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

[Redtab78]

I just racked the 5 gal version of this recipe into a secondary ontop of 2 cans of del monte apricot halves (pureed in a food processor then boiled for 10 min) after only 5 days in the primary. The goal was to add a hint of apricot to the final beer. I will only leave it in the secondary until Sunday (so 3 days) provided the additional fermentation has stopped.

I'll report back with the results, just incase anyone else was wondering about adding canned fruit or about adding fruit in general to this beer.

 

[RedlegEd]

I just wanted to add that my first batch of BM's wonderful recipe came out great! My only tweaks were using German Pale Ale malt, replace the Cascade with Ahtanum (gives a little more floral nose,) US-05 instead of Notty, and mashed high (~158 due to stupid mistake on my part, 1.048 -> 1.013, ~4.6%) This is such a wonderful forgiving recipe, it's no wonder there are almost 500 pages to this thread! BTW, it's not chill haze, but condensation on the glass. The perfect "lawnmower" beer, thanks ever so much Kevin!
Ed

 

[Bamsdealer]

Brewed many versions of this depending on what I had on hand. This time its honey malt instead of c10, no Vienna and oats in place of carapils. Hops stay the same.

 

[pandamonium]

I brewed this today. Rounded up the weights because my LHBS scale was broken, so used 10 lbs 2 row, 1 lb vienna, 1 lb crystal 10, and 1 lb carapils. I upped the hop additions proportionally so the IBUs ended up 60 with a calculated OG of 1.060 or something like that. My hydrometer broke when I was carrying all my gear upstairs, so no gravity measurements but it'll work out. Pitched 1 packet of rehydrated US05.

If it works out, I'm going to call it "Plus-Sized Blonde". I think the guys in college who used to make fun of my choice in women would like that, too. Like I told them, beggars cant be choosers.

 

[wiggybrewer]

Plus-sized blonde, been there, done that! Haha!

 

[WrQth]

I did that once a bunch of times

I have 11 gallons (half was dry hopped) of this just about to finish ferementing and can't wait to taste it

 

[carlk47]

To save time with a 3-month old at home I brewed this yesterday as a Partial mash/partial boil with a 30 minute mash and 30 minute boil.

Used filtered tap water for the mash as I normally would for my AG beers and distilled for the topoff water for the extract portion of the brew. Adjusted the centennial hops to 30 minutes and added extra to get the total IBUs to 21.

First time trying it in this format and interested to see how it turns out as my brew day was 2 hours total start to finish!

 

[Shenanigans]

I know it depends on your individual brewing process and storage conditions but when bottling in general how long does it take before this beer starts going past its peak?

I'm planning my brew schedule for the summer beers now and was wondering if I brewed this in May and it was ready to drink by June would it still be tasting as good in August?

Last time I brewed it it was gone within a month so I don't know how long it stays good. I'll be storing it in the basement at about 60F

 

[jcav]

Ok, I said I would post back so here goes. This beer is very easy on the palate and is light in body. It has some citrus hops in the aroma and is a great representative of a blonde ale in my opinion. Mine came out crisp, dry and very refreshing. It is also very quenching on a hot day. We had a family get together last Sunday and we had 10 gallons on tap. Everyone absolutely loved this beer and they drank most of it on me! This beer is an excellent gateway beer for those who might not think they like craft beer. If they already like craft beer, then keep some hidden, it's such a session ale that they will keep going down very easy. My daughter in law loved this beer that I made especially for her. I will now make this regularly for large gatherings to have on tap as another type of beer to offer. It's a nice change from all the 7 and 8 percent beers I have been brewing lately. Thanks BierMuncher for a great recipe!!

Here is pic of this great easy drinking beer.

Here is my daughter in law enjoying this beer that she requested I brew for her!

 

[jbb3]

Let me be the first to say; Beautiful! And the beer ain't bad either...

 

[Subdivisions]

Reminds me of a quote from the man himself back at the beginning of this thread. Granted, it's your daughter in law, so maybe not appropriate.

The chicks will be all over you.

 

[jcav]

Reminds me of a quote from the man himself back at the beginning of this thread. Granted, it's your daughter in law, so maybe not appropriate.

Anyway, I like your screen name and signature line! I've seen Rush many many times over the years starting with the "Signals" tour in 1982 my senior year...Yea I am old!

John

 

[Sellick]

After 5 days of primary and the 5 days cold crashing in secondary, I kegged my first batch of this last night. Tasted fantastic when I pulled a sample. Really looking forward to sharing it at a party this weekend! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[Redtab78]

I just racked the 5 gal version of this recipe into a secondary ontop of 2 cans of del monte apricot halves (pureed in a food processor then boiled for 10 min) after only 5 days in the primary. The goal was to add a hint of apricot to the final beer. I will only leave it in the secondary until Sunday (so 3 days) provided the additional fermentation has stopped.

