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

[mdbrewer1]

Why so grumpy? If you are so dead set on following the recipe, why ask any questions?

 

[tcory77]

bull sheet,,,,recipe calls for secondary

recipe calls for 4 days in primary

Hahahahahahahaha........wow!!!! I think I am speechless here.

 

[tcory77]

bull sheet,,,,recipe calls for secondary

recipe calls for 4 days in primary

Hahahahahahahaha....I think I am speechless here!!!!!

 

[woknblues]

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?

bull sheet,,,,recipe calls for secondary



recipe calls for 4 days in primary

First of all, BeirMuncher responds probably as often as he can, given he has around 30 recipes out there. Also, and he would be the first to probably agree, hundreds of people here have brewed this thing, many, likely more than HE has...

I can extrapolate that he puts the primary and secondary AND additional ferment times out there as guidelines, and what he experiences in general. He would probably be the first to tell you don't rack when you have active fermentation. Since he made the recipe a decent time ago, I believe according to some of his later posts (there are hundreds in this thread) he doesn't even rack this thing to 2ndary anymore, but rather goes from primary to keg, cold conditions and maybe gelatin fines if he is in a hurry (which he often alludes to being), or just lets it carb up in the keg for a week or so.

So to break it down, the 4 day ferment would start day 1, you pouring your chilled wort over a notty cake, or pitching new notty. Day 3 is around the time that the blow-off tube can be changed to a bubbler. Day 4 your bubbles may have stopped. If not, you may have had a higher mash temp, lower ferment temps, less active or non rehydrated yeast, or a kajillion other possibilities. Or, everything is just fine and it is taking longer.


I have brewed this and I left the beer on the yeast cake for a month. That airlock had stopped moving for 2 weeks before I could get to it. Beer was transferred to the keg, everythingwentbetterthanexpected.exe

 

[mike_in_ak]

Deleted sarcastic remark about earlier posts.

 

[Rockindaddy]

Here's a pic of mine. Came out a little low on the ABV. I added a little strawberry extract when I transferred to bottling bucket. The wife loves it. (That's the important part.)

 

[MarcusKillion]

Okay then my 2 cents again ....
4 day fermentation - I say it starts the day you put the yeast in . how ever never think you are going to get 4 days and good . There is no way to tell that in advance . I used to bottle a lot of beers mostly browns in 4 or 5 days and they were okay but that was with very fast fermentation with kits . Even so beer is not really ready yet . give it at least a week .
Best way to know is to take a sample after adding the yeast and put it in a beer bottle and put something over it like a piece of paper towel and twist tie it on . Use this to check for FG after 4 or 5 days . when it is where you want it it is done for the most part except for cleaning up after it's self . This way you do not have to open fermenter to check FG.

Now on to my review . , , . I am drinking one now . Noon is a good time for beer . so is 8 AM or 3 PM etc. This beer is pretty good for a blonde . Has a nice taste of something maybe citrus but very light . I will be making more of it .

One thing strange . This left a haze inside the bottle from the mold line just under the neck to the bottom . had to use soap and a bottle brush to remove it . Normally I would just rinse bottles out with hot and cold water right after I drink them . Never seen this before . I think I had some dizzy blondes that did the same thing . Not sure where that came from . It is like the trub settled onto the sides of the bottle instead of the bottom.

Oh well it does taste good . Thanks for the recipe


EDIT : By the way on that 4 days . I now use advice from some one here , I forget who , that said to blow off secondary and leave beers in primary for 3 weeks or longer if you want . I use 3 weeks . Works well I think . How ever I have noticed that I must be very careful not to suck up trub when siphoning to bottle bucket as the trub is quite fine and sucks up easier than if you secondary . I may start holding my siphon tube up and lowering it as the level goes down and stopping with maybe quarter gallon still in bucket . Not a real big deal it just leaves more trub in the bottle after conditioning .

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I broke down and put one of my Centennial Blondes (extract recipe) in the freezer after 6 days in the bottle to sample. Yeah yeah...I just had to try it since I brewed 10 gallons of it and wanted to know if it was good or not.

Holy Schnikes! It is clear, carbonated, has a head that won't quit, and has a sweet citrusy aroma and flavor. This gets better? Wow!

I'm glad I threw in another 5 gallon batch on the yeast cake. This is crazy good for such a young beer.

Is there any hop selection that would tend to give a more lemony zing vs. a grapefruit? Picky picky I know. This stuff is fabulous.

Did you hear me when I said this was fabulous?

Woo hoo! I got me a solid summer brew that I can make 5 gallons of with my kitchen pots! Victory is mine!

