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

[BierMuncher]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

Nottingham

Yeast Starter

Nope

Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter

Nope

Batch Size (Gallons)

5.5 & 11

Original Gravity

1.039

Final Gravity

1.008

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60-75

IBU

21.6

Color

3.9

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

4 days at 68 Degrees

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

5 Days at 68 Degrees

Additional Fermentation

Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week

I’ve been tweaking a house ale recipe for a few months now and this is it. This is the recipe that will be a permanent fixture at my house. I’ve brewed it twice, served the first 10 gallons to friends, families and “curious on-lookers”, and just finished the second 10 gallon batch with identical results.

Light and crisp. The IBU’s are on the low side, but there is a nice sweet/spicy balance to the beer. The great fresh taste of a craft ale with an extremely clean finish. This reminds me of what a local craft brewery might come out of the gates with to win over a new market. Very drinkable with wide appeal. I’ve yet to have anyone, even BMC drinkers not say it’s one of the best beers they’ve tasted….period. The secret lies in the name. I moved through Northern Brewer, Nugget and Pearle hops, all in combination with Cascade. Even went with a strict Cascade hop bill, but was just a bit on the tart side for this lighter grain bill.

Once I matched up Centennial as the bittering hop and Cascade as a flavor/aroma hop…that’s when the magic happened.

This is also a simple, hard to screw up recipe. At just around 4%, this is a quaffer. Due to the lighter grain bill…this is easily a beer that can go from grain to glass in 2 weeks (if you keg).




****10-Gallon Batch****
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.039 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.50 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.50 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)



****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)


Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

 

[EdWort]

Pretty Sweet! I'm getting in the 80s with my beers lately so I'll need to scale back some grain I guess.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Wow only $22.59 shipped! (for the grains and yeast...I've got a LB each of Centennial and Cascade)

Can you say next brew?

Thanks for posting this BM

 

[Jaybird]

Have you let it age any ever??? How was it? I too like the hops you choose for light beers they work really well together I am trying a Willamette test with my blonde right now, Its in secondary as we speek and I am guessing I should leave it there for a bit longer than 5 day. but my yeast is a bit slower than the Nottingham. I should try that one next. thanks for sharing
JJ

 

[BierMuncher]

Didn't need a lot of aging at all. This recipe is designed for quick turn around.

Thehops ratio is low enough and the centennial hops are "nice" enough...that there is no early bitterness.

 

[BierMuncher]

These Centennial Blondes only lasted about an hour at a family affair in KC this weekend. Even the non-beer drinkers indulged in more than a few.



I had to slap a few hands of people who kept insisting on drinking from the bottle....then I decided to try the same and boy...this was even good without a proper pour into a pilsner glass.

It only took a couple hours to polish off most of the stash.

I decided to abscound with some extra Corona empties (I'm skunking some beer for you Yuri...;D)

 

[EdWort]

Looks like you put the BMBF to good use.

 

[BierMuncher]

Looks like you put the BMBF to good use.

Yepper...

Decided to go to the trouble of freezing the bottles this time around when bottling and made a huge difference.

Next time you're in town...I'll give the beer I serve you the same consideration...

 

[Steiner]

Sounds good. Any chance of a similar 5 gal extract version?

 

[BierMuncher]

Sounds good. Any chance of a similar 5 gal extract version?

This should get you a very similar beer:

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

 

[Steiner]

Thanks a lot BM. Much appreciated. As I've seen you've found in my other thread, I've just purchased all the ingredients for your recipe and I look forward to brewing it tomorrow! I'll let ya know how it turns out.

 

[Cheesefood]

This beer rocks. I'm drinking one from the man himself.

 

[Steiner]

I just bottled your extract conversion two days back BM. Tasted pretty good with a decent hop aroma. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Thanks again.

 

[drunkatuw]

I was hoping to make this beer soon, but my LHBS doesn't carry centennial and 1 oz of hops costs less than shipping, so that seems silly. Is there a good substitute? I was thinking maybe 1 oz of cascade at 55min and 1 oz cascade at 35 min and then continue per the recipe, or could I replace the centennial with chinook?

