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

[jbb3]

My 1st All Grain. Just got off work after 40 hours of Midnight shift and opened a bottle. It's only been conditioning for a week (couldn't wait any longer....it was killing me !!!!). Wow....this is really good. Followed the recipe exactly and I'm pleased with the results. Actually brewed another 5 gallons of this last weekend so I'll be drinking this for a while. Just awesome. This pic really doesn't do it justice ....it's so darn clear in person.....but anyway.....

That is one awesome looking beer! Good feeling isn't it. Congrats on the first AG!!! Is there going to be more??

 

[OZZ]

Anyone tried a kolsch yeast on this? How'd it turn out? How long did it take to clear?

How about a lager yeast?

 

[jwalk4]

I just moved this beer to the keg to chill and carb for 2 weeks after a 10 day primary. The FG sample tasted like flat, warm, Molson Export. Very, very malty almost no hop flavor or aroma. No other off flavors to report.

I can't wait to see how it tastes cold, carbonated and finished!


Can alone else confirm these flavors?

 

[Shenanigans]

Next day after I brewed this I found the hop sack with the cascade for the 5 min addition amongst the mess on my kitchen worktop

Annoying but I'm glad that was the only brew mistake I made while brewing 3 beers after work and finishing up at 2:00 in the morning after being up for 22 hrs.

It fermenting hard at the moment so I think I'll wait a few days and then make a hop tea in a French press and add it to the fermenter. Or is it better to add it to the bottling bucket? At least there will be some real fresh aroma in there.

 

[bern1]

That is one awesome looking beer! Good feeling isn't it. Congrats on the first AG!!! Is there going to be more??

Most definitely will be more! Here's a better pic of the Centennial Blonde. I took it Saturday at Salt Fork State Park in Ohio. The wife and I had a picnic there and drank a couple of these. Wonderful.

 

[Brewdit]

Hey BrewerE and jwalk,

Hows the s-04 compare to the s-05? I've brewed 8-10, 10gal. batches of this with s-05 and love it, used Notty a couple different times, don't like it nearly as well, brewd again this past wkend and had to use s-04 in 5 of the 10 gal just wondered how i'm going to like it.

Jwalk, I've been thinking of trying the wlp090, how does it compare to the s-05 in this beer?

 

[rockbasementbeer]

Anyone tried a kolsch yeast on this? How'd it turn out? How long did it take to clear?

How about a lager yeast?

I did this last spring with the white labs cream ale yeast blend (which i believe is a blend of ale and lager yeast?). Fermented for 2 weeks at 62F and it came out amazing!

 

[beskone]

I just made a batch with wlp090. I used the exact recipe but I get closer to 80% efficiency so i added just a touch more hops to balance it out.

The flat samples taste super clean, loads of malt with just a touch of bitterness from the hops. Can't wait to crack one open once they finish bottle conditioning.

I'd imagine 090 tastes pretty close to s-05 or wlp001

Hey BrewerE and jwalk,

Hows the s-04 compare to the s-05? I've brewed 8-10, 10gal. batches of this with s-05 and love it, used Notty a couple different times, don't like it nearly as well, brewd again this past wkend and had to use s-04 in 5 of the 10 gal just wondered how i'm going to like it.

Jwalk, I've been thinking of trying the wlp090, how does it compare to the s-05 in this beer?

 

[D-Train]

Anyone tried a kolsch yeast on this? How'd it turn out? How long did it take to clear?

How about a lager yeast?

Not kolsch, but I have a centennial blonde inspired recipe on deck using 1007 German Ale. It's basically a German themed blonde ale. I starting with the CB base and changed the malt bill, hopping, and yeast to something more German, but still trying to retain the American Ale qualities. I also upped the gravity and hops just a little, and then moved some hops to later in the boil to retain more hoppiness. Hoping to brew tomorrow night. I'll fine with gelatin for sure because I'm too impatient to tie up the ferm chamber or keg slot waiting to clear.

1.049 OG
28 IBU's
79% 2-row
9% vienna
5% carafoam
5% carahell
2% acidulated (for mash pH adjustment)
Mash 151F for 60 minutes.
0.5 oz Centennial for 60 min
0.5 oz Centennial for 10 min
0.5 oz Hallertau Blanc for 5 min
0.5 oz Hallertau Blanc for 1 min
Wyeast 1007 German Ale

 

[OZZ]

I've been playing with the recipe a bit as well, trying to dial it in a bit more and give it a bit more craft appeal. That sounds real similar to what I had in mind. Real curious what a kolsch yeast and low temps would do to this bad boy. I'll have to give it a go sometime.

I have another light blonde dialed in using tettnager comes out great with a nice spicy nose.