I'll report back with the results, just incase anyone else was wondering about adding canned fruit or about adding fruit in general to this beer.

so far, not a good idea on my part. WAY too tart. shoulda stuck with the original plan of just a blonde....lesson learned lol

 

[gman1974]

My favorite beer style is IPA, but man I can honestly say that this recipe a very nice change of pace from the IPA scene. I brewed a 10 gallon batch of this a few weeks back and it is going fast! It's a very drinkable beer that all my beer drinking co-workers love as well.

I'll be brewing another 10 gallon batch of this soon. It is quickly becoming a favorite of mine and perhaps the best beer that I've brewed to date. Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe!

 

[Quaffman]

So I'm finally getting back to brewing after a hiatus. This recipe is always a good ol standby. Has anyone ever tried to make a sour out of this recipe? I've got a 2 year old Flanders red that's finally ready to keg and I'm thinking I'll put 5 gallons on those dregs.

 

[Subdivisions]

Anyway, I like your screen name and signature line! I've seen Rush many many times over the years starting with the "Signals" tour in 1982 my senior year...Yea I am old!

John

Me too!! I'm old myself. My name is John also!! Cheers brother.

 

[jcav]

Me too!! I'm old myself. My name is John also!! Cheers brother.

Cheers John! Glad to know you!

 

[Redtab78]

so far, not a good idea on my part. WAY too tart. shoulda stuck with the original plan of just a blonde....lesson learned lol

I correct myself, since this post (5 days) this beer has really matured and lost the tart, and is now an amazing beer! I had a neighbor over to try and it, and lets just say he was very surprised and pleased and asked me to make him a case of it bottled so Thank you Biermuncher!!!

 

[Barker]

How do you guys think this beer would be if I racked it on top of rhubarb for a week or so? I'm looking for something to brew that has a sour finish and have the ingredients around for this brew. Thoughts?

 

[happyappy]

We brewed this recipe as our first all-grain 10 gallon batch. Tasted it last night and it's delicious! Great summer beer for the lake.

We quickly decided we'll run another 10 gallon batch on our next brew day to stockpile a bit for summer.

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[Shenanigans]

Deleted - posted in wrong thread

 

[LemonJelly]

I made this beer recently and while it was clean and drinkable, mine came out very very dry and with very low hop presence. I was hoping someone could explain what might of been the cause.

To start things off my OG was 1.043 and it fermented down to 1.004 after 2 weeks. The yeast I had on hand was OYL-004 (West Coast ale). It was just under a month old, so I made a one liter starter, and let that ride for 2 days before pitching.

I should mention this was also my first time trying BIaB...well in a cooler and besides the low FG almost everything else seem to hit number wise.

I mashed at 151f for 75 mins in a cooler with a brew bag. I use a thermapen, so I have no reason to think that the mash temperature would be wrong but I don't have other thermometers to accurately test that. I sparged by dunking and squeezing in two gallons of warm water that was taken earlier from the strike water. I had to boil the wort for 80mins because my pre boil volume was a little more than I needed, and I did wait till the 60min mark before adding my first hops. After cooling and adding the wort to carboy, I checked the OG and I was at 1.043.

I fermented the beer at 64f for 7 days, then bumped it up to 68 for 7 days. For some reason I had the idea to rock the fermenter gently to rouse the yeast every 2 or so days during fermentation. After 2 weeks, I cold crashed for 3 days and kegged. I force carbed at 30psi for 24 hour than 10psi for 5 days.

The end result was somewhat thin, minimum hop aroma and taste, with a very faint malt flavor near the finish right before it instantly disperses into nothingness. While it's somewhat refreshing and hides the alcohol under the seemingly no taste, it's just not enjoyable to drink. Any ideas of what I did wrong?

I have to take back what I said. After sitting in the keg for 3-4 weeks it really turned around and is tasting pretty damn good. Sorry for being so harsh at first, this is a great recipe. Might have to try it again with a few modifications.

 

[Wreck99]

I have to take back what I said. After sitting in the keg for 3-4 weeks it really turned around and is tasting pretty damn good. Sorry for being so harsh at first, this is a great recipe. Might have to try it again with a few modifications.

I've noticed that with a couple of my really good beers. Sometimes they are just too green for a while at first, but given a little time, they are awesome!