 

[jmcquesten]

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

Sorry to hear your story I hope I far better

A quick update. After waiting another week or so, the sulfur smell is pretty much gone and the beer is delicious. It was carbonated after a week, decent after 2, but I guess the 3 week rule really does hold true. It's crazy how much of a difference that third week makes.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Any chance of a similar 5 gal extract version?

Way back on the first page:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/#post426430

 

[woknblues]

I broke down and put one of my Centennial Blondes (extract recipe) in the freezer after 6 days in the bottle to sample. Yeah yeah...I just had to try it since I brewed 10 gallons of it and wanted to know if it was good or not.

Holy Schnikes! It is clear, carbonated, has a head that won't quit, and has a sweet citrusy aroma and flavor. This gets better? Wow!

I'm glad I threw in another 5 gallon batch on the yeast cake. This is crazy good for such a young beer.

Is there any hop selection that would tend to give a more lemony zing vs. a grapefruit? Picky picky I know. This stuff is fabulous.

Did you hear me when I said this was fabulous?

Woo hoo! I got me a solid summer brew that I can make 5 gallons of with my kitchen pots! Victory is mine!

Soriachi Ace is the first that come to mind. I believe it has around double the alphas as cascade, so I would reduce the amount you use, unless you also want it to be more hoppy/bitter. wait, I just reread what you wrote.. The soriachi ace would probably be a great swap for the centennial. of course you will have to change the name to Soriachi Blonde!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Soriachi Ace is the first that come to mind. I believe it has around double the alphas as cascade, so I would reduce the amount you use, unless you also want it to be more hoppy/bitter. wait, I just reread what you wrote.. The soriachi ace would probably be a great swap for the centennial. of course you will have to change the name to Soriachi Blonde!

Thanks! I'll have to see if I can get Soriachi. I have a spreasheet and can tweak the amounts and times for different alphas, no problem. I still have a lot of Centennial so I think I will brew to the original recipe for now and tweak the extracts and hops a bit. A pinch more hop bitterness would be OK as I think the extract makes it a bit underbalanced to the malt side. But man, is it smooth!

I had to use some pilsner extract in place of the extra light in my last batch, so I'll wait to see what that does to the dryness. I might swap out small amounts of DME with plain sugar to see if I can tone down the maltiness.

 

[CeeTee]

So put mine on gas 3 days ago and tried one last night. It is pretty damn amazing!!! I used Centennial as directed, and sub'd Citra for the ascade while keeping the same IBUs. This has just become my new favorite brew! Still a little cloudy, but I attribute that to still being green.

I used Wyeast S-05
Citra instead of Cascade (got same IBUs)
Fermented for 10 days
OG 1.05
FG 1.007

 

[porky_pine]

I just brewed 11 gallons and racked half on top of an apple-rhubarb mix I made and the other half on top of some mango-serrano pepper-tamarind mix I made. I'm gonna enter them in the Portland Fruit beer competition if they are any good.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Soriachi Ace is the first that come to mind. I believe it has around double the alphas as cascade, so I would reduce the amount you use, unless you also want it to be more hoppy/bitter. wait, I just reread what you wrote.. The soriachi ace would probably be a great swap for the centennial. of course you will have to change the name to Soriachi Blonde!

LHBS says no go on the Sorachi Ace. Has anyone used the Hop Union's Falconer's Flight hop blend? The description from Norther Brewer:

Falconer’s Flight™ is an exclusive proprietary hop blend created by Hop Union to honor and support the legacy of Northwest brewing legend, Glen Hay Falconer, who passed in 2002. The blend is comprised of many of the Northwest’s most unique hop varieties, including Citra™, Simcoe®, and Sorachi Ace along with experimental hops and numerous other NW varieties. Perfect for any Northwest-style IPA. Each hop has been hand selected for its superior aromatic qualities, imparting distinct tropical, citrus, floral, lemon and grapefruit tones.

 

[mike_in_ak]

The microbrews I have had with FF were all good, but not lemony. I don't know what percentage they used, but it was the "hops" they advertised. More along the lines of cascades progeny.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I went to the LHBS today and they actually did have some Sorachi Ace. I asked for some guidance on the usage in a special thread but no answers as of yet.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/sorachi-blonde-hop-schedule-409720/

I have an ounce of Sorachi Ace with 12.6% AA. I was thinking about bumping the Centennial, moving the Cascade to earlier additions for bittering and putting the Sorachi in toward the end for flavor/aroma additions. Perhaps like this:

0.25 oz Cascade 45 min
0.25 oz Cascade 20 min
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace 10 min
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace 5 min

This gives me 24 IBUs for the batch which should still be nicely balanced (I kinda want to shift the balance slightly hoppy anyway). I also figure putting the high AA% Sorachi to later additions will make it harder to screw up the hop balance (something to worry about on such a small beer).

Has anyone worked with Sorachi Ace? Does the above schedule look good?

