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

[jwalker1140]

I've settled into a 3-week cycle where I bottle and brew on the same day, while drinking my first carbed beers from the last batch. 3 weeks in primary, 3 weeks bottle conditioning, 3 weeks to drink 2+ cases of beer. Beer quality is excellent and I am producing beer just about as fast as I can drink/share it.

This is exactly the schedule I've settled into lately. A couple other reasons I like this is that the yeast doesn't have to sit around long if you want to repitch from the batch you are bottling into the one you are brewing. Plus, I've tried shortening my primary schedule to ~2 weeks and while the beer tasted fine, my carbonation levels were too unpredictable (always overcarbed to some degree). I think that extra weeks gives a lot of the dissolved CO2 time to come out of solution, and I know exactly what I'm going to get with a certain amount of priming sugar.

Sorry if too

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I cracked my oddball bottle of my second batch of Centennial after a measly 4-days in the bottle. Not quite perfectly carbed, but the grapefruit of the Cascade and Centennial was so vivid! It really does taste like someone squeezed a grapefruit in my beer, so amazing.

Another awesome batch! How in the world can a beer taste so good so soon?

Thanks BierMuncher!

 

[jarhody]

Just sampled my first batch today WOW! I thought I was brewing this just for the masses but, I'm going to be enjoying this too!

BM - I think you should get a Kickstarter going and mass produce this. Let's convert more of these BMC's!

Thanks for the great recipe.

 

[Johnnyhamer]

Just sampled my first batch today WOW! I thought I was brewing this just for the masses but, I'm going to be enjoying this too!

BM - I think you should get a Kickstarter going and mass produce this. Let's convert more of these BMC's!

Thanks for the great recipe.

Agreed.

 

[jmcquesten]

Brewing this tomorrow as well. Anyone used the Whitelabs california ale V as substitute? It is going to be near 100 the next two weeks and I can't keep the house at 65

I brewed it about 2 months ago with that yeast. Room temp was a little warm at 69-72° when fermenting. I'm not sure how this compares to the Nottingham, but I can tell you that this was the first time I got a sulfur smell from an ale yeast. I was concerned about the sulfur smell and taste after a week in the bottles. At 2 weeks, the sulfur was less noticeable, and at 3 it was gone. The beer is really good now, but going quick. I'm brewing another 10 gallons of it sometime over the next week, but I'm going with the Nottingham this time if that says anything. I hope the notty is ok in the low to mid 70s because I can't cool the house more than that. To answer the question, yes, and it will be very drinkable.

 

[Shawn-of-the-Dead]

I made a 1 gallon batch of this for my third batch as a new brewer. It is Fantastic. Well Done, great recipe.

 

[Peruvian802]

I just brewed this for the second time today. I decided to make it even more summery and I dropped in 1/2 oz of Ahtanum hops at flame out. I hope it adds a great citrus scent and flavor.

 

[orion7144]

Brewed this again yesterday (15 gallon batch) and WOW the krausen has already started subsiding. LHBS messed up my order and and instead of a 10lb bag of crystal 10 it came in as crystal 20. Shouldn't be much of a difference. Used notty this time and have brewed this over 10 times and the notty defiantly finishes faster than US05 but the US05 finishes drier. Two similar great tasting beers for everyone.

 

[Evan_L]

Good god this one is popular, I can't remember the last time I hit the new posts button and didn't see it in the first 3 pages!

 

[Euphist]

Good god this one is popular, I can't remember the last time I hit the new posts button and didn't see it in the first 3 pages!

This is an even better indicator of how popular it is...and this is just the batches that get recorded...I'd bet the real number is at least double! :rockin:

 

[MarcusKillion]

Wow ! that is a lot of beer. You just can not beat a good mellow beer for your every day drinking especially in hot weather . I still say it needs a Chinook dry hopping or perhaps some Kent Goldings . I just like that nice fresh green smell of the hops when I take a drink .

 

[natureboy68]

Brewing this wknd, any updates to the original recipe? I could read all 212 pages, but...I got beer to brew!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Nope - it is still awesome. Brew on! :rockin:

 

[jflongo]

I have really enjoyed my first batch of this. My second batch is about done in primary, and I'm going to dry hop it starting today or tomorrow, for about 5 days, then bottle.

 

[loudgonzo]

looks like this is next...

 

[hio3791]

Finally got around to brewing this recipe. Made an 11 gal batch Thursday night. OG was 1.042. Fermented on a US05 slurry at 63F and it's already done. Planning to leave it alone for 14-21 days before kegging.

