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

[Jwin]

Fair enough! Until now I was bottling so less was more. I don't want to ever have to bottle 10 gallons by hand. But I just ordered kegs and am in the process of upgrading to a dedicated brew room with my buddy so soon that should be a possibility

10g can go real fast with help
Add a second spigot and bottling wand to your bucket, about 3.5-4 inches from the other
Then just double fist the bottles
Have someone else cap and crimp
Doing that you can bottle 10g with 2 people less than the time it takes 1 to bottle 5.

 

[chlehb]

Ok yeah I get that. Until now I was brewing solo in my kitchen though. My girlfriend isn't too keen to help every time I want to bottle a batch. Smaller batches are just less hassle that way, plus you can brew more often. Even 5g is a lot to drink, especially if a batch doesn't turn out as great as you hope.

 

[chuckcomm]

Doing my third 5 gal batch of this tomorrow, everything is weighed out and ready.

Im going with Mosaic for the first two additions then centennial for the last two.

Trying to decide if I want to dry hop with an ounce of Mosaic or the Centennial. Thoughts?

 

[olotti]

Ok this may sound stupid but this is the first blonde I've brewed as I usually brew hoppy IPAs and apas, I tried my first after five days of bottle conditioning and it was mostly sweet malt tasting with a touch of hop bitterness. Is this what a blonde should taste like, and don't get me wrong this is what i was going for a quaffable beer to drink in between all these hoppy beers I make. I used centennial at 30 and 15 then homegrown cascade for the 10 and 5 min additions. Total ibus were around 50 but I only did a 35 min boil because my burner was messed up. Hopefully I got enough ibus to add some hops to this beer.

 

[woo_pig]

Doing my third 5 gal batch of this tomorrow, everything is weighed out and ready.

Im going with Mosaic for the first two additions then centennial for the last two.

Trying to decide if I want to dry hop with an ounce of Mosaic or the Centennial. Thoughts?

Mosaic sounds good to me

 

[chlehb]

Ended up doing a generous dry-hop with Cascade pellets. Bottled on Saturday. Fingers crossed for a nice beer in a few weeks.

I filled two 2L growlers and bottled the rest. Anyone have any experience with conditioning in growlers?

Also, kegs arrived this weekend. Possibly the last time I bottled a whole batch.

 

[Jwin]

Ended up doing a generous dry-hop with Cascade pellets. Bottled on Saturday. Fingers crossed for a nice beer in a few weeks.

I filled two 2L growlers and bottled the rest. Anyone have any experience with conditioning in growlers?

Also, kegs arrived this weekend. Possibly the last time I bottled a whole batch.

The tricky things about growlers are
A) a firm seal. Those screw on caps pretty much suck.
B) not made to take high pressure
C)no way to not kick up sediment in them unless you have a really big mug
So, as long as they seal well and don't explode, you are ok...
But, you could end with flat beer or a big mess.

I would advise to wrench down on the caps and check them every couple of days for looseness. In theory, the pressure could push them up enough to leak. If you have the nicer plastic caps with the silicon nipple thing inside, run the caps under hot water for a minute, then tighten. Something about expansion and contraction makes those caps seal better warm (and better in general).

 

[Jiffster]

Brewed this yesterday. According to BierMuncher's first post on this recipe, you can go grain to glass in 2 weeks.

How soon could I keg it, based on your experience with this brew?

Could I have this ready to drink by July 4th?

She's kicked off nicely after about 16 hours at 68F.

1.045 OG

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1467035493.981368.jpg

 

[EvansPA]

I did a 2.5 Gal BIAB batch of this. Very good! But now I am near the last bottle and want to brew another larger batch.
Has anyone added Lemon/Black Pepper to this or even Grains of Paradise? I am getting ready to do a 4.5Gal batch and want to add a little lemon/spice. Do you think this would work out?

 

[olotti]

Wow this beer is crushable. I bumped mine up to 5.6% but still crazy good. Used centennial and homegrown cascade hops from last season, definite keeper to offset all the 6-8% hop bombs I usually make. Bottle carbed in 7 days too.

 

[RedlegEd]

Brewed this yesterday. According to BierMuncher's first post on this recipe, you can go grain to glass in 2 weeks.
How soon could I keg it, based on your experience with this brew?
Could I have this ready to drink by July 4th?
She's kicked off nicely after about 16 hours at 68F.
1.045 OG

I think that would be pushing it, that's only one week. When I brewed this, it finished primary in about 5 days, but I let it sit until day 10, then cold crashed and kegged. It was good at 14 days, superb at 21.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Made this again for the first brew on my new 20Gal eBIAB rig, in an 11gal batch, as it's an almost foolproof recipe to learn with. Used .5oz/5gal centennial at first wort hop with a 30 min boil, then cooled to 165F and added another 1oz/5gal centennial for a 30 minute whirlpool. Efficiency into the fermentor was 77% using filtered/softened house water and no water adjustments (pH stabilized at 5.5).

