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

[SnatchAdams]

Just finished up my first batch of this and prepping for my second. Tasted great but came out REALLY cloudy. It may have been my own doings as It spend about a week longer in primary than the original recipe called for and I did some dry hoping.

Those things in mind, any advice for getting a little more clarity the second time around?

 

[andrewmaixner]

Just finished up my first batch of this and prepping for my second. Tasted great but came out REALLY cloudy. It may have been my own doings as It spend about a week longer in primary than the original recipe called for and I did some dry hoping.

Those things in mind, any advice for getting a little more clarity the second time around?

Additional time in primary will only help it clear. It's the dry hopping that makes it cloudy. Don't worry, drink it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+clear+home+brew+post-fermentation

 

[shadows69]

Gelatin will clear it up if you leave it sit for a couple of days.

 

[CGVT]

Just finished up my first batch of this and prepping for my second. Tasted great but came out REALLY cloudy. It may have been my own doings as It spend about a week longer in primary than the original recipe called for and I did some dry hoping.

Those things in mind, any advice for getting a little more clarity the second time around?

I've found that without any fining agents it takes a while to clear up. When I make this, I keg it at about a week and start drinking it. It takes about a week in the keg to clear

 

[punkrawkgeek]

Have 3g of this, which has been in primary for about 2 weeks. Smells so good! Gonna rack it on top of 3lbs of blueberries tomorrow. If all turns out well, gonna make 10g of it for a July wedding. Wish me luck everyone!

 

[trapae]

Anyone brewed this beer using galaxy hops?

 

[sandycat]

I've done this twice and I love it. Thank you for the recipe.

How could I make this into a Red Ale? What could I change in the recipe to get that red/amber color without changing the flavor too much?

 

[Jwin]

I've done this twice and I love it. Thank you for the recipe.

How could I make this into a Red Ale? What could I change in the recipe to get that red/amber color without changing the flavor too much?

Cap the mash with carafa special (dehusked)
Or add carafa directly​to the kettle at the end of the boil.

 

[slym2none]

I've done this twice and I love it. Thank you for the recipe.

How could I make this into a Red Ale? What could I change in the recipe to get that red/amber color without changing the flavor too much?

Use Red X malt instead of regular 2-row.

 

[teddybeer]

Brewed my fourth batch of this today. Have had problems with "burnt rubber" in my last five brews, but I think I have found the cause. So I had to brew a good and clean beer to confirm. Cant wait.

 

[gnor]

@teddybeer, do you brew with tap water?

 

[cederbusch]

In hope of some good tips during the day:

I´m going tho brew this again this evening and hesitate some about my grist.

Last time I brewed it with all Maris Otter, mashed at 153 degrees. And it turned out great, maybe a bit sweat and to full bodied for upcoming sommer. This time I intend to mash at 143 to make it a bit dryer.

My hesitation is part about the additives, and part whether I should add Pilsner malt.

In stock I have Pilsner malt (Viking, Finland), Amber malt (Crisp, UK) and Caramel malt 20L (Briess, US), Cara Pils malt (Briess, US).

How would you do?
1) Use Pilsner malt to lighten body and color?
2) Use the additives with all MO?
3 If so, which additives?

 

[MrBlackrock]

Im at 16 days in fermenter. Stable gravity...feel like i should bottle this. Input?

 

[whovous]

I want to brew on a Saturday and bottle eight days later, on a Sunday.
1) Is this enough time to finish carbing? I have temp control in my fermentation chamber.
2) Is eight days enough time if I also want to add gelatin and cold crash?

Also, what water profile do people use on this? I start with RO.

 

[teddybeer]

@teddybeer, do you brew with tap water?

Yes I do. Never had a problem with that. We have some of the cleanest tap water in the world here, so I don`t think that is the problem.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Guys, i just kegged this beer, the sample at day 5 was very good but in the end it turned out bad, very bad...

Can you please try to help me understand what can cause this to a beer? Strange color, its sour and smells a little like vinegar. I suspect that the dryhop caused an infection since the beer is only 4%?

EDIT: I nailed the numbers, process was flawless, i use 100% distilled water and build it in brun' water, mash Ph according to brun water was 5.4.

Thanks for the help

 

[andrewmaixner]

Can you tell the difference between acetic and lactic acids?
Vinegar is acetic acid, which can only be produced in the presence of oxygen.
Lactic acid could indicate a highly hop-tolerant lacto strain (very rare), but you didn't say how long it sat between "good" and "bad". Can you write out literally every step and handling method?

 

[luizffgarcia]

Can you tell the difference between acetic and lactic acids?
Vinegar is acetic acid, which can only be produced in the presence of oxygen.
Lactic acid could indicate a highly hop-tolerant lacto strain (very rare), but you didn't say how long it sat between "good" and "bad". Can you write out literally every step and handling method?

I cannot tell the difference between those acids...

Well it was good around day 6 and i noticed it was bad when i kegged on day 14. The color was always funny thou, i was surprised it tasted good looking like that.