I priced this out at my LHBS and it looks like it will run around $25 for the 10gal batch, that's dirt cheap!

 

[BierMuncher]

I was hoping to make this beer soon, but my LHBS doesn't carry centennial and 1 oz of hops costs less than shipping, so that seems silly. Is there a good substitute? I was thinking maybe 1 oz of cascade at 55min and 1 oz cascade at 35 min and then continue per the recipe, or could I replace the centennial with chinook?

I priced this out at my LHBS and it looks like it will run around $25 for the 10gal batch, that's dirt cheap!

You could use cascade, but I wanted a bit less grapefruit to this beer. A low amount of a high AA hop gives it a crisp balance without being too hoppy. Too much hop aroma/flavor and you may narrow the crowd that likes it.

Nugget hops are a suitable replacement. They'll be a bit higher Alpha so you'd need to adjust some using Beersmith (et al).

Looks like if you replace the two centennial additions with one addition of .75 Oz of nugget at 60 minutes, you’ll be pretty spot n.

 

[LouT]

What do you think about Safale US-05 (or US56) instead of the Nottingham? Same same or will it effect the flavor? I'm all for using dry yeast w/o starter on a house favorite as you are leaning here.

 

[BierMuncher]

What do you think about Safale US-05 (or US56) instead of the Nottingham? Same same or will it effect the flavor? I'm all for using dry yeast w/o starter on a house favorite as you are leaning here.

That's a great choice. That was my go to yeast until I got stocked on notty. Should not affect the flavor at all on a light grain bill like this.

 

[Bobby_M]

If you were doing this with Maris Otter, wouldn't you leave out the vienna and crystal? I'm thinking it will already have enough malt backbone right?

 

[BierMuncher]

If you were doing this with Maris Otter, wouldn't you leave out the vienna and crystal? I'm thinking it will already have enough malt backbone right?

That's a good point.

Depends for me on the time of year. Hot weather, I'd lean towards a Pilsner to keep it crisper.

Cold weather, I might opt for the maltier profile of MO + the specialties.

 

[Bobby_M]

The reason I bring it up is all I have is MO and I'm brewing tomorrow. I'm thinking of going pure MO with 3% carapils. That's it.

 

[BierMuncher]

The reason I bring it up is all I have is MO and I'm brewing tomorrow. I'm thinking of going pure MO with 3% carapils. That's it.

Sounds good. Keep her at the 148-151 range if you're wanting a crisp quaffer.

 

[drunkatuw]

I successfully made 11gal of your centennial blonde yesterday. LHBS's website said that he didn't carry centennial hops, I was about to order nugget, but on a whim I asked him and he said he did carry it! I mentioned that it wasn't on his website and he said he should fix it, but then we went into a discussion on how he might not be able to stock it soon because of the shortage). All my kegs are full, but once I empty one, I'll probably put this one next on tap since it doesn't need to age long.

Thanks for the recipe and looking forward to drinking it!

 

[tgrier]

What can I use instead of Centennial?
I am having trouble finding any.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Cascade or a mix of cascade and chinook

 

[Joker]

Bier how would this brew take to fruit?

I have a friend that is allergic to wheat so she cannot drink the blueberry wheat I brew. She has been hounding me to brew another style with fruit of some sort that she can enjoy.

 

[BierMuncher]

Bier how would this brew take to fruit?

I have a friend that is allergic to wheat so she cannot drink the blueberry wheat I brew. She has been hounding me to brew another style with fruit of some sort that she can enjoy.

It's a light enough style that any spice or fruit would come through pretty well.

It would probably lend itself very well to adding some bitter orange peel. I’ve added orange peel to light blondes before and they’re been well received.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Got linked to this recipe from a fast beers thread. I am scaling this down to a 4 gallon batch, already in BS, I am buying my grain from the cheap place with no crushed so Ill have to crush them cave man style. Substituting with all cascade older hops so Im going to have to up the amount after I figure how much more to use. Im using my LHBS pale ale malt thats only $.95/pound and some Vienna I have left over some another brew. This brew is going to be so cheap I'm calling it the Cheap A$$ Blonde! Ill let you know how it goes. Thanks for another easy recipe.

