi guys,
I've made my 1st yeast starter using a 5months old WL870. Left it in a jar for 26 hours (no Krausen but definitely bubbling). Now I transferred it to the fridge (12hours ago) and it's still producing bubbles from bottom and have very little foam at top. Wort is not very clear either at the moment.
I'm planning to brew today but I am just worried the yeast is not good enough.
Im planning to brew a 15L Belgian blonde batch.
I made a starter using 2 pints water with 90g of LME. OG was 1.030 covered with foil and manually swirled for 24hrs.
Any comment suggestion is very much appreciated!

You have plenty of yeast. Just give it time to settle, unless you are going to pitch the whole starter.

 

[dmtaylor]

Err... WLP870? Or 570? I have no experience with 870. As the 800-series are generally bottom-fermenting lager yeasts... it could explain the whole thing maybe.

 

[MauroG]

Err... WLP870? Or 570? I have no experience with 870. As the 800-series are generally bottom-fermenting lager yeasts... it could explain the whole thing maybe.

Sorry that was a typo. I meant 570 lol

 

[dmtaylor]

As long as it's bubbling, it's alive, krausen or not. Should be alright. Looks like your process for making the starter was good.

 

[MauroG]

As long as it's bubbling, it's alive, krausen or not. Should be alright. Looks like your process for making the starter was good.

I think I am going to pitch the all starter in. I'm going to read OG now. Just cooked the worth

 

[Kee]

I think I am going to pitch the all starter in. I'm going to read OG now. Just cooked the worth

That will work. It will slightly lower your original gravity.

 

[MauroG]

As long as it's bubbling, it's alive, krausen or not. Should be alright. Looks like your process for making the starter was good.

I just put the wort in the fermentor. I got an OG of 1.061 in about 13L. Ideally the batch should have been 15L but I'm quite happy with the OG. I also filtered the wort using a fine sanitized mesh so I got about 1L of thrub. Should I top it up to 15L anyway?

Thanks a lot for your tips!

 

[Kee]

I just put the wort in the fermentor. I got an OG of 1.061 in about 13L. Ideally the batch should have been 15L but I'm quite happy with the OG. I also filtered the wort using a fine sanitized mesh so I got about 1L of thrub. Should I top it up to 15L anyway?

Thanks a lot for your tips!

I would not, but if you would rather have more volume, and don't mind the lower OG, there is no reason why you couldn't.

 

[IslandLizard]

I just put the wort in the fermentor. I got an OG of 1.061 in about 13L. Ideally the batch should have been 15L but I'm quite happy with the OG. I also filtered the wort using a fine sanitized mesh so I got about 1L of thrub. Should I top it up to 15L anyway?

Thanks a lot for your tips!

As @Kee said, I'd let it be. 1.061 is a very good gravity for a Belgian Blonde, I'd rather not have it diluted.

 

[MauroG]

As @Kee said, I'd let it be. 1.061 is a very good gravity for a Belgian Blonde, I'd rather not have it diluted.

That's exactly what I did. I was very happy with the OG being a beginner so...
Thanks for your reply guys! Really appreciate it

 

[MauroG]

One more question, when should I expect a good activity now? And, would the fermentation take less to complete?

 

[Kee]

One more question, when should I expect a good activity now? And, would the fermentation take less to complete?

Pitching the active starter, it shouldn't take long to see activity, but remember even a small leak will prevent seeing airlock bubbling. Fermentation length is hard to predict, it depends on fermentation temperature, viability of yeast, type of yeast, wort composition, etc. When I am fermenting in a bucket, and can't see anything or take a sample without opening the lid, I don't mess with it for AT LEAST 10 days, usually more like 14 days to minimize chances of oxidation or problems with sanitation. And since I bottle, I have to make sure fermentation is finished.

 

[MauroG]

Hi guys, fermenting is doing great a part from the wort quite cloudy. Planning to fining with gelatin. How do you read this gravity btw? Is it 1.015? I found different versions of reading it online
Thanks.

 

[dmtaylor]

Yeah that's about 1.015 indeed. Cheers.