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

Yakima 728
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8 hrs after pitching the yeast and we are rollin'..hit my volumes and OG on the dot. Substituted CTZ for centennial since that's what I had on hand. Mostly later kettle hopping, beersmith estimates 26 IBUs. Pitched a liter of San Diego Super yeast.

View attachment 1430178182344.jpg
 
Just kicked another keg of this recipe. It was dry hopped with 2oz of cascade in the keg. It really make it shine. People loved. I found out that it gets better if I don't use gelatin to clear. Looks like get more flavor.
 
Just put a batch of this in the fermenter/chamber. With the target ferm temp of 68, I thought I would do the first 8 hrs @ 72 to give it a fast start then drop down to target of 68 for the remainder.

Thoughts anyone??
 
Grain to glass - sample taken at kegging vs mashout to kettle

wi46yDn.jpg
 
jbb3 said:
Just put a batch of this in the fermenter/chamber. With the target ferm temp of 68, I thought I would do the first 8 hrs @ 72 to give it a fast start then drop down to target of 68 for the remainder.

Thoughts anyone??
Click to expand...

What yeast are you using? Nottingham is perfectly fast at temps well below 68, and you won't have to worry about rubbery off flavors.
 
Opened my first bottle after bottling 3 weeks ago. Gotta say this is the best tasting batch I've made since I started last fall.
 
burninator said:
What yeast are you using? Nottingham is perfectly fast at temps well below 68, and you won't have to worry about rubbery off flavors.
Click to expand...

Yep, Nottingham. I certainly didn't want to risk a rubbery blonde. So I got it down to target after 3 or 4 hours.
 
Gonna do this for a 4th of july party. I've seen a couple ppl mention wlp 090 here. Well 090 is my go to strain and I have it banked so I was going to use it vs nottingham. Would this significantly change the beer. It seems like you'd want a super clean ferment with this beer and 090 is pretty clean.
 
I brewed this last night, my first all grain batch. Turned out to be a pretty good brew day, only had 1 mishap. I measured the pre boil gravity (1.035) with a pre boil volume of 7.4 Gal. Boiled for 60 mins, added hops, and had 6.3 Gal in the fermenter. I was about to measure the OG when I heard the hydrometer roll off of the counter and smash on the floor... But based on the volume readings and pre-boil Gravity, I'm estimating an OG of 1.041. Can't wait to see how this beer turns out!!
 
Well I brewed this one according to the DME 5.5g recipe on the first page. It has been in primary for 16 days and is still bubbling in the airlock once every 5 minutes. I don't have a hydro at the moment. I had vigorous bubbling 24 hours after pitching the dry notty yeast and I kept the temp at 68f the whole time. Bubbles we're going every 3-5 seconds for a few days and have slowed STEADILY since then but never stopped. Dang I wish I had my hydro!

Should I go ahead and bottle or continue to wait?
 
In my very limited experience, a bubble every 5 minutes is essentially no airlock activity at all. Sounds like you just have some CO2 coming out of solution. Obviously can't be 100% certain without a hydrometer reading, but it sounds like you're done.
 
You mean to tell me that you're sitting there for 5 minutes watching the airlock! You've got mad patience sir! I'd call that bad boy done cooking.
 
Efficiency through the roof, and ended up with a beer with 5,8%. :drunk: Took a few weeks to "settle out", but now it is an absolutely delicous beer.

Greetings from Norway. :)
 
Kvantan:

Nottingham is very fast!

For me three days and it's over.

However, there is good reason to now let it warm up to low 70s for a few more days just to help the yeast do its housekeeping.

I like to let the yeast have at least 8 days (for this low gravity) before cold crashing. (I have had it in the keg at 14 days, but there is rarely the need for such rushing)

Tom
 
Hello Fellow Brew Heads,

Just completed my second all-grain attempt and decided to go with BM's famous Centennial Blonde! I'm trying to learn as much as possible, so I'd love your thoughts about my numbers from the day. Does this all seem pretty standard, is there anything I can do to improve?

--5 Gallon Batch--
Followed recipe ingredients to the "T".
- Preheated mash ton with 1 gal of water near boiling. Left for 10 minutes, then emptied.
- Added 3 gallons of strike water @168F. Stirred vigorously, and added the lid. Never opened for 60 min.
- Took a sample of the first runnings and chilled to about 72F. Came in at 1.066 OG.
- Decided to batch sparge. Added first sparge of 2.5 gallons @169.3F. Stirred and left for 10 minutes.
- Second sparge of 2.5 gallons @172F for 10 minutes.

