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

[gcdowd]

I added 5# of honey to this. I did it simply raise the abv and to dry it out. I knew that I would not be getting any honey flavor out of it. It boosts the abv to 6.8 :rockin:

Omg, 5 lbs? That's gotta add way more abv than that. Yikes!

 

[chefcurt]

Omg, 5 lbs? That's gotta add way more abv than that. Yikes!

Sorry, I forgot to say that I did an 11 gallon batch. Even so, without the honey the OG of this recipe is usually around 1.040 or slightly lower depending on your efficiency. This boosted mine to around 1.062. It fermented down to 1.010 so it worked out to 6.8%. I added an ounce of Columbus to it as well. The really tricky part now is what kind of beer it actually is now. SRM and ibu's are too low to call it a pale ale. OG and ABV are too high for a blonde. I guess I'll have to just wait till its ready before I can taste and decide for myself what kind of beer I made.

 

[gcdowd]

Sorry, I forgot to say that I did an 11 gallon batch. Even so, without the honey the OG of this recipe is usually around 1.040 or slightly lower depending on your efficiency. This boosted mine to around 1.062. It fermented down to 1.010 so it worked out to 6.8%. I added an ounce of Columbus to it as well. The really tricky part now is what kind of beer it actually is now. SRM and ibu's are too low to call it a pale ale. OG and ABV are too high for a blonde. I guess I'll have to just wait till its ready before I can taste and decide for myself what kind of beer I made.

Oh wow, 11 gallon batch. You had me worried, haha. Still though, let us know how it turns out.

 

[chefcurt]

Oh wow, 11 gallon batch. You had me worried, haha. Still though, let us know how it turns out.

Will do!

 

[user 78027]

Sorry, I forgot to say that I did an 11 gallon batch. Even so, without the honey the OG of this recipe is usually around 1.040 or slightly lower depending on your efficiency. This boosted mine to around 1.062. It fermented down to 1.010 so it worked out to 6.8%. I added an ounce of Columbus to it as well. The really tricky part now is what kind of beer it actually is now. SRM and ibu's are too low to call it a pale ale. OG and ABV are too high for a blonde. I guess I'll have to just wait till its ready before I can taste and decide for myself what kind of beer I made.

Does that make it an Imperial Centennial Blonde?

 

[bd2xu]

Brought a 5 gallon keg of this to an engagement party/tennis social last night. About 40 people and keg was gone in under two hours. Was still a little green I think, had a little bite of bitterness on the finish, but everyone loved it.

 

[Euphist]

Does that make it an Imperial Centennial Blonde?

You beat me to it!

 

[MarcusKillion]

Anybody tried to add honey to this in the boil? Also has anyone used a little biscuit malt in it?

In my experience honey adds flavor but only fora while and it fades away as it ages . I use very high flavor honey like Tupelo or rain flower or orange blossom etc. It is a different type of flavor from what you would buy in grocery store normally . Does make a blonde taste good but only for a couple weeks . Maybe last longer in keg ?

 

[chefcurt]

Does that make it an Imperial Centennial Blonde?

That's what I'm thinking of calling it.

 

[jeremy0209]

just kegged this up yesterday...the FG was 1.008 and the sample was excellent. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Made this again yesterday... As my other keg of it kicked. Took a gravity reading after the mash and it was .0145 with the adjustment for temp. Didn't get to take one after the boil... Dropped my hydrometer. Added a lb of honey so it will be a decent amount higher. Pretty mad at myself but I'm sure it will still be good beer.

 

[Peruvian802]

I just want to come back and say how great this beer is in a Shandy on a hot day. Perfectly refreshing. I'm glad I have 10 gallons.

 

[cd38]

I live in Mexico atm and ingredients are a hard thing to come by. Here is what I got: 2row, Vienna Malt, Crystal 40, centennial, and s-05. If I play with the amounts how do you think this would turn out? Thanks guys

 

[Nagorg]

A little darker than intended but delicious!

 

[cd38]

anyway to play with the amounts to lighten it up. Thanks for the input

 

[user 78027]

I just drank my first bottle of this beer this evening. I was still shooting from the hip at that point, it was my 3rd brew, and I asked the person at the LHBS what extract I should use and he told me pilsner light. So, I went with that and it is pretty light. I didn't do a very good job of measure the hops, or maybe I used what a 5 gallon recipe would use for my 2.5 gallon version.

