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

[brokebucket]

This recipe won me third place in the Dominion cup for light american ales category (out of 24 beers)! I dont have score sheets yet, should have them in a day or two.

Followed the recipe as written, but added 1 oz of centennial hops to the keg.

 

[70ls1nova]

This recipe won me third place in the Dominion cup for light american ales category (out of 24 beers)! I dont have score sheets yet, should have them in a day or two.

Followed the recipe as written, but added 1 oz of centennial hops to the keg.

Congrats! I plan on putting mine in a competition next month! Hoping for the same or better results.

 

[ballsy]

Well, the search function on this thread isn't working very well for me this morning, so I figured I'd just add my question here.



What's the highest FG people have seen with this brew? I did my typical two week wait and was planning on bottling last night, but my hydro sample read 1.016. I know they aren't great indicators, but the krausen had fallen over a week ago and I haven't had any airlock activity since then.



My OG was 1.045 since I tossed in a little extra DME to finish off the bag I had on hand. I left the better bottle upstairs today to see if the warmer temperature does anything. I made a 2.5 gallon batch at my old house and it finished at 1.010. The only thing I can think of is that the better bottle was filled almost to the top with foam when I pitched the Notty, and it looked like a fair bit didn't make it down into the wort, but I figured the yeast that made it down in there would reproduce enough to chew through everything.



Anyone have any thoughts on this other than take samples the next couple days and see if anything changes?

How much extract was used total? Extract won't ferment out as low as AG. If it stays 1.016 and that's the official FG, I thinks that's fine ESP of u overshot the OG by a few points.

 

[ballsy]

Duplicate

 

[mdbrewer1]

How much extract was used total? Extract won't ferment out as low as AG. If it stays 1.016 and that's the official FG, I thinks that's fine ESP of u overshot the OG by a few points.



How much extract was used total? Extract won't ferment out as low as AG. If it stays 1.016 and that's the official FG, I thinks that's fine ESP of u overshot the OG by a few points.

I probably ended up closer to 5.5 lbs of extract since I finished off the bag I had, instead of the 5 lbs of extract that is listed in the recipe on the first page. That gave me an OG of 1.045, which was .005 higher than the first batch I did.

It dropped down to 1.015 and it looks like it is done, which is also .005 higher than the FG from my first batch.

Thanks for the response. I always appreciate the feedback from experienced brewers. At work we'd call this knowledge management...

 

[thelouisvillekyle]

I could only get a hold of 2oz of cascade. How should I adjust my hop additions to be less tart and bitter?

 

[BierMuncher]

I could only get a hold of 2oz of cascade. How should I adjust my hop additions to be less tart and bitter?

Follow the prescribed additions and times. The lower Alpha of the cascade will provide a bit lower bitterness.

 

[brokebucket]

I just got my score sheets back on this recipe, here is a quick synopsis of the critiques (3rd place of 24 in light american ales, 33 overall score):

aroma- all judges noted citrus hops too high for style (good call, I keg-hopped this beer with an oz of centennial).

-appearance- clear to brilliant, golden straw with good white head

flavor- all judges noted citrus hops with sweet malts balanced by appropriate bitterness. One judge noted light phenolic, but did not describe it.

mouthfeel- all over the map...thin, light to medium, medium. I got from a 2 of 5 to a 4 of 5, so take this one with a grain of salt...beer finished at 1.004 though.

Overall- Overall impression was that it was a solid beer with too much hop aroma for style (which is fine, because the aroma is awesome!) The highest score I got was from the only certified BJCP judge, so that is cool.


So, if you are on the fence about brewing this, please note that Biermuncher has put together a solid recipe that will do well in competitions and with your buddies if you follow it! If you like a little more hop presence and dont mind being "out of style", then dry hop it a touch!

Cheers to you for a solid recipe, BierMuncher!

 

[tg123]

Got another batch on the burner but this time I'm going with Centennial/Amarillo because I don't have Cascade. Hope it'll still turn out well.
In the meantime, enjoying a Chico King Pale Ale from the Beer Camp collection.

 

[ballsy]

Here's 1st glass of the Blueberry version...using natural blueberries I think oxidized to a brownish color while sitting prior to adding so final color was reddish brown...looks like an IPA haha. Very slight tartness from them (blueberries really are more tart than sweet). I like my lemon version better but this still turned out good!!

 

[philb1969]

Great recipe, thanks! I used Wyeast 1056 and my efficiency on my mash was a little greater than I expected - 1.050 was my starting gravity, so I upped the hops a bit (27 IBUS) to stay right on that evenly balanced/slightly hoppy line.

 

[blackonblack]

This is an outstanding summer quaffer. I'm new to brewing and I personally prefer bitter beers , sadly my BMC drinker friends haven't been impressed. This was my first batch that they enjoyed. Drained a keg in about 2 hours. Will brew again . Thanks!

