3rd Batch - Blonde Ale

[wjbunton]

Alright, I am putting together a recipe for my third brew and I think I have decided to brew up a blonde ale that will be very drinkable on a warm summer day. My plan is to brew sometime around the beginning of May so that it will be drinkable in mid June. Taking some hints from recipes here and other commercial blondes I have come up with the following:

8 oz. Carapils - steep
8 oz. Crystal 10L - steep
3 lbs. Light DME
3 lbs. Extra light DME - late addition

Hops:
0.36 oz. Amarillo 60 min
0.3 oz Citra 30 min
0.5 oz Ahtanum 5 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

Will be a 5.5 gallon batch with an initial boil volume of about 3.5 gallon.

Putting it all in BeerSmith I come up with:
Estimated OG of 1.049
Estimated FG of 1.012
IBU ~20
Color 5.4 SRM
Estimated 4.8% ABV

I am hoping that this will yield a very drinkable, not too bitter, nice summer beer. From what I understand the hops should give a citrusy aroma and flavor. What I am shooting for is a beer that will be great to sit out on the back deck in the sun and enjoy with friends.

Any suggestions on modifications to this or anything that will make this a better brew would be great.

 

[amandabab]

looks pretty good.

I'm to lazy to get that accurate with hop additions. "meh 1/2oz is close enough"

 

[wjbunton]

Haha, yeah I have a scale that I bought for making sausage, so it's no trouble for me to make accurate measurements down to tenths of ounces.