It tastes good, it is a little light on flavor, I was and still am trying to get my process down. It is way more hoppie then it should be, I guess I used the hops for a 5 gallon batch in my 2.5 gallon batch.

I guess I will call it my India Centennial Blonde

 

[Mojzis]

I live in Mexico atm and ingredients are a hard thing to come by. Here is what I got: 2row, Vienna Malt, Crystal 40, centennial, and s-05. If I play with the amounts how do you think this would turn out? Thanks guys

Use this free calculator to generate a recipe based on what you have.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

You should be good to go.

 

[volks_r_us]

I brewed this beer last Saturday. I screw up a little with the grain mill and ended up with less sugar (coarse crush). 1033 OG I did 50/50 2 row and pilsner
Fermentation was powerful and fast, transferred to secondary Yesterday. I did not taste it but the smell was Very nice. Will make a great express beer, I am sure. Thanks for the recipe. I would rename it Centennial Express ;-)

 

[FATC1TY]

I brewed this beer last Saturday. I screw up a little with the grain mill and ended up with less sugar (coarse crush). 1033 OG I did 50/50 2 row and pilsner
Fermentation was powerful and fast, transferred to secondary Yesterday. I did not taste it but the smell was Very nice. Will make a great express beer, I am sure. Thanks for the recipe. I would rename it Centennial Express ;-)

Why the secondary if you want it to be done fast?

I brewed a 5 gallon batch of it, because my not so open minded friends who stop by for a drink love it over the other choices on tap.

Brewed it on Sat morning, had it kegged the following Sunday evening. Crashed it in the fermentation chamber at 35 degrees and online it went. Carbing as we speak. Should be in someone glass this weekend!

 

[volks_r_us]

Why the secondary if you want it to be done fast?

I brewed a 5 gallon batch of it, because my not so open minded friends who stop by for a drink love it over the other choices on tap.

Brewed it on Sat morning, had it kegged the following Sunday evening. Crashed it in the fermentation chamber at 35 degrees and online it went. Carbing as we speak. Should be in someone glass this weekend!

Because it will be more clean that way. Leaving more yeast, protein, hops... moving in the fermenter will take longer to clear Specially if you don't cold crash the fermenter, plus I needed the Cake for another beer.
99% of my beers are done with only a primary bucket, takes +25 days to have a clear beer.
Using a secondary when doing an express beer always been a advantage to me. I do the switch as soon as the activity slow down or when the Kräusen drops. I will keep it at 68 for 2 weeks then keg and carb, instead if cooling it after only 7 days

 

[FATC1TY]

Because it will be more clean that way. Leaving more yeast, protein, hops... moving in the fermenter will take longer to clear Specially if you don't cold crash the fermenter, plus I needed the Cake for another beer.
99% of my beers are done with only a primary bucket, takes +25 days to have a clear beer.
Using a secondary when doing an express beer always been a advantage to me. I do the switch as soon as the activity slow down or when the Kräusen drops. I will keep it at 68 for 2 weeks then keg and carb, instead if cooling it after only 7 days

So you take your beer off the yeast as soon as the krausen started to drop? Probably not the best idea.

If you keg, there really isn't a reason to do all of that in the future. Will save you plenty of time!

I ferment mine in a fermentation freezer.. Once it's within a point or two of final gravity, I will allow it to warm up to room temp for a D-rest for a day or so.. Then I lower the temp in the chamber to 35. This drops EVERYTHING from the beer. My beer is clear in primary days after fermentation is done. Rack to the keg and it's already close to keg temp, so it'll actually carbonate faster.. I was pulling clear beer off of it after a day in the keg while it was carbing, and had little to no yeast that even settled in the bottom of the keg.

All of that, and I'm not moving the beer from the yeast, allowing it to finish AND to clean up the by products of fermentation.

Might look into it, if you are into getting lower gravity beers to the keg faster. A higher gravity beer I wouldn't rush as much, but this little beer isn't a big deal.

 

[cd38]

Use this free calculator to generate a recipe based on what you have.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

You should be good to go.

Thanks for the link here is what I got.

