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

[gcdowd]

I used an online calculator (don't remember which one) but I'll take your word. That's good news.

A simple way to calculate abv is:

(OG - FG) x 131 = abv

 

[Rockindaddy]

Nope, I goofed. My final gravity was 1.018 not 1.010. I used the brewersfriend calculator.

 

[Schlomo]

Brewed this 2 weeks ago, just kegged it. My OG was 1.040, and my FG was 1.004 O_O

I guestimate that to be 4.7%

Tasted fantastic though.

 

[gcdowd]

Brewed this 2 weeks ago, just kegged it. My OG was 1.040, and my FG was 1.004 O_O

I guestimate that to be 4.7%

Tasted fantastic though.

Mine went down to 1.004 too. I was aiming for 1.010 but oh well. Just tapped it tonight, tasty!

 

[Spinrathen]

A simple way to calculate abv is:

(OG - FG) x 131 = abv

(OG-FG)x131.25 to be technical.

 

[gcdowd]

(OG-FG)x131.25 to be technical.

Ok, to be technical yes. But that formula breaks down a bit with a higher abv. I actually use a different formula all together, and it's more accurate. For this formula, you must use OG and FG in whole numbers though, i.e. 1.050 would be 50. The formula I use is:

((832+ OG) * (832 + FG) * (OG -FG)) / 5,500,000

It's a little more involved, but I think it's more accurate

 

[val214]

Brewed this a month ago bumped up the first two hop additions to .50oz instead of the called 25oz. My girl said she wanted a strawberry blonde. Easy fix.

 

[pfgonzo]

And how's the taste with double the centennial?

 

[val214]

And how's the taste with double the centennial?

Nice subtle aromatic bite... Crisp would be the best description.

 

[wiggybrewer]

Just tapped my first batch of this today! Awesome beer! Thanks BM!

 

[Jints07]

Just finished a 2 gallon brew of this an hour ago. It was only my fourth batch ever and the first time I tried more than a 1 gallon brew. I was surprised at how much lighter the wort was compared to the others I've done, so hopefully I didn't mess it up! I did hit 2 gallons post boil dead on, so we'll see.

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Bottled this today and all I have to say is WOW!

Already tastes like it came straight out of a cask. I'm really excited to see how this turns out after bottle conditioning!

 

[jmcquesten]

I made this beer a few weeks ago and figured I'd post some comments. I used wlp051 cal ale V instead of Nottingham. I think that's where I went wrong. First time using this yeast and got a pretty strong sulfur odor when fermenting. This sulfur smell carried over to the bottled beer. It still tastes good, but the smell is kind of off putting. Oh well, guess I'll have to hurry up and drink these 11 gallons so I can try again with the proper yeast.

 

[dstranger99]

Brewed a 5 gal AG of this today, even hit the 1.040 SG right off the bat......I had to use all cascade as BM didn't have any centennial.....

 

[woknblues]

kicked my 2nd keg of this today. Will brew again for sure!!

 

[woknblues]

I am brewing this tomorrow(BIAB), Just to be clear...4 days in primary and then 5 days in secondary? That's it? A 23 day beer?

Absolutely. I took longer on mine because of non beer related chaos. BM's beers are like that for the most part. I personally feel another couple of weeks provides perfection, but drinkable? Yes. And good, too.

 

[Feldmann]

I'm making a 2.5g batch and according to yeastcalc.com I need 69 billion yeast cells but an average 11g pack of Notty has 55 billion so I'll need to make a starter, is that correct?

If I do, how big of a starter should I make?

 

[gcdowd]

I'm making a 2.5g batch and according to yeastcalc.com I need 69 billion yeast cells but an average 11g pack of Notty has 55 billion so I'll need to make a starter, is that correct?

If I do, how big of a starter should I make?

A pack of dry yeast should have way more cells than that. No need for a starter with dry yeast

 

[pfgonzo]

One pack of notty is fine. If you look at Danstar's data sheets, they guarantee a minimum of 5b cells per gram of dry weight. That's the 55b cells you mentioned in your post. In practice, however, the average cell count is 20-30b per gram of dry weight. See here: http://www.danstaryeast.com/articles/cell-count-and-glycogen

So the average notty pack can have 220b to 330b cells. One packet is more than enough for your 2.5g batch. It's more than enough for a 5g batch, honestly. If you do 2.5g batches on a regular basis, I'd dry weigh the yeast and only re-hydrate half to pitch (no starter necessary), and save the other half for another batch.

[Edit] As an aside, I think I recall reading that starters were actually not recommended for dry yeasts. Just rehydrate and pitch. Making a starter interferes with, or negates the benefit of the dry-preservation and rehydration process. So not only is a starter not necessary, it's actually contraindicated.