 

[rabidgerbil]

WOW... I made my first batch of this stuff, extract with grains, it is just about finished up in the fermenter, and then I will throw it in the fridge for a day or two to crash cool it but WOW... the color is incredible. It looks like liquid sunshine. I can't wait to take the FG reading so that I can taste it.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Just finished kegging 10 gallons of this, I went 15 days in the primary and straight to the kegs. It was nice and clear, the hydro sample tasted great. It will be nice to have some 3 week beer for a change.

This was my first batch with the Nottingham Yeast, actually it was the first with any dry yeast. It went well, fermented out in less than 3 days and all held tight to the bottom of the fermenter so I was able to drain all but about a cup out with no sediment making its way to the cornys.

 

[BierMuncher]

...It will be nice to have some 3 week beer for a change.
...

A good week + in a chilled keg and the chill haze will also go away.

Cheers...

 

[drunkatuw]

When transferring to a keg, I ended up with a little extra, so I filled two 22 oz bottles. I still haven't made room in my kegerator yet, but I drank the first bottle last night and boy was it good! It wasn't very clear, but that doesn't surprise me considering that I poured the last inch or two of beer out of the carboy into the bottling bucket and I'm sure I got a lot of trub into the bottling bucket and I didn't take the time to let it settle back out.

But if this is any indication of what the 2 kegs are going to taste like, I can't wait! Thanks for the awesome and quick recipe!

 

[rod]

mine has only been bottled for 10 days but i tried one bottle at 7 days and it
wins hands down as the best i have made so far even though i couldn't find centennial and used all cascade.
thanks bm!
this will always be in the rotation from now on.

 

[BierMuncher]

mine has only been bottled for 10 days but i tried one bottle at 7 days and it
wins hands down as the best i have made so far even though i couldn't find centennial and used all cascade.
thanks bm!
this will always be in the rotation from now on.

The chicks will be all over you.

 

[webbie99]

My LHBS only had northern brewer and willamette. Do you think 1/2 oz of NB @ 60 and willamette for the other additions would be horrid? I hate this "shortage".

Webbie

 

[BierMuncher]

My LHBS only had northern brewer and willamette. Do you think 1/2 oz of NB @ 60 and willamette for the other additions would be horrid? I hate this "shortage".

Webbie

Funny you mention that. About my third batch of this I wanted to mix things up and did a Northern Brewer Blonde. It was every bit as popular. The NB lends a bit more minty tone to it and it's nice and crisp. I love Willamette and they'd be just fine.

If you're doing a 5-gallon batch, do 1/4 oz of NB at 60 and 30, then 1/4 Oz of Willamette at 20 and 5.

If you have Beersmith or another program, plug those AAU's in and try to maintain a 17-20 IBU level.

It will taste good with those hops.

 

[webbie99]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will give it a shot.

 

[webbie99]

Didn't get to brew last weekend, but this will be put on tonight. Could you give some direction on mash and sparge water? Is 1.33 qt/lb about right? Thanks.

 

[BierMuncher]

Didn't get to brew last weekend, but this will be put on tonight. Could you give some direction on mash and sparge water? Is 1.33 qt/lb about right? Thanks.

I'm not overly exact on water/grain ratio, but keeping it within that 1.25-1.35 area will be fine.

I like to mash this on the lower side to get a cleaner, drier finish. If you can hold this between 149-152, that would do it.

 

[webbie99]

Thanks, I will keep my strike water a little lower and see what I get.

 

[Jolly McStanson]

I tried making this beer. I'm new to all gain so I think I screwed it up. I know it was green when I tried it, but the tannin taste was beyond believe. I don't even think ageing would have fixed it. I still drank the whole thing. After the 4th glass the taste was tolerable.

I have high PH water at my house and I think it could have extracted too many tannins in the mash. I made another all grain 2 weeks ago using spring water and didn't get that beyond believe tannin taste.

I cant wait to try this recipe again after I get more experience.