Hoping that with this higher hopping rate I'll not feel the desire to dry hop it at all, and can get it on tap inside of 2 weeks.

 

[brewbama]

I tapped mine today to get started on a 4th of July weekend. Cheers!

 

[chlehb]

The tricky things about growlers are
A) a firm seal. Those screw on caps pretty much suck.
B) not made to take high pressure
C)no way to not kick up sediment in them unless you have a really big mug
So, as long as they seal well and don't explode, you are ok...
But, you could end with flat beer or a big mess.

I would advise to wrench down on the caps and check them every couple of days for looseness. In theory, the pressure could push them up enough to leak. If you have the nicer plastic caps with the silicon nipple thing inside, run the caps under hot water for a minute, then tighten. Something about expansion and contraction makes those caps seal better warm (and better in general).

I have something like this:

So I'm not to worried about the seal. Also, I got a kind of pump thingy for it with which you can create pressure and pour with a tap handle. Haven't tried it yet but I hope it solves the sediment problem.

 

[trapae]

I am thinking about Brewing this great recipe substituting mosaics for Cascades. Has anyone done this or have an opinion? I have brewed the original many times as is and it's a fantastic summer time easy drinker.

 

[chuckcomm]

I am thinking about Brewing this great recipe substituting mosaics for Cascades. Has anyone done this or have an opinion? I have brewed the original many times as is and it's a fantastic summer time easy drinker.

I just did this. I used mosaic as the first hops and centennial as the last. Its been fermenting for a week and I dry hopped today with an ounce of mosaic. Hydrometer sample tasted great.

I will be kegging it next weekend so can give you a better review after it carbs up.

 

[brewbama]

Has anyone put a lime wedge in their Centennial Blonde? I did it today on a whim and I really like the addition.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

Brewed this up yesterday on the 4th. Everything went smooth. My OG was a little higher at 1.045. Smoothest brew day yet. Can't wait to try it! Pictures of the brew day below!
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1467727650.386976.jpg

 

[vance]

I'd like to brew this but I don't have a way to do any temperature control on fermentation... is there a yeast I can use that won't give too many off flavors when fermented at room temperature? I was planning to use HotHead ale yeast for my first brew but idk if it would work here.

 

[BlackWraith]

Vance what temperature are you dealing with?

 

[andrewmaixner]

I'd like to brew this but I don't have a way to do any temperature control on fermentation... is there a yeast I can use that won't give too many off flavors when fermented at room temperature? I was planning to use HotHead ale yeast for my first brew but idk if it would work here.

This is what you seek for most ale yeasts:
https://www.google.com/search?q=swamp+cooler+fermentation&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&biw=993&bih=909

But I'm interested how that strain works out, had not heard of it before!

 

[brokebucket]

Those asking about dry hopping with this beer, here is my .02:

-it makes the beer better in my opinion, but just know that it bumps it out of style for a blonde. I entered mine in a contest and was told by all judges too much hop character. Also of note, still took third in the light ale/hybrid category, losing out to 2 cream ales (yuck). One judge in the comments said "I could drink alot of this".

So unless you are a hard core style guy, or are trying to win a home brew competition (with a blonde ale), an ounce of hops (5Gal) will really turn this beer from great. to great!

 

[vance]

Vance what temperature are you dealing with?

Not 100% sure, I just moved and I haven't tested ambient temperatures in various parts of my house - however I'd assume mid 70s, maybe a few degrees lower in the basement, but the yeast activity will raise it a bit anyways. I live in central OH so it's in the 80s every day and the new place doesn't have AC, just window units.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

If I had no temp control and limited AC, I would use the dry belle saison yeast. It is going to change the flavor profile but it should still make a very tasty beer.

Read on this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=522455

 

[chlehb]

Not 100% sure, I just moved and I haven't tested ambient temperatures in various parts of my house - however I'd assume mid 70s, maybe a few degrees lower in the basement, but the yeast activity will raise it a bit anyways. I live in central OH so it's in the 80s every day and the new place doesn't have AC, just window units.

I don't think you'll have much trouble fermenting with most ale yeasts in your basement.

Nottingham ale yeast:

The recommended fermentation temperature range of this strain is 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F)

I'd at least try once before you look for alternatives.