I don't have a measure stick and my dang kettle doesn't have marks, but I think my pre-boil volume came in around ~7 gallons.

- Pre-boil OG was 1.031
- I boiled as vigorously as I could and ended up with 5 gallons (could I really have boiled off 2 gallons? If not, I must have had less volume to begin with).
- I added .5 gallons on water to get to 5.5 gallons in my fermentor.
- OG measured in at 1.035 (if you count the 1/2 gallon of water I had to add, efficiency is ~62%).
- Rehydrated yeast for 20 minutes and pitched at 74F
- Hooked up a blowoff tube, because if my fermentor explodes like it did last time my marriage will end immediately. And for those of you who say a low OG beer can't explode...my first all-grain was a hef that had an OG of 1.034 and I used a slap pack of 3068 yeast...clogged the airlock and ka-booooom.

I've ordered a cornie and co2 tank so this may be my first attempt at kegging as well. Wish me luck!
 
I have brewed at least a hundred gallons of this beer, maybe more. It's a staple on one of my 8 taps. At first I split a brew ferment between Nottingham and Chico yeast. Fermented them both at 64 degrees. Called them Naughty Blonde and Cheeky Blonde and put them both on tap. Cheeky won by a landslide on blind tastings. Just saying this to help anyone trying to decide between yeasts. This beer needs to be as clean and fresh as you can make it, and US 05 is really clean. YMMV
 
Hi Ricand,

Good to know! Where were you a couple days ago when I was buying supplies :)

Sounds like Notty will work just fine for me. It will be nice following BM's recipe exactly since this is my first attempt. This will be the "control" batch and give me something to compare changes down the road to.

Just to clarify - did u use us-05 dry yeast against the Notty? How would you describe the taste/aroma differences between that and the Notty?
 
I must say this recipe is a real winner. I came to the realization that is a must have on tap recipe when I was changing out a different keg and heard the near empty ringing sound of my Centennial Blonde keg. "Oh crap, it's nearly done and I don't have another waiting in the closet." Moment of epiphany.

Next time around I'll likely split it post boil and toss some Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager at it. Might even remember to update with that how that goes.
 
Crispyvelo said:
Hi Ricand,

Good to know! Where were you a couple days ago when I was buying supplies :)

Sounds like Notty will work just fine for me. It will be nice following BM's recipe exactly since this is my first attempt. This will be the "control" batch and give me something to compare changes down the road to.

Just to clarify - did u use us-05 dry yeast against the Notty? How would you describe the taste/aroma differences between that and the Notty?
Click to expand...

Yes, I used dry Notty and dry US-05. The Notty was really good, don't get me wrong. It had a bit more estery flavors and didn't seem quite as 'dry' even though they both ended up at roughly the same FG. We liked the Cheeky because the clean, crisp, refreshing characters were a bit more pronounced. Your gonna love either one of those yeasts. While I said it was a landslide, that was on a vote basis, not taste. Everyone liked them both, just one a bit more.

BTW, both of these yeasts can be violent fermentors. I'm told US-05 can ferment out a rusted Volkswagen. Watch your fermentation temperatures closely in the beginning. I use a temp probe in the middle of my conical and the fermentor struggles to keep the temp down when these yeasts are going nuts. You want to keep them at 64 or a bit less if you want a really clean beer.
 
phyllobeddo said:
I brewed a 2.5 gallon batch of this Monday, but I screwed up my hop additions. It'll be beer, but I really wanted to go by the original recipe. I was busy with two contractors and two kids at the house. It was a very busy morning. Right now fermentation is going crazy. It started at 61 degrees and is up to 66.

4 lb 2 row
6 oz cara pils
4 oz caramel crystal 10L
4 oz Vienna
7 g Centennial FWH
7 g Cascade (65 min)
7 g Centennial (35 min)
7 g Cascade (5 min)
5.5 g of rehydrated Notty
Mash @ 150 for 60 min (BIAB)
OG 1047
Click to expand...