 

[TrainReck]

First post!

Awesome recipe. I brewed the extract version a couple of weeks ago.

While kegging, I took a taste and it was intriguing. A few days later, but before fully carbed, I couldn't wait anymore and took a taste after drinking a few heavier beers (Black Lager, IPAs, etc.) and was honestly kind of disappointed. Seemed watered down, but figured my BMC friends would enjoy.

Tonight, I tasted a glass of fully carbed Blonde as my first beer... Outstanding! I have a family party coming up and I know it'll be a huge hit. I want to try it as my first all-grain soon. I think this will be part of my standard rotation and probably hard to keep a full keg around especially with the warmer weather approaching.

 

[Swanie]

Brewing this right now. Got about 10 min left in the mash. All grain version exactly as BM posted.

 

[Johnnyhamer]

I'm drinking my last one and it's bittersweet(not the taste, that's AMAZING) Just sad and need to brew more ASAP. To the people currently brewing this, you will NOT be disappointed. Also, dryhopped with 1/4oz of cascade. Not sure how much of a difference that made...

ENJOY!

 

[mhurst111]

Strawberry blonde on the left. Needs more time in the bottle to carb. Should have cold crashed to remove strawberry chunks. Still tastes good.

Centennial blonde on the right.

 

[NFryan]

So I made this with centennial and Amarillo last weekend. I was thinking about getting 2-4lbs of fresh strawberries. Cutting them freezing them. Then racking the beer to the keg. Cold crashingf or a day or 2. Then adding the strawberries to the keg in a strainer bag. Then letting it carb for 2 weeks. Anyone think this will work out ok ? I want to add the strawberry flavor without further fermentation. And I'm not a fan of extract. Anyone try this before ?

 

[mhurst111]

So I made this with centennial and Amarillo last weekend. I was thinking about getting 2-4lbs of fresh strawberries. Cutting them freezing them. Then racking the beer to the keg. Cold crashingf or a day or 2. Then adding the strawberries to the keg in a strainer bag. Then letting it carb for 2 weeks. Anyone think this will work out ok ? I want to add the strawberry flavor without further fermentation. And I'm not a fan of extract. Anyone try this before ?

I just made strawberry version and think it will work your way, but there will be strawberry junk in the beer. I would cold crash before legging next time. I used 6lbs frozen berries and my wife likes but says too much berry. She is mixing 1/2 strawberry blonde with 1/2 centennial blonde, 3-4 lbs might be about right. I think it tastes fine, but is sweet.

 

[NFryan]

I just made strawberry version and think it will work your way, but there will be strawberry junk in the beer. I would cold crash before legging next time. I used 6lbs frozen berries and my wife likes but says too much berry. She is mixing 1/2 strawberry blonde with 1/2 centennial blonde, 3-4 lbs might be about right. I think it tastes fine, but is sweet.

Thanks. I'm going to give it a shot with 4 lbs in a paint strainer bag suspended with floss. Ill be back at a later date with pics.

 

[WeissGuy]

Anybody try dry hopping this at all? Suggestions?

 

[SuperCrossBun]

Bottled this on Monday, drank a few today and it's great! Changed the some amounts, but pretty much followed the recipe. Will probably make this often. Thanks!

 

[FATC1TY]

Anybody try dry hopping this at all? Suggestions?

I changed the recipe a bit, but I used Cascade to bitter and Amarillo for flavor/aroma in a similar recipe to this, and used some Citra in the dry hop.

I love hoppy beers, but this one I wanted to be light and subtle for those that don't like hoppy. It's my lawnmower/BMC drinker beer.

I used .5 ounce of Citra to dry hop it to make it more fragrant, and lend a little fruit note.

 

[jwalker1140]

Anybody try dry hopping this at all? Suggestions?

I did a search in this thread and it seems that some people like the result from dry hopping with 0.5 to 1.0 oz of cascade or something similar. I'd also be interested in hearing about other experiences.

I just looked at my tasting notes from my first attempt at this recipe and it said to consider adding 0.25 to 0.50 at 0 minutes or dry hop. I'm brewing this on Friday and I think I'm going to dry hop with 0.25 oz of cascade and 0.25 oz of willamette, partly because that will use up all of my cascade and I have a bunch of willamette that I need to use up. I've also heard these two play nicely together. I do have 1.00 oz of citra that I could use instead.

 

[latium]

I'm brewing this right now, and I'm halfway through the boil. It's the first time in quite a while that I've brewed anything, and it smells delicious!

Thanks, Biermuncher!

 

[bhanson]

Since this thread won't die, I decided 300+ pages deserved a try. Just finished my brew day cleanup. Hit the O.G. and volumes dead on. The first runnings were delicious; I'm expecting a very nice summer beer.