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

[prophet]

gonna add this to my to-do list

You mean your to-brew list.

 

[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.

This is from the Fat Tire clone thread, obviously a different color:

Fat Tire Clone

This is the recipe given by New Belgium in the Dec 2010 BYO issue. The only difference is that I used .10lbs more of C60 than the recipe because I couldn't measure .40.

70% efficiency:

Maris Otter 8.50lb
Munich 1.0lb
C60 .5lb
Victory .4lb

VS

I’
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.

 

[Leppy]

Sorry for the noob question, this will only be my 5th brew. I'm planning on brewing the extract version this coming weekend for the big brew day. Am I correct that you treat the carapils as a specialty grain and steep before the boil? Thanks for the help.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Sorry for the noob question, this will only be my 5th brew. I'm planning on brewing the extract version this coming weekend for the big brew day. Am I correct that you treat the carapils as a specialty grain and steep before the boil? Thanks for the help.

There's a split of opinion. Someone can write you a highly technical post on why it needs to be mashed, and then someone will write a highly technical post on why it can be steeped.

There may be some carapils in your extract, as it's a common ingredient.

I think I would at least lower the amount to .25 to .5 lbs. I believe it's mostly mouthfeel/body/head retention.

 

[mike_in_ak]

From John Palmer "Dextrin Malt 3 L Also known as American Carapils, this malt is used sparingly and contributes little color but enhances the mouthfeel and perceived body of the beer. A common amount for a five gallon batch is 1/2 lb. Dextrin malt has no diastatic power. It must be mashed; if steeped it will contribute a lot of unconverted starch and cause starch haze."

-Cheers

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/using-dextrin-malt-carapils-extract-brew-317055/

 

[artyusmc]

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.

Ahhhhhhhh !!!!
I just used the same yeast!!!!!

Sorry to hear your story I hope I far better

 

[dstranger99]

^

But I have to chime in here, that notty is some good stuff, my batch was fermenting just within a few hours of brewing. A nice fast yeast !!!

 

[Jorb]

Just cracked open my first Centennial Blonde last night. It's been about three weeks since brew day and it was very clear and tasted great. I don't think it had quite enough body for my tastes but I also missed the OG by a few points. I'm definitely going to brew this one again.

 

[pfgonzo]

Packerfan, are you saying "What's wrong with my yeast?" Or are you saying "Wow that notty is super fast" ?

If you're asking why you aren't seeing signs of fermentation, chances are it's done. Have you taken a gravity reading?

 

[gcdowd]

Just had a bunch of these, man they're good. : drunk: : drunk:

 

[MarcusKillion]

I am just hoping my batch does not come out with this nasty , to me , fruity taste that most of my blondes have been getting fore some reason . Can not figure it out . Maybe it is the safale05 . Not sure but I do not like it . They have also been foaming up real bad when poured in a glass . foam to the top from just a bit of beer .
Oh well I will soon find out . if it does then I am going to brew one more batch and use notty .

 

[gcdowd]

I am just hoping my batch does not come out with this nasty , to me , fruity taste that most of my blondes have been getting fore some reason . Can not figure it out . Maybe it is the safale05 . Not sure but I do not like it . They have also been foaming up real bad when poured in a glass . foam to the top from just a bit of beer .
Oh well I will soon find out . if it does then I am going to brew one more batch and use notty .

What temp are you fermenting the S05 at?

 

[Spartangreen]

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.

What I perceived as "Skunky" has turned to "Grainy". Like when you taste the leftover wort from your OG sample you took before pitching the yeast.
So I believe this to be Green.

I believe the low 56F fermentation chamber temperatures resulted in it taking longer than 14 days for the yeast to do its clean-up job. Usually, I store everything for 21 days. I think I got excited about the "14 days grain to glass", but I should have paid attention to the 68F fementation temp.
I could have started my "14 days" once fermentation began, not when I pitched.

 

[jflongo]

I'm getting ready to brew this again soon, I have all the grain and hops. Last time I made this, I harvested the yeast from that. I'm going to use that harvested yeast, do a starter, and see how it turns out, instead of using the dry yeast pack.

