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

[Fordzilla]

Careful what you wish for!

 

[jackson09]

My 9.5 gallon batch is about a month old. 5 gallons S-05 and 4.5 gallons notty. It's been kegged for two weeks. Just some tasting notes:

S-05 is a home run it's slightly malty with a light but not thin mouthfeel the hop charter comes through enough to be pleasing for the non-BMC drinker but not scare them off. It's clear but not as clear as the notty. It's hard to drink just one. Quoting my Molson Golden, Blue Moon and Stella drinking Brother in-law "that's pretty damn good". Then he drank three more.

Notty has a thin mouth feel. It's almost a neutral aroma maybe some notes of fruit. Very very clear. The hop charter doesn't come through until the back end. It's certainly drinkable. The brother in law said its ok but asked about the hop aftertaste.

Final verdict: I will brew it again. I'm going S-05 and white labs 01 for the next. Before I change anything I want to hit my numbers a little closer. The recipe is as advertised a easy step up for your BMC drinkers but pleasing to the more advanced. Thanks BM.

 

[OcularTrauma]

I would echo the above statement exactly!

The first time I did this, I used the Notty and it was pretty good, but not super amazing. Very basic, light-ish beer that seemed to have universal appeal. Nice enough that I would do it again.

I did another 5g batch of this for a corn harvest and tamale assembly party at a friends family's ranch this last weekend. This was the first time I ever used US-05 and it came out fabulously. The hop character was more pronounced but still very smooth, the flavors fill the mouth but do not linger and the finish is dry and clean. Defiantly makes you want to go for another one.

There was a cooler full of Victoria, Corona and Bohemia that was getting some attention, but once I got the keg set up his family slammed down about 3 gallons in the next hour. We were pushing foam and on to the tequila before the end of the night They sent me home with a mountain of tamales, so I have absolutely nothing to complain about

My complements to BierMuncher on this one! Its going to be hard to follow up on this one next year!

 

[mux]

Great beer! It's on my permanent rotation.

 

[jackson09]

One follow up I have to my previous post is if your looking for speed the nottingham yeast is the way to go.
3 to 4 days and active fermentation is done. If time is critical.

 

[jtkratzer]

My wife loves this beer. Wait, everyone loves this beer. Used WLP001 on the most recent brew. Still think 1056 is my favorite, but this is lovely, too.

 

[Silverbullet]

Just sifted through a few thousand posts and am looking forward to brewing this one. Just ordered everything needed. Well, since there is no Centennial, decided to sub with Chinook and will blend with Cascade. Has anyone stepped this basic recipe up to say, something in the 5+% ABV range and turned this into an IPA? Seems like the potential is there and could be really good. Plan is to brew an 11 gal batch and split it, one per the recipe and one experimental with different yeast (american II maybe?) and perhaps dry hopping with some extra kent goldings I have laying around...

 

[JordanThomas]

Just sifted through a few thousand posts and am looking forward to brewing this one. Just ordered everything needed. Well, since there is no Centennial, decided to sub with Chinook and will blend with Cascade. Has anyone stepped this basic recipe up to say, something in the 5+% ABV range and turned this into an IPA? Seems like the potential is there and could be really good. Plan is to brew an 11 gal batch and split it, one per the recipe and one experimental with different yeast (american II maybe?) and perhaps dry hopping with some extra kent goldings I have laying around...

Not sure about the whole, "turning it into an IPA" thing, but I always get high efficiency and ended up at 5.2%. Could have tipped it off but didn't have any dechlorinated water handy. It's really really good.

 

[Hefanatic]

This has become one of my absolute favorite recipes. I am typically a hop head (despite my handle). I have brewed 15 gallons of this so far and I can't seem to keep it on tap for more than a week or 2. It's the perfect beer at 4 +%.

 

[Gear101]

Ok I just brewed 11 gallons, with 1oz of Citra and 2oz of Amarillo. All the Citra at the first part of the boil and then offered the Amarillo evenly throughout the rest. I can up with a brix of 9.5, hope this turns out good. I have made it before with Citra only, just wanted to try it with the other hop to see how the taste turns out. Also used Saf 04 and Nottingham yeast in two different fermenters.

 

[Schumed]

I added 5lbs of strawberries to this recipe in the secondary ...it was a hit at my party last night...such a crowd pleaser....5lbs of strawberries just gave it a hint of tartness

 

[athenarunner]

Maybe a way to get your confidence back up you can just take a step back and use an extract brewing kit, this can giver you a sense of accomplishment and the courage to keep brewing.plus something to drink and replicate on your own...

 

[Mojzis]

This turned out very good. Thanks for the recipe BM

 

[wworker]

I brewed this this weekend and all went well EXCEPT.....I could only achieve a vigourous rolling boil for about 10 -15 minutes of the entire boil. I had to change tanks and this other tank had a valve that wouldn't allow as much flow as my other. I could only get a low boil...a bit more than a simmer. I temped it several times throughout and got 212 everytime.

any thoughts?

looking forward to it though. Smelled delicious when I pitched.

 

[allenH]

I brewed this this weekend and all went well EXCEPT.....I could only achieve a vigourous rolling boil for about 10 -15 minutes of the entire boil. I had to change tanks and this other tank had a valve that wouldn't allow as much flow as my other. I could only get a low boil...a bit more than a simmer. I temped it several times throughout and got 212 everytime.

any thoughts?

looking forward to it though. Smelled delicious when I pitched.