 

[Rivenin]

Few days ago,

Sparging away!

20160703_121845 by Noah Scott, on Flickr


10 gallons blub blub blubbing away!
20160704_221840 by Noah Scott, on Flickr

 

[Jiffster]

I brewed this on 6/26/16, kegged it on 7/5/16 and carbed it at 30psi for 36 hours, set it at 12psi and just tasted it 14 hours later and it's delicious!

11 days grain to glass.

I'm really focused on consuming it on 7/10 so it should even be just a tad better.

 

[tjosborne]

@Rivenin
What's that that you have the sanke in?

 

[Jwin]

@Rivenin
What's that that you have the sanke in?

Looks like a collared mini fridge (depth)

 

[imafan]

Hello,
I just brewed my first beer batch ever using this recipe with a biab setup on my stove top and got pretty good beginner's luck . It fermented furiously (2burb/sec) for last 3 days using safale s05 at room temperature(72ish) and now slowed down to a burb every few seconds. OP said kegging in 4 days, should i start looking into bottling it soon? Do I need to check FG? OG was 1.045. It doesn't look very clear yet (but smelled great!) like in the pic below.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=361251&stc=1&d=1467962162
Thanks!

my brew night (4hrs from turning on element)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=361253&stc=1&d=1467962972

 

[andrewmaixner]

Hello,
I just brewed my first beer batch ever using this recipe with a biab setup on my stove top and got pretty good beginner's luck . It fermented furiously (2burb/sec) for last 3 days using safale s05 at room temperature(72ish) and now slowed down to a burb every few seconds. OP said kegging in 4 days, should i start looking into bottling it soon? Do I need to check FG?
......

not necessarily.
always.
have patience, check the gravity, check again in 3 days, verify no change, then you can bottle.

 

[Rivenin]

@Rivenin
What's that that you have the sanke in?

Looks like a collared mini fridge (depth)

@tjosborne
@Jwin wins!

It's indeed a collared mini fridge. Welded a stand out of some 1" 16g tube so i can wheel it over to my brew stand, pump in and siphon out to kegs without having to lift 10 gallons of wort.

 

[Calaeb]

Has anyone kettle soured this beer? Want to try my hand at a sour using oyl-605, and thought this might be a good one to try it with.

 

[Rivenin]

Has anyone kettle soured this beer? Want to try my hand at a sour using oyl-605, and thought this might be a good one to try it with.

you would need to do it before any hops were added.;
even though the hops in this recipe are very small additions, it will still make a huge difference as lacto hates hops.

take a look at this starting recipe for a berlinerweisse from milkthefunk.
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Berliner_Weissbier

 

[Calaeb]

you would need to do it before any hops were added.;
even though the hops in this recipe are very small additions, it will still make a huge difference as lacto hates hops.

take a look at this starting recipe for a berlinerweisse from milkthefunk.
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Berliner_Weissbier

I'm familiar with the process of souring, have read quite a bit about it just haven't tried it yet. Just not sure of a recipe and thought this would work well.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

First pull from the keg! Brewed July 4th. Wife likes it and I will be serving it at a party in a week or so!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468451308.448962.jpg

 

[andrewmaixner]

Made this again for the first brew on my new 20Gal eBIAB rig, in an 11gal batch, as it's an almost foolproof recipe to learn with. Used .5oz/5gal centennial at first wort hop with a 30 min boil, then cooled to 165F and added another 1oz/5gal centennial for a 30 minute whirlpool. Efficiency into the fermentor was 77% using filtered/softened house water and no water adjustments (pH stabilized at 5.5).

Hoping that with this higher hopping rate I'll not feel the desire to dry hop it at all, and can get it on tap inside of 2 weeks.

Success. cold crashed with gelatin on day 9, carbed and on tap on day 10, no extra hopping needed.

 

[vance]

Are there any additions to this recipe that people really like? I feel the urge to dry hop it.

 

[Rivenin]

when DONT you dry hop something?! hahah - dry hops play well for sure. i just wouldn't over do it

 

[chlehb]

So I guess I'm one of the only people who didn't have success with this brew (I'm not blaming the recipe!).
Mine is 2 weeks in the bottle now and it just tastes like a weird mix between sweet, malty and Cascade from the dry-hop. There's a good beer hidden in there somewhere but with the off flavours it's not great. I know 2 weeks isn't much and it could still turn out ok but I'm not very hopeful.

One problem is definitely that my mash temp was around 75° for the first 15 mins. Fermentation was probably a bit too warm as well.

My buddy and I are in the process of upgrading pretty much everything (GF, fermentation fridge and kegs) though so there's hope for the future