 

[BrewerE]

Hey BrewerE and jwalk,

Hows the s-04 compare to the s-05? I've brewed 8-10, 10gal. batches of this with s-05 and love it, used Notty a couple different times, don't like it nearly as well, brewd again this past wkend and had to use s-04 in 5 of the 10 gal just wondered how i'm going to like it.

Jwalk, I've been thinking of trying the wlp090, how does it compare to the s-05 in this beer?

it was a perfectly good beer with the 04, I just like it better with the 05...I don't know....maltier?

If you have 5 gal each of 04 & 05, taste them side by side and let us know what you think is different...

 

[HillWilly]

I used Bell's house strain and 1056 in a side by side. Bell's yeast highlighted the hops and had a fruity character too it. I liked it much better than the chico.

 

[Garmoni]

I have already brewed this beer once and am ready to brew it again. Would like to tweak it and add more hop flavor. I'm a newbie so I'm not quite sure how to do this.

I have a bag of hops that someone recently gave me. Whole leaf and I have no idea what kind they are. Was thinking this would be a good beer to experiment with. Looking for suggestions on how to approach this. How much should I add and when? Not sure if I should add them to the boil or dry hop with them. Was planning to brew as noted in the recipe so this mystery hop addition would be in addition to what the recipe calls for.

 

[Brewdit]

I'll let you guy's know in a couple weeks what my 2 cent's are on s-04 and s-05 side by side..

 

[Shenanigans]

I'll let you guy's know in a couple weeks what my 2 cent's are on s-04 and s-05 side by side..

Good stuff

I had both Nottingham and US-05 available but went for the US-05 because my basement is about 66F at the moment and my temperature controlled fermentation chamber is already full.
I reckon at those temperatures I might get some off flavours from the Notti.

 

[Ike]

Good stuff

I had both Nottingham and US-05 available but went for the US-05 because my basement is about 66F at the moment and my temperature controlled fermentation chamber is already full.
I reckon at those temperatures I might get some off flavours from the Notti.

Even at 66? Honest question: how low do you go with Notty? I'm using it pretty regularly (in other brews acutally) and have been happy with my results at 66-68, do I need to go even lower?

Thanks!

Ike

 

[Shenanigans]

Even at 66? Honest question: how low do you go with Notty? I'm using it pretty regularly (in other brews acutally) and have been happy with my results at 66-68, do I need to go even lower?

Thanks!

Ike

To be honest I'm not really sure. I'm just going by what I have read on here from several other home brewers who say it can start giving off flavours over 65F. Maybe its a modern myth like having to use a secondary for every brew
I've only brewed 3 times with Notti ranging from 64 to 66. Two of the beers had a slight off flavour but for one it disappeared after about 6 weeks. The other one is only about a month in the bottle but it's the same flavour so maybe it will go away. The third beer was a cream ale and it turned out very clean even though it was also brewed at about 66.
I usually have a my temperature controlled space full with a Belgian or some other temperature sensitive liquid yeast.
Then I brew the other beer with a dry yeast at whatever temperature the basement is at.
I have another 3 packs of Notti and there are several beers I want to brew with it soon so I'll try fermenting at around 60 and see if I notice a difference.
Maybe I'll even do a repeat of one of the beers that had an off flavour and only change the temperature.
It was a Hobgoblin clone and of course as usual the last bottle tasted fantastic.

 

[Ike]

Another pretty noobish question, but related to this post:

After extract/specialty grain brewing, tomorrow is my first BIAB, using this recipe :rockin:. For the 5 gallon batch, does the 6.6 gallon initial boil volume include the 0.9ish gallons that will be absorbed and taken off in the grain? It would seem to make sense, but doesn't leave much for boiling loss. Until now, what with extract brewing and all, I've always boiled covered so I could see not losing much more than the other 0.2 gallons in the boil. BUT, I don't know if that's SOP for others.

So, add another gallon or so to the boil to account for grain absorption, then boil uncovered to cook off the difference between 6.6 and 5.5? Or just go with 6.6 gallons at strike in and end up with 5.7 or so before the boil?

THANKS!

 

[jbb3]

Another pretty noobish question, but related to this post:

After extract/specialty grain brewing, tomorrow is my first BIAB, using this recipe :rockin:. For the 5 gallon batch, does the 6.6 gallon initial boil volume include the 0.9ish gallons that will be absorbed and taken off in the grain? It would seem to make sense, but doesn't leave much for boiling loss. Until now, what with extract brewing and all, I've always boiled covered so I could see not losing much more than the other 0.2 gallons in the boil. BUT, I don't know if that's SOP for others.

So, add another gallon or so to the boil to account for grain absorption, then boil uncovered to cook off the difference between 6.6 and 5.5? Or just go with 6.6 gallons at strike in and end up with 5.7 or so before the boil?

THANKS!