3.7 kilos 2row
1 kilo vienna malt
.2 kilos Crystal 40, original called for more but want to keep the color light

Hops the same and yeast S-05

OG:1.042
FG:1.012
ABV: 3.95
SRM:5.23
IBU:27.47

Thanks guys

 

[hops2it]

I ferment mine in a fermentation freezer.. Once it's within a point or two of final gravity, I will allow it to warm up to room temp for a D-rest for a day or so.. Then I lower the temp in the chamber to 35. This drops EVERYTHING from the beer. My beer is clear in primary days after fermentation is done. Rack to the keg and it's already close to keg temp, so it'll actually carbonate faster.. I was pulling clear beer off of it after a day in the keg while it was carbing, and had little to no yeast that even settled in the bottom of the keg.

All of that, and I'm not moving the beer from the yeast, allowing it to finish AND to clean up the by products of fermentation.

Might look into it, if you are into getting lower gravity beers to the keg faster. A higher gravity beer I wouldn't rush as much, but this little beer isn't a big deal.

Described my approach on this one quite well. I ran this in primary for 9 days, hit FG, cold crashing for a short 3 days and kegging tomorrow. I've been doing low and slow carb again lately but I might shoot the gas to this one and then back it off and test it out this weekend. Been jonesin' for an easy drinker.

 

[volks_r_us]

So you take your beer off the yeast as soon as the krausen started to drop? Probably not the best idea.

If you keg, there really isn't a reason to do all of that in the future. Will save you plenty of time!

I ferment mine in a fermentation freezer.. Once it's within a point or two of final gravity, I will allow it to warm up to room temp for a D-rest for a day or so.. Then I lower the temp in the chamber to 35. This drops EVERYTHING from the beer. My beer is clear in primary days after fermentation is done. Rack to the keg and it's already close to keg temp, so it'll actually carbonate faster.. I was pulling clear beer off of it after a day in the keg while it was carbing, and had little to no yeast that even settled in the bottom of the keg.

All of that, and I'm not moving the beer from the yeast, allowing it to finish AND to clean up the by products of fermentation.

Might look into it, if you are into getting lower gravity beers to the keg faster. A higher gravity beer I wouldn't rush as much, but this little beer isn't a big deal.

Thanks for the tips Ill give it a try next time. :rockin:

 

[FATC1TY]

Described my approach on this one quite well. I ran this in primary for 9 days, hit FG, cold crashing for a short 3 days and kegging tomorrow. I've been doing low and slow carb again lately but I might shoot the gas to this one and then back it off and test it out this weekend. Been jonesin' for an easy drinker.

Because I was a little low ( only 3 kegs with anything pouring ) I ramped up the pressure on 2 new kegs, one being this blonde.

Hit it for 20 psi for 3 days, and dropped it to 9-10psi for the time being. It's pouring with a head already after being kegged 3 days ago.

 

[TheDarkChemist]

Well I think I blew the original recipe a bit

Supposed to be 1.039 start 1.008 finish, 4%ABV

Result: 1.044 start 1.002 or 1.001 finish 5.5% + ABV


Is this because I extracted too much sugar? Or because mash temps dipped a few degrees in the middle? I followed the recipe in amounts exactly.

I pulled a sample today to taste and get my first FG reading, 1.001-2, 10 days in

 

[jeremy0209]

Well I think I blew the original recipe a bit

Supposed to be 1.039 start 1.008 finish, 4%ABV

Result: 1.044 start 1.002 or 1.001 finish 5.5% + ABV


Is this because I extracted too much sugar? Or because mash temps dipped a few degrees in the middle? I followed the recipe in amounts exactly.

I pulled a sample today to taste and get my first FG reading, 1.001-2, 10 days in

The only time I've ever had a beer finish that far below predicted FG was because it was infected. Your case may be different, but that's my experience.

 

[FATC1TY]

What temp did you mash at and what yeast ?

 

[McBrewskie]

Tastes from my most recent batch are great. Fermented out in 2 days. Gonna take a it and the ginger version I made up to Tahoe for a weekend vacation with friends and throw the kegs in some ice and serve side by side.

 

[TheDarkChemist]

What temp did you mash at and what yeast ?

Tried mashing at 150-152 but when i stirred partway in it dropped to 145, ididnt have enough hot water ready, so it sat at 145 for 20ish minutes before icould get it back up to 148.

I dont think it is infected, looks clean and I was a stickler on sanitation.