IBUs ended up at 46. I entered this into an AHA sponsored event in the pale ale division and took silver with a 38.5 score Saturday night. Woohoo! :ban::rockin: I also grabbed a gold in the Belgian Specialty Ale category.
 
im liking the recipe but I just ordered a lb of centennial and don't have any cascade, do you think all centennial would work for late additions aswell?
 
I brewed 10 gal of this on Saturday. I followed the recipe exactly. Everything went pretty well, my OG was a little high at 1.051. I'm not sure why. chilled to 67F then pitched two packets of hydrated yeast. I stuck it in the fermentation chamber at 70f. The next day it was basically a steady stream of co2, the fermenter temp was up to 80! I turned my heater, a 100w light, off and by the following day it was down to 68. On to day 3 now and it is sitting at 70f but only bubbling once a min or so. I haven't checked the gravity yet, but my fear is that the 80F day created a bunch of fusel alcohol. :/ what do you guys think? This is my first time with this recipe and with dry yeast.
 
Tested my first bottle here and I am picking up near no hops at all. I was hoping to detect a little cascade but so far nothing. I am going to give it till the weekend and have another. That being said it does taste better than that new Guiness Blonde. I'll also add that my water is not completely dialled in for hoppy flavor but closer to the balanced profile at BF.
 
I forgot my brother had a keg of this at his Lake house last weekend. It has been in a little visited kegerator for months and is crystal clear and tasty. Don't modify this recipe unless you want a different flavor. No reason to mess with perfection.
 
I just brewed this recipe except I made two changes - all Galaxy hops and Conan yeast. It's dry hopping in the keg now and I'll report back once it's on tap.
 
This gets better the longer it sits. I liked it after a week then after the 4th and 5th even better. It was a sad day when I drank the last bottle. This will be my next brew.
 
I think that I'm going to give this a go for my next brew.

Does a simple American Ale yeast work to substitute for the Notty?
 
brewprint said:
I think that I'm going to give this a go for my next brew.

Does a simple American Ale yeast work to substitute for the Notty?
Click to expand...

Several posters have said they prefer it. I have a batch going with US-05 right now, and I'm really looking forward to trying it.
 
burninator said:
Several posters have said they prefer it. I have a batch going with US-05 right now, and I'm really looking forward to trying it.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a try with the wyeast american ale. I need to get rolling on these summer beers. Cutting down on the higher abv brews will probably be a good thing too.
 
I made 2 5gal batches using 1056 and actually brewed the 2nd while the first was still bottle conditioning. I put the 2nd batch on the yeast cake of the first but it was so late when I got done I didn't take it from the kitchen to the basement till the next day. It was bubbling away when I went to work and when I came home for lunch SWMBO said your beer has been making noise all morning, I replied, it does that. I have recently increased the size of my equipment and made a 16 gal batch that I split 4 ways. 2 on washed 1056, 1 on so-05 and one on t-28. One of the ones on 1056 got apricot in secondary and it is all in bottles now. I think it is a good yeast test being that all the wort came from the same pot.

I was happy with my new setup other then the coolin. Used a hybrid chiller but neglected to recirculate. I will do that but think I will build a cfc as well. I should b able to to a HG boil in my 30 gal pot and get a 1bbL batch.
 
BierMuncher said:
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees
[/b]
Click to expand...

Seems like a fairly short secondary. Is there a particular strategy there (e.g. light ABV doesn't need as long)? Would this particular brew benefit from waiting a bit longer?

I racked mine from into a secondary carboy on day 5, and it will be my first attempt at kegging. Just trying to get fully informed so I don't mess anything up!

Thanks in advance...
Chris
 
I was just catching up on my Zymergy reading... Anybody else notice this recipe was referred to in January/February? I read that and thought "I think I'm subscribed to that one..." Sure enough...
 
Crispyvelo said:
Seems like a fairly short secondary. Is there a particular strategy there (e.g. light ABV doesn't need as long)? Would this particular brew benefit from waiting a bit longer?

I racked mine from into a secondary carboy on day 5, and it will be my first attempt at kegging. Just trying to get fully informed so I don't mess anything up!

Thanks in advance...
Chris
Click to expand...

This recipe is designed to go from grain to glass quickly. The only thing time will do is tame the centennial hops down a bit. They can be a little sharp right out of the keg, but they mellow nicely over a few weeks. But....I like to drink it sooner than later and taste the evolution. :D
 

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