When you switched tanks, did you close the regulator? On my burner, if you have the regulator open and then open the tank, it goes on low flow. I couldn't bring 5 gallons to a boil in an hour and a half. Turned everything off and disconnected, hooked it all back up, opened the tank all the way and then opened the regulator to light. Boiled fine after that.

 

[wworker]

well shoot maybe that was the problem. Too late for this batch though...

 

[tre9er]

Just kegged my second batch....let the carboy cold crash for 1 day before I kegged. Crystal clear in the hydrometer sample tube

Was that sample warm, or did you really finish around 1.002? I have a great PA that finishes that low, but curious what this beer tastes like that dry...

 

[ButcherBrew]

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).

View attachment 3114


****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.

Hi all.....giving this one a go this weekend. Only question here, that I didnt see answered....Is do we really just need one pack of yeast for the 10 gallon batch versus 2? I am all for keeping the cost point low so if one will give me a good fermentation, and it is what all you other 10 gallon brewers are using, then I will stick with what works. Will be using 05 if that matters versus Notty.

Thanks ya'll!

 

[Johnyb73]

Hey. Just poured my first pint of this tonight....wow! Great, solid recipe.
Thank you very much!!!!!

 

[mux]

Hi all.....giving this one a go this weekend. Only question here, that I didnt see answered....Is do we really just need one pack of yeast for the 10 gallon batch versus 2? I am all for keeping the cost point low so if one will give me a good fermentation, and it is what all you other 10 gallon brewers are using, then I will stick with what works. Will be using 05 if that matters versus Notty.

Thanks ya'll!

I use so5 and its great. If your in doubt pitch two, can't hurt. Dry yeast is cheap and I wouldn't gamble 10 gallons of beer on 3$ of extra yeast.

 

[shadows69]

What mux said 2 for 10. Don't want to under pitch it. So5 is a very good yeast. I use wlp008.

 

[gladius270]

Has anyone tried this with some Galaxy hops? I'm thinking a Columbus/Galaxy combo here.

 

[allenH]

Has anyone tried this with some Galaxy hops? I'm thinking a Columbus/Galaxy combo here.

In my experience with Columbus, it takes a while to settle down. The nice thing about the recipe the way it is written is that it's ready quickly. It is your beer though, do as you please.

 

[gladius270]

I may just start by replacing the cascade with galaxy.

 

[jasert39]

I know this has been said dozens of times in this thread, but this is an awesome beer. I did a 10 gallon batch a while ago and went through the first 5 gallons (brewed exactly as the recipe is listed) pretty quick, I decided to dry hop the other half with a little bit more Cascase and Citra and finally got around to tapping that keg last night...awesome! Easy drinking and enough complexity to keep you interested. Either way you slice it, thanks again for the recipe, it's offically in my rotation.

 

[BigPicture]

Very Nice.

I've just realized the fact that this is a great base for all kinds of mods. Raspberries, Orange, Different Yeast, Dry Hops, Different Hops. Even the time frame can be adjusted.

All brewing should be this much fun & rewarding. Nothing's worse than having a flop after all that time & work.

Too many batchs for me, I'm going to try that dry hop addition next. Complexity............... that's a new adjective for beer. I'm hooked!

Thanks BM & Jas!

 

[jasert39]

Very Nice.

I've just realized the fact that this is a great base for all kinds of mods. Raspberries, Orange, Different Yeast, Dry Hops, Different Hops. Even the time frame can be adjusted.

All brewing should be this much fun & rewarding. Nothing's worse than having a flop after all that time & work.

Too many batchs for me, I'm going to try that dry hop addition next. Complexity............... that's a new adjective for beer. I'm hooked!

Thanks BM & Jas!

Enjoy I'm going to try some fruit in mt next batch...hopefully in about two weeks

 

[NoTrubble]

SWMBO and I decided to use this recipe as our first all grain brew. It was inexpensive enough for a practice brew for my new setup. So if I screw it up I'm only out about $30. Yeah the LBHS charges me $4/oz for hops so this was like $8 of my grain bill. Speaking of which, I had to substitute Target (UK) 9% for Centennial as the LHBS said they are only able to get limited amounts. But we could also purchase our hops from someone else if we needed them. (I already sourced 1-6# of Centennial Hops leaf for $14/lb) but don't have them in hand.

So wish me luck on my first all grain attempt. I've only brewed 3 partial mashes. One of which I'm currently drinking. And it's much better than the ones I've tasted from my LHBS. I can hardly wait to try this as my generic house brew for guests etc.

Can hardly wait to get a kegerator!

BTW THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!

 

[llama_boy]

I just received my scores from a BJCP event, got a 37 and a 40. This was my first competition but I felt this beer was worthy and I wanted to see what feedback I would receive for a beer I thought was very good. The 37 found the beer a little oxidized while the 40 really didn't name any flaws but did mention a tartness. One judge was certified while the other was a master.

My batch was all according to the original recipe except I used Marris Otter for the base. The 40 mentioned the extra biscuit/malt and thought it made the beer better.

Thanks for the great simple recipe.

 

[tre9er]

I brewed this with CTZ and Cascade as it was what I had on hand. Either I should have FWH the CTZ or I'm finding that hop leaves a real bite that I'm not fond of in lower IBU beers. I'm thinking of doing Nugget and Cascade next time. The beer is good, a little over-hopped and the bite is there. Tastes more like a Pale Ale than a Blonde, which means my wife likes it a little less. Good simple recipe that I'll do again with different hops. Glad I'm learning more about my hops though. I like buying in bulk, but knowing which work best with different styles is key.