Steps were, transferred to sanitized primary and left untouched until day 6 which was the day i opened it to take a sample. Then in day 9 i opened it again to dryhop, i put some hops in a glass to weight them and then poured from the glass.

The weirdest thing was 3 days after dryhopping there were 1cm high bubbles floating on the surfice of the beer, that is when i first though of infection...

 

[andrewmaixner]

I cannot tell the difference between those acids...
Well it was good around day 6 and i noticed it was bad when i kegged on day 14. The color was always funny thou, i was surprised it tasted good looking like that.
Steps were, transferred to sanitized primary and left untouched until day 6 which was the day i opened it to take a sample. Then in day 9 i opened it again to dryhop, i put some hops in a glass to weight them and then poured from the glass.
The weirdest thing was 3 days after dryhopping there were 1cm high bubbles floating on the surfice of the beer, that is when i first though of infection...

When you say "1cm high bubbles" do you mean a pellicle? ( see photos here: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Pellicle )

As for acid taste, Lactic (desired in many sour beer styles) would be reminiscent of a non-citrusy lemonade, while Acetic (only the slightest hit is allowed in any style, before it tastes bad) would be like vinegar, and not enjoyable to drink.

In any case, some general guidelines for someone who isn't getting into sour beer making are:
- if it tastes too acetic to enjoy, dump it (http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Acetic_Acid)
- If it tastes "odd," you can choose to age it a few months and see what happens, or dump it and re-brew. Depends on your equipment and time constraints.

 

[arnobg]

Anyone ever brewed this beer and used watermelon in it?

Brewed it for the second time today except this time I'll add fresh home made watermelon extract at kegging. Used the extract method before with gose's with excellent results.

 

[Batteman87]

Guys, i just kegged this beer, the sample at day 5 was very good but in the end it turned out bad, very bad...

Can you please try to help me understand what can cause this to a beer? Strange color, its sour and smells a little like vinegar. I suspect that the dryhop caused an infection since the beer is only 4%?

EDIT: I nailed the numbers, process was flawless, i use 100% distilled water and build it in brun' water, mash Ph according to brun water was 5.4.

Thanks for the help

Hate to see and hear that. Seems to be some sort of contamination. Certainly with it being a lighter brew, the off flavors will be more prevalent.
Things I start to this about are:
Proper sanitation eg. sampling post fermentation, etc? How long was you mash? Was the right amount of healthy yeast added to minimize lag time before they start working, temp of fermentation?

 

[MrBlackrock]

So i just couldnt resist and popped one open before work today with my lunch.

FG is lower than expected so % is a bit higher (around 5%)

This is some great beer.

 

[SGTSparty]

Kegging my first batch of this tonight. Fined w/ Gelatin night before last, FG was dead on. Tasted the hydro sample and I have 2 questions. 1) The flavor was super light, its suppose to be right? 2)related, has anyone ever done additional keg hoping to put the flavor profile? I wanted something crushable as a lawn mower beer but my new mill DRASTICALLY increased my efficiency (OG at 1.052 vs 1.04) and so i'm sitting a big high ABV wise for that.

 

[slym2none]

I found it to be somewhat of a malt-bomb for such a light beer. Then again, I used more Vienna than the recipe called for, so...

 

[BowAholic]

I made mine according to the original recipe... sort of... I did bitter with Willamette because I have a tone of it that I need to use... I did FWH actually. I also just dry hopped with 1/4 oz. of Cascade and 1/4 oz. of centennial... I'm a citrus "who-er"...

 

[JLeuck64]

Kegging my first batch of this tonight. Fined w/ Gelatin night before last, FG was dead on. Tasted the hydro sample and I have 2 questions. 1) The flavor was super light, its suppose to be right? 2)related, has anyone ever done additional keg hoping to put the flavor profile? I wanted something crushable as a lawn mower beer but my new mill DRASTICALLY increased my efficiency (OG at 1.052 vs 1.04) and so i'm sitting a big high ABV wise for that.

Yep the taste is unremarkable at bottling or kegging. It needs to condition for some time before it starts to shine. I find myself adjusting hop additions on recipes all the time for just the reason you mentioned. OG ends up being a wee bit higher than published. Oh well, play with it until you get it dialed in to your taste on your equipment. ( : I luv the taste of this recipe when I brew it and it is a 5.5% ABV beer on my equipment these days LOL. Only took me about 3 tries to get it figured out. ( ;

 

[slym2none]

I made this recipe and tasted it young, and tasted it at 5 weeks in the bottle. I found no discernible difference between the two.

 

[GOOCHY]

I have this one fermenting in the carboy now and it smells *good*. My LHBS didn't have Notty so I went with US-05. We'll see how it goes.

 

[burninator]

Anybody turned this around (grain to bottle) in 6 or 7 days? I'm thinking about brewing tomorrow with US-05 and bottling next weekend. Maybe 3 days in the swamp cooler and 3 or 4 days at garage or room temps?

 

[CGVT]

I've gone grain to glass (keg) in 10. It finishes fast-about 3 days.