Did only about 11 days primary and straight to keg. Chilled and carbed . Grain to glass in exactly 2 weeks. Great

 

[blackonblack]

 

[brewcephus]

brewed this recipe up a couple weeks ago with some minor modifications. Since I didn't have any 2-Row on hand I used all MO. Recipe came out great, a little darker than Blonde, but still absolutely tasty.

Made 10 gallons and have appropriately deemed it my football beer because that is what I will be drinking on Sat/Sun while watching football this year.

 

[Fenduh]

I made an attempt to brew this beer...

I didn't have any Crystal Malt 10L so I used what I had...80L.

Also I made the mistake of not sealing my opened bags of hops so they spilled and mixed in the bottom of the quart baggie I had them all in. I could never recreate this beer as I have no idea how much of what hop I used...I just pitched them all knowing I was still making beer.

What it resulted in was a toasty, malty beer with a nice hop backbone. I'm kinda bummed that I won't be able to mimic it.

I also racked about a gallon over fresh strawberries. The initial taste is good with a slight hint of strawberry and the bitterness comes through but the aftertaste of plastic leaves much to be desired. Only been in the bottle for a little over 3 weeks so I'm going to let it condition some more in the hopes that plastic taste subsides.

 

[heckler73]

first time on this thread (thanks to the "how many gallons... thread), sorry I can't read all 416 pages...

I have fresh Centennial hops on the vine still that are desperately looking for a recipe. I think this might be it, but I'm wondering why a Centennial Blonde has Cascade flavor/aroma hops...

Has anyone brewed this with all Centennial?

and...

is the first post still the latest and greatest recipe?

 

[brewer_sam]

Just ordered the ingredients for the 5.5g recipe and this will be my first AG Brew. Excited to try it out!

 

[W0GWT]

I didn't go through all the posts in the thread, but this recipe is a great candidate for reusing the yeast cake for a big beer, right? I'd like to make this, then throw an RIS on the cake.

I'm assuming I'm good to go because it's not high gravity, nor highly hopped.

 

[McRoth]

I didn't go through all the posts in the thread, but this recipe is a great candidate for reusing the yeast cake for a big beer, right? I'd like to make this, then throw an RIS on the cake.

I'm assuming I'm good to go because it's not high gravity, nor highly hopped.

That should be perfect for a big beer starter.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I didn't go through all the posts in the thread, but this recipe is a great candidate for reusing the yeast cake for a big beer, right? I'd like to make this, then throw an RIS on the cake.

I'm assuming I'm good to go because it's not high gravity, nor highly hopped.

That's exactly what I did. Brewed this in April, then reused the yeast for a RIS in May. I washed the yeast though, and ended up getting less than I had hoped (maybe poor technique? It was my first attempt... Based off the sticky on here), so I bought an extra vial to add to my slurry. Next time I'd probably just use the whole yeast cake...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[70ls1nova]

That's exactly what I did. Brewed this in April, then reused the yeast for a RIS in May. I washed the yeast though, and ended up getting less than I had hoped (maybe poor technique? It was my first attempt... Based off the sticky on here), so I bought an extra vial to add to my slurry. Next time I'd probably just use the whole yeast cake...

that's exactly what I did. I pitched a 1.120 RIS on top of the cake after transferring to secondary.

 

[V1king]

I would wash the yeast first to get rid of all the leftover hops. But many do simply use the whole cake.

 

[toddnaud]

came a little under the targeted abv due to poorer efficiency than expected, still made a great tasting beer. everyone who's tried it loves it. great stuff!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Jakeintoledo]

Yeah...hard to resist the urge to dry hop it too.



AS is...it will be a crowd pleaser, but still be more flavorful than a BMC.

Eerersrrsrh
A


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Jakeintoledo]

AS is...it will be a crowd pleaser, but still be more flavorful than a BMC.[/QUOTE]



Eerersrrsrh?)l


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[gkimbo]

Any ideas to add pumpkin to this? Love the beer and I think it may make a nice light pumpkin blonde...

 

[heckler73]

my fresh off the vine hops variant

I picked 8.5 oz off my first year centennial plant this morning, and figured out how to use it all up! I did screw up the 35 minute addition for the first time ever though, so...

7.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Crystal 15 Malt - 15L (15.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
1.0 oz Wet Centennial Fresh (55 min)
1.5 oz Wet Centennial Fresh (20 min) (should have been 35 min)
2.3 oz Wet Centennial Fresh (17 min) (should have been 20 min)
3.4 oz Wet Centennial Fresh (5 min)
1056 smackpack

Apologies to Biermuncher for overhopping the flavour and aroma, but I'll survive. Being first year hops, I didn't want to brew too many batches with it.

 

[heckler73]

Any ideas to add pumpkin to this?..

sacrebleu!

 

[burninator]

sacrebleu!

Yeah, I don't know much, but that doesn't sound like a great idea.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Thanks for the recipe. Just got back from a wedding, huge hit!