Blonde ale advice

[JLem]

I posted this over in the Recipes forum, but got limited replies so I thought I'd try here (this forum seems full of opinionated brewers! )

I'm trying to plan brews for the future and I'm interested in brewing something for July 4th, so I thought I'd do a Blonde. I'm generally a pale ale guy so I'm a little nervous about going something this light. I looked at a few recipes/guidelines and then used BeerSmith to craft this recipe. How does it look?

5 gallon batch
2.5 gallon boil

Partial Mash
2 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 43.48 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %

Extract
3 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 52.17 %

Hops
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.1 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.4 IBU

Yeast
1 Pkgs East Coast Ale (White Labs #WLP008) Yeast-Ale

 

[brewmasterpa]

you might consider adding about .75 lbs of munich malt into your grains. if you want to venture into the honey thing (which ive done on my blondes) you could use 1 lbs of honey at the last 5 mins of your boil too. but that all looks pretty good.

 

[JLem]

you might consider adding about .75 lbs of munich malt into your grains. if you want to venture into the honey thing (which ive done on my blondes) you could use 1 lbs of honey at the last 5 mins of your boil too. but that all looks pretty good.

Why the Munich? Also, do you recommend the Munich in addition to or instead of the honey malt?

Also, should I try to ferment at lower-than-normal ale temps (or at least on the cooler side of normal)?

 

[brewmasterpa]

the munich is going to give you a slightly dryer finish to your brew and it gives a slightly sweeter flavor which matches the profile of a blonde ale. the pure honey is not the same as honey malt, not even close to the same results. ive never used honey malt, but i have used pure honey in the boil and it gives you that characteristic blonde ale flavor. you can use the honey malt, or the honey, or both and see how it comes out either way. ive seen a lot of blonde ale recipes and they vary greatly. some of them use the malt, some use honey. try it either way, or both ways like i would and see what you like. as far as the temperature is concerned, if you have the ability to control your fermenting temperatures, i would go at about 68F for the primary and then clarify and condition in the secondary at about 60-62f. for 14-21 days. this will keep any furul acids and esthers from tainting that nice dry, clean, sweet flavor youre seeking. thats how i do my blondes. well the beer anyway

 

[ericm]

I like pilsner malt and munich for a blonde. and maybe a bit of the lightest crystal you can find.

 

[JLem]

I like pilsner malt and munich for a blonde. and maybe a bit of the lightest crystal you can find.

Will the pilsner keep it lighter than the 2-row? And would I simply replace the 2-row in my partial mash with it?

 

[ericm]

Will the pilsner keep it lighter than the 2-row? And would I simply replace the 2-row in my partial mash with it?

yes and yes

you could also use american 2-row instead of the maris otter; it's a bit paler (though not as pale as pilsner)