Assuming BIAB mashing/sparging volumes are similar to "normal" mashing and batch sparging, you'll start with about 7.8 gal of water total. After mashing/sparging, you should end up with about 6.6 gal of pre-boil volume. Boil off is roughly 1 gal/hr so you should end up with 5.5 gal post boil that goes into the fermenter. After trub loss, you should end up with around 5 gal bottling volume.

These are all approximate/general numbers. Your set-up will be different but you'll be able to dial in your numbers for your set-up as you get a few batches under your belt. Take good notes and record everything. You'll be able to look back and make adjustments to dial everything in.

BTW, You should always boil uncovered regardless.

 

[actionjackson905]

BTW, You should always boil uncovered regardless.

Agreed

 

[Ike]

Assuming BIAB mashing/sparging volumes are similar to "normal" mashing and batch sparging, you'll start with about 7.8 gal of water total. After mashing/sparging, you should end up with about 6.6 gal of pre-boil volume. Boil off is roughly 1 gal/hr so you should end up with 5.5 gal post boil that goes into the fermenter. After trub loss, you should end up with around 5 gal bottling volume.

These are all approximate/general numbers. Your set-up will be different but you'll be able to dial in your numbers for your set-up as you get a few batches under your belt. Take good notes and record everything. You'll be able to look back and make adjustments to dial everything in.

BTW, You should always boil uncovered regardless.

I ended up just starting with the 6.6 gallons listed for the 5 gallon batch. I'm guessing I was a bit heavy-handed with the water, but I really thought I'd measured the partial gallon properly... but after mashout I had 6.25 gallons or so in the pot...? For 9# of grain, I was expecting to lose close to a gallon. I didn't sparge at all, just squeezed the bag and let it drain into a bucket, then added whatever liquor showed up in the bucket back to the boil. Regardless, I did the 60 minute boil uncovered ended up with about 5.5 gallons afterword.

This was my first time using whirlfloc, and I'm afraid I got a bit nervous during the pour and only ended up getting just enough to fill my 5 gallon carboy, leaving appropriate headspace. Next time I'll probably just pour a bit more and let the whirlfloc do it's thing in primary.

GOOD NEWS: Efficiencies were awesome. OG is right on target.

BAD NEWS: As this is my first "AG" brew, I'm pretty sure the SG sample gave me my first experience at tasting "astringency." Oh well; we'll see how it tastes in the bottle. People in this thread have mentioned the thin mash and it's possible effect on pH. I'm guessing that's what got me, or: I also noticed the double-crush from the LHBS had quite a bit of dust, so I bet some husks got into the boil.


Next time: better attention to pH, adjusting pHas needed, and maybe going with a single crush and bumping up the grain bill a bit to account for the decrease in efficiency from not double crushing.

 

[Ayuir]

Hi. Way up in post #8 you mention freezing your bottles before bottling. I've never heard of this. What was the difference it made and why do you do this? Educate me please.

 

[dcrog]

I'm not BM, the original poster, but he was referring to bottling from a keg using his method of "we no need no stinking beer gun" found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678
I'm pretty sure.

 

[barhoc11]

I just want to chime in again and reaffirm that this is a great recipe for people who are just getting into craft beer. I make this each year for a party we have and it is such an approachable beer and very well done. It isn't going to make hop heads go nuts but that isn't what this recipe is about.

I even added some cascade dry hopping and it took it up a notch in my opinion, without turning BMC drinkers off.

 

[OZZ]

I just want to chime in again and reaffirm that this is a great recipe for people who are just getting into craft beer. I make this each year for a party we have and it is such an approachable beer and very well done. It isn't going to make hop heads go nuts but that isn't what this recipe is about.

I even added some cascade dry hopping and it took it up a notch in my opinion, without turning BMC drinkers off.

How much did you dry hop?? 1oz per 5?

 

[barhoc11]

How much did you dry hop??

.85 oz of cascade @ 5.5% aa for 5 - 6 days. Added a little bit of nose to the beer without becoming noticeable.

 

[chexjc]

Update on my batch! I missed some volume marks and exceeded my expected efficiency to end up with a 5.6% Centennial Blonde. Literally the best beer I've brewed by FAR. I can't believe how crisp and refreshing it is. I can't wait to bring a growler to the family party tomorrow.

 

[OZZ]

.85 oz of cascade @ 5.5% aa for 5 - 6 days. Added a little bit of nose to the beer without becoming noticeable.

Sounds good, I brewed this before straight off the recipe and everyone loved it but it was a bit to bmc for me so looking for a happy medium. This time I'll go 1.5 oz on a ten gallon batch and see how it fares!

 

[jeetaman]

Read this thread ages ago. It was my second brew after the one that came with my kit. Has there been any significant revisions/improvements/changes?

 

[actionjackson905]

Read this thread ages ago. It was my second brew after the one that came with my kit. Has there been any significant revisions/improvements/changes?

Sorry dude... there are 400+ pages of posts here about that one! Grab a pint or a few and get reading!

Cheers