 

[RedlegEd]

After 5 days of primary and the 5 days cold crashing in secondary, I kegged my first batch of this last night. Tasted fantastic when I pulled a sample. Really looking forward to sharing it at a party this weekend! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

How did they like the beer? Always nice to hear feedback. I know everyone loves it at my house because it's such a clean, great tasting beer.

 

[phyllobeddo]

I brewed this recently and used Conan yeast. I plan to dry hop it as well. We'll see how it turns out.

I didn't get around to dry hopping this batch. However, I do like the fruity flavor that the Conan yeast provided. I've brewed this before, and I'm sure to brew it again.

 

[Pyg]

brewed this up today with what I had around the house. Recipe looked like this:
4# extra light DME
1# pale DME
1# carapils (steeped 30 min @ 157)
.30 oz centennial 55 min
.40 oz centennial 20 min
.20 cascade 10 min
.20 cascade 5 min
notty ale yeast

Does anyone think the reduction in cascade will make that much a difference?
Will it be too bland?
Should I consider dry hopping or just see how it comes out?
Any thoughts?

 

[Traz1986]

Should be good, I split my batch and dry hopped 1/2 oz of citra, both turned out very good.

 

[snd1990]

Original 5gal extract recipe calls for a total of 1.1oz hops (.5 centennial n .5 cascade). By adjusting hop schedule and bumping up centennial you should be good togo. But maybe I'm just preferential to centennial since I grow my own! Lol I have made a batch with just centennial and loved it.

 

[Redtab78]

Should be good, I split my batch and dry hopped 1/2 oz of citra, both turned out very good.

Can you comment on the aroma differences between the dry hopped version and the non-dry hopped one? just curious to see how the exact same beer taste with the dry hop added like this side by side. I can only taste one or the other, and I usually don't remember what the other one taste like, never last that long.

 

[Pyg]

So what is the consensus about time in primary?
2 weeks due to the low abv?
or let it ride out my usual 3 week in primary?

 

[Pkrd]

So what is the consensus about time in primary?
2 weeks due to the low abv?
or let it ride out my usual 3 week in primary?

I don't see why you'd need to go past 10 days.

 

[LemonJelly]

Like Pkrd said 10 days should be good. I would start checking the gravity every 2 days for consistent numbers.

 

[rwh]

Exactly how light is this beer. I'm interested in brewing a nice quaffable beer for summer, but I don't want something too light.

 

[RedlegEd]

Exactly how light is this beer. I'm interested in brewing a nice quaffable beer for summer, but I don't want something too light.

It all depends on your definition of "too light." This beer is really good just the way it is in the OP, and is a really good starting point for experimentation (otherwise, this post wouldn't have 500+ pages!) My recommendation is to brew a 5 gallon batch using BierMuncher's recipe and see for yourself. It's fast from grain to glass and I think you'll find it's a really good beer. If you want to tweak it to your own tastes, go for it! If you want more dry & crisp, ferment lower and use a higher attenuating yeast like US-05; if you want a higher ABV, you can control that by the amount of grain you use and the level of attenuation; if you want light (as in low SRC,) the original recipe calls for about 3.9 (which is pretty light,) if you want more hoppiness, change the hops & schedule. No matter what, I think you'll end up with a very good "lawnmower beer."

 

[brewbama]

This was on the docket for next weekend but my brew store ran out of Centennial. It will have to wait 3 weeks until my next planned brew day.

 

[Jwin]

This was on the docket for next weekend but my brew store ran out of Centennial. It will have to wait 3 weeks until my next planned brew day.

Could always go with cascade. Just balance out the AA.

 

[Relampago]

Brewed this one last night can't wait to try it out

 

[Barker]

I've got 5 gallons of this in the primary, currently on day 10. I'm going to split the batch and bottle one as is, and dry hop the other half. What hops would you guys recommend for dry hopping this? I'm thinking I want to go more towards the citrus notes from the dry hopping, rather than the floral or spice notes? Should I stick with cascade and centennial (do an ounce of each) or just one of them? Or go with a completely different hop strain?

Also, is dry hopping 2.5 gallons with 2oz of hops going to be too much for this beer?

 

[WrQth]

I've got 5 gallons of this in the primary, currently on day 10. I'm going to split the batch and bottle one as is, and dry hop the other half. What hops would you guys recommend for dry hopping this? I'm thinking I want to go more towards the citrus notes from the dry hopping, rather than the floral or spice notes? Should I stick with cascade and centennial (do an ounce of each) or just one of them? Or go with a completely different hop strain?

Also, is dry hopping 2.5 gallons with 2oz of hops going to be too much for this beer?

I have dry hopped it with 1.5oz of Cascade to 5gallons for 7 days at 68F. Pushes the style more in the territory of an American Pale ale in my opinion but I like it.