 

[dstranger99]

By the way guys, I did my 5g batch using all Cascade (same hop Schedule) BM didn't have any centennial. Will it matter a much ? I figure I'd just call it a cascade blonde.........

 

[NFryan]

I was going to give this a shot this weekend with
.5 lb Vienna
.5 lb Victory

Anyone have any feed back ?

 

[FATC1TY]

I was going to give this a shot this weekend with
.5 lb Vienna
.5 lb Victory

Anyone have any feed back ?

I used some victory in mine as well as some honey malt for the crystal. Turned out nice. Malt backbone is a honey biscuit like note with the floral and citrusy Amarillo and cascade I used

 

[NFryan]

I used some victory in mine as well as some honey malt for the crystal. Turned out nice. Malt backbone is a honey biscuit like note with the floral and citrusy Amarillo and cascade I used

Thanks just the info I was looking for.. Also were the amounts you used close to mine? I was also thinking about:

1 lb Vienna
.5 lb Victory

Just to make sure its not lacking maltiness

 

[Kbrewto]

Would this recipe be any good with a noble finishing hop like hallertauer instead of cascade? Anyone ever converted it to a 3 gallon recipe?

Looking for a light,refreshing easy to brew summer ale but I tend to prefer European hops.

Thanks

 

[jeetaman]

Can anyone help me with water calculations for this? I know it says boil size is 6.57 gallons, but how much water do you use for mash & sparge?
Oh yeah, also, this is my first time AG brewing.

 

[FATC1TY]

Thanks just the info I was looking for.. Also were the amounts you used close to mine? I was also thinking about:

1 lb Vienna
.5 lb Victory

Just to make sure its not lacking maltiness

It certainly won't lack any malt backbone at all. I think I used .5 Vienna but I'm not positive. I'd have to look it up this evening.

 

[jeetaman]

From all the calculations it looks like you mash with 10.94 quarts @ 162.5 (assuming room temp of 72).
If I sparge with the same amount of water that only gives me 21.88 quarts, or 5.47 gallons. So do I add another gallon of water at some point? What am I missing?

 

[jeetaman]

Oh, and this is for the 5.5 gallon recipe.

 

[gcdowd]

Just Sparge with more to get up to your pre-boil volume. Also I assume you mean 162 is the strike water temperature?

 

[jeetaman]

Yeah, 162 was the strike water.
So I just keep sparging until I hit that 6.5 gallon mark?

 

[gcdowd]

Yeah. I pre calculate my sparge water to get my pre-boil volume, but if you do continuous sparge, just sparge until you hit your pre-boil volume

 

[pfgonzo]

I've never calculated sparge water. I just put ~5ga of water into my HLT and start heating, and use as much as I need.

I recirculate my mash, so I tend to mash thinner at about 1.5 or close to 2qts per pound of grain (thinner than cooler-using mashers at any rate). As a result, I do calculate my mash water, but never my sparge water. When it's sparging time, I just keep a continuous sparge going until I reach 6.5 ga in the boil kettle.

 

[MarcusKillion]

What temp are you fermenting the S05 at?

most of the time I am around 70 to 72 but this one was lower in the 68 range I think .
having never drank a blonde until I brewed some I have nothing to compare them to . My cousin said all the blondes tasted this way i.e. muntons canadian ( which I did not think so ) , pilsner ( a little ) , Dizzy blonde ( a lot ) , and this centennial just a little ) Maybe it is just the hops and the yeast doing what they do .
I tend to knock it out by putting some chinook in my glass . I think chinook dry hop would be good for me in blondes .

edit : I am drinking one right now out of the bottle , only about a week in bottle . Not bad really

 

[mike_in_ak]

You don't ever rack to secondary except if you're using fruit.

4 days is a prediction and probably a best-case scenario, you're going to leave it in primary fermenter for a least 10 days then bottle if you have reached a stable final gravity and it's done. Or just leave in primary fermenter a little longer to be sure and then bottle.

 

[gcdowd]

biermuncher won't respond, so can someone please someone please chime in on the 4 day fermentation......when does the 4 day fermentation start? do I rack to secondary with active fermentation?

I did two weeks primary, two weeks keg. Drink!