 

[Jayhem]

Finally got around to brewing this recipe. Made an 11 gal batch Thursday night. OG was 1.042. Fermented on a US05 slurry at 63F and it's already done. Planning to leave it alone for 14-21 days before kegging.

Sounds about right for US-05! I brewed this recipe with US-05 with a 21 day primary and 3 weeks bottles and it is excellent! :rockin:

 

[jflongo]

I have really enjoyed my first batch of this. My second batch is about done in primary, and I'm going to dry hop it starting today or tomorrow, for about 5 days, then bottle.

I just dry hopped this today, FG was 1.004! Wonder if that was due to the fact I washed the yeast from my first brew of this, then did a yeast starter with it, for this brew.

And crap, I should have washed the yeast again, but forgot to, oh well. Maybe next time I do this, I'll try a different yeast.

 

[Jayhem]

I just dry hopped this today, FG was 1.004! Wonder if that was due to the fact I washed the yeast from my first brew of this, then did a yeast starter with it, for this brew.

And crap, I should have washed the yeast again, but forgot to, oh well. Maybe next time I do this, I'll try a different yeast.

I think this would taste pretty good as a dry beer. It's already pretty BMC-ish in the body department with more flavor and a bit more hoppy bite. I'm curious how this tastes with dry hopping, that sounds like a variation I aim to try next go at this.

 

[gcdowd]

I think this would taste pretty good as a dry beer. It's already pretty BMC-ish in the body department with more flavor and a bit more hoppy bite. I'm curious how this tastes with dry hopping, that sounds like a variation I aim to try next go at this.

Mine dried out to about 1.004 too and it was awesome.

 

[Agkistrodon87]

I will be brewing this this upcoming weekend, however my LHBS doesn't carry crystal 10, but they do have crystal 20, any suggestions on subbing with this? Should I cut the amount back a little?

 

[FATC1TY]

I will be brewing this this upcoming weekend, however my LHBS doesn't carry crystal 10, but they do have crystal 20, any suggestions on subbing with this? Should I cut the amount back a little?

It will be fine with the 20. This is a simple and easy recipe. Will make the beer slightly darker and lend a little more caramel flavor, but thats about it honestly.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I can't help but smile when I drink this beer (it causes me to dribble down my shirt, but that is another matter). Easy to brew, tasty, inexpensive, perfect for hot weather (already looking at 90F+ through the rest of the week). BMC'ers love it, homebrewers love it, my wife loves it (she doesn't drink but she likes the fact that I can drink a lot of it without making a drunken ass out of myself).

It may not be a cure for cancer, but it is a great achievement none the less. Thanks BierMuncher!

 

[dabull25]

Im about to brew this today, extract version. Do I need to steep the cara-pils, if so how long and in how much water? Is this only a 45 minute boil since the first hops are added at 45 minutes?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Im about to brew this today, extract version. Do I need to steep the cara-pils, if so how long and in how much water? Is this only a 45 minute boil since the first hops are added at 45 minutes?

If you're doing the extract recipe, yeah - just a steep for the carapils. I steep in 1.75 gallons of water, then boil, do my hop additions, and then add DME at flameout. I then add 4 gallons of chilled make-up water to the fermenter and dump it all in. Easy peasy.

 

[Quaffman]

Just kegged this up. Tasted a sample after 2 days on the gas. This is gonna be a great beer. It already tastes awesome! Gotta brew another 5 gallons after my mirror pond clone is finished.

 

[Jayhem]

I have noticed that this beer starts to taste more hoppy as it ages! I did move my late Cascade addition to flame out and it has a nice hoppy aroma to it now after 5 weeks in bottles, I can see this being a good candidate for a dry hop!

 

[Zoidberg]

I dry hopped this with .5 oz of cascade for a 5 gallon batch. I also upped my cascade additions to .35 instead of .25

Basically turned it into a session IPA but a little maltier, very tasty

 

[Jayhem]

I dry hopped this with .5 oz of cascade for a 5 gallon batch. I also upped my cascade additions to .35 instead of .25

Basically turned it into a session IPA but a little maltier, very tasty

I'd call it a "Light American Pale Ale".

 

[sa1126]

I force carbed on Tuesday and sampled it today. It has a slightly fruity scent to it--it smells a lot like wine. The flavor is pretty good but I'm sure will get better as it clarifies. I'm having people over Sunday and heres hoping it is a hit.