 

[STEVESKI]

Has anybody tried doing the extract recipe as a partial boil (about 3 gallons) then topping up to 5? If so, any adjustments need to be made? I tried searching, but couldn't find anything. Just got a kegerator and am looking for a quick turnaround recipe like this for a cookout at my house in a few weeks. Thanks in advance.

 

[Xtant]

Has anybody tried doing the extract recipe as a partial boil (about 3 gallons) then topping up to 5? If so, any adjustments need to be made? I tried searching, but couldn't find anything. Just got a kegerator and am looking for a quick turnaround recipe like this for a cookout at my house in a few weeks. Thanks in advance.

I've made several extract batches this way. I can only boil 2.5 gallons or so. This beer has consistently been a crowd favorite even as a partial boil....

 

[STEVESKI]

I've made several extract batches this way. I can only boil 2.5 gallons or so. This beer has consistently been a crowd favorite even as a partial boil....

Thanks. Did you add the extract late in the boil? I've never used DME before so I'm not sure if it has the same advantages of adding LME late.

 

[Spartangreen]

Its Skunky. Does anybody know why?

Had my first pint last night and it smells/tastes like a Colt 45.
Folowed the recipe exactly. OG 1042 FG=1011.
I don't remember a real strong skunky smell/taste when I tasted the gravity sample at kegging. However, it was present.
BIAB. I did a 90 minute mash, with a mashout of 168 for 10 minutes. no sparge.
My fermentation room is 56deg. I pitched the yeast at 60deg, it took about 2 days for airlock activty to begin, reaching a maximum temperature of 63. My point is I feel I have good temperture contol.
It stayed in the fermenter for 14 days total. Kegged @12psi for 7 days.


Will this mellow?

 

[fizgig]

Skunky is usually light struck, was it kept in the dark? Brown bottles?

 

[Spartangreen]

Dark basement, kegged. I've made plenty of light colored beers via extract. This was my first light colored BIAB.

 

[SteveHeff]

Its Skunky. Does anybody know why?

Had my first pint last night and it smells/tastes like a Colt 45.
Folowed the recipe exactly. OG 1042 FG=1011.
I don't remember a real strong skunky smell/taste when I tasted the gravity sample at kegging. However, it was present.
BIAB. I did a 90 minute mash, with a mashout of 168 for 10 minutes. no sparge.
My fermentation room is 56deg. I pitched the yeast at 60deg, it took about 2 days for airlock activty to begin, reaching a maximum temperature of 63. My point is I feel I have good temperture contol.
It stayed in the fermenter for 14 days total. Kegged @12psi for 7 days.


Will this mellow?

I drank a few before they were really ready (4-10 days) and they had a funky taste, maybe not skunky, but something was weird. After bottle conditioning for 4 weeks and allowing them to sit in the fridge for 3-4 days, they are plum ready. Easy drinking. Let it sit for a few weeks. Keep in mind, even if you force carb, it's still a green beer that needs a few weeks to get ready. Good luck.

 

[mike_in_ak]

+5 gallons of this.

Went a little over target gravity, but my last three batches missed low (or WAY low) so that's awesome in my book.

Pitched Bells yeast instead of Notty, because that's what I had.

I happened to drink a NB Fat Tire as I was mashing this (among others), and the crazy thing was that this mash smells just like FT tastes. It tasted like it too, but obviously was sweet. I don't know what to make it other than if you add some red and figure out the yeast, you would clearly have a very convincing FT clone.

 

[woknblues]

Its Skunky. Does anybody know why?

Had my first pint last night and it smells/tastes like a Colt 45.
Folowed the recipe exactly. OG 1042 FG=1011.
I don't remember a real strong skunky smell/taste when I tasted the gravity sample at kegging. However, it was present.
BIAB. I did a 90 minute mash, with a mashout of 168 for 10 minutes. no sparge.
My fermentation room is 56deg. I pitched the yeast at 60deg, it took about 2 days for airlock activty to begin, reaching a maximum temperature of 63. My point is I feel I have good temperture contol.
It stayed in the fermenter for 14 days total. Kegged @12psi for 7 days.


Will this mellow?

As mentioned, it sounds young. Your Colt 45 description to me suggests a short boil/DMS, but skunky, not so sure... I would give it another week. I found that young carbed light beers can get a little "mineral-ly" at first.

 

[Feldmann]

My first attempt I got an O.G. of 1.030 so I added 15% more grain to compensate but I went way over and got 1.066 this time. I'm hoping that it was just an error in measuring correctly with my hydrometer but hopefully it still turns out.

 

[Pratzie]

gonna add this to my to-do list