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

[coolkidirish]

Brewed this 2 weeks ago, going into the keg tomorrow night to make room in the fermenter for another brew I'll be doing. Thanks for the recipe, will comment again in a week or two when sampling.

 

[501irishred]

I was thinking of brewing this beer but with more of a "holiday" flare to it. What are the thoughts of adding some orange peel, honey, and spruce tips to this recipe?

This finishes plenty dry anyway, I would probably pass on the honey for a “holiday” edition. If anything, maybe even bump up the mash temp a little bit.

(Edit) spruce or juniper sounds interesting, maybe a cinnamon stick for good measure. If you plan to keep the hop schedule intact, you might want to hold to greens for steeping at flameout.

 

[beermaestro]

Yes I was thinking of adding about 2oz of spruce at no more than 5 minutes prior to flameout. Haven’t thought about the cinnamon as I know it can be over pretty overpowering and can take a while to mellow out. I would like to have this ready to drink by mid December. You think the cinnamon would compliment well and be subdued enough without aging for a long time?

 

[aeviaanah]

Yes I was thinking of adding about 2oz of spruce at no more than 5 minutes prior to flameout. Haven’t thought about the cinnamon as I know it can be over pretty overpowering and can take a while to mellow out. I would like to have this ready to drink by mid December. You think the cinnamon would compliment well and be subdued enough without aging for a long time?

Go spruce. Leave the cinnamon for a more complex malt profile

 

[501irishred]

No cinnamon in a holiday beer? Didn’t know that was allowed!

of course it can certainly take over if too much is used. I have used it successfully (IMO) with lighter malt bills as well.

 

[BierMuncher]

Yes I was thinking of adding about 2oz of spruce at no more than 5 minutes prior to flameout. Haven’t thought about the cinnamon as I know it can be over pretty overpowering and can take a while to mellow out. I would like to have this ready to drink by mid December. You think the cinnamon would compliment well and be subdued enough without aging for a long time?

I like the idea of Spruce in this recipe. It's a good fit.

I played with a spruced-up beer recipe years ago here:

I only wish I'd added a little more spruce.

 

[user 263363]

Finishing my last bottle of this excellent beer tonight. This is definitely on my short list to brew again!

 

[restless]

Brewing this and thinking about splitting the batch and adding lactose and coffee to one. Has any one tried this? is adding lactose to get more body a terrible idea for this beer?

 

[Tboans]

This was my 3rd beer overall and first time m as king this. Wow is it good. It tastes like a beer we all grew up on. I bumped up the grain bill to account for efficiency and wanted a bit higher abv. Well I came in at about 6%. It tastes great. Should have brewed it in summer as it is an amazing pool /lawnmower beer. My Miller lite drinking brother in law is going to love this!

 

[Trabi]

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this recipe! I brewed it as my first all-grain brew (my second ever attempt at brewing) and it came out great.

 

[DigB]

Subscribed, this is my next beer!

 

[dwhite60]

Doing this tomorrow.

3 gallons
Replacing the cara-pils with white wheat malt.
Adding more Vienna and less two row.
All Willamette hops. Same addition schedule for same ibu's.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[dwhite60]

Doing this tomorrow.

3 gallons
Replacing the cara-pils with white wheat malt.
Adding more Vienna and less two row.
All Willamette hops. Same addition schedule for same ibu's.

All the Best,
D. White

Brewed this up yesterday.

~3.5 gallons
2.75# 2 row
1.0 # Vienna
12 oz. White wheat malt
4 oz. Crystal 10

Willamette, 0.5 oz @ 60, 0.25 oz. @ 30, 1.25 oz. @ flameout.

S.G. 1.042. Third consecutive BIAB with 85% plus efficiency.

Pitched S-04 slurry from last blonde ale.

Couldn't get Cara-pils so substituted the wheat.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[dwhite60]

Brewed this up yesterday.

~3.5 gallons
2.75# 2 row
1.0 # Vienna
12 oz. White wheat malt
4 oz. Crystal 10

Willamette, 0.5 oz @ 60, 0.25 oz. @ 30, 1.25 oz. @ flameout.

S.G. 1.042. Third consecutive BIAB with 85% plus efficiency.

Pitched S-04 slurry from last blonde ale.

Couldn't get Cara-pils so substituted the wheat.

All the Best,
D. White

This thing fermented out in less than 48 hours. For real. Was about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of slurry I used.

Just going to let it sit for ten days then bottle. Can't see waiting two weeks.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[dwhite60]

Brewed this up yesterday.

~3.5 gallons
2.75# 2 row
1.0 # Vienna
12 oz. White wheat malt
4 oz. Crystal 10

Willamette, 0.5 oz @ 60, 0.25 oz. @ 30, 1.25 oz. @ flameout.

S.G. 1.042. Third consecutive BIAB with 85% plus efficiency.

Pitched S-04 slurry from last blonde ale.

Couldn't get Cara-pils so substituted the wheat.

All the Best,
D. White

Bottled this today. Fermented out in about three days at 66F. Could not see leaving it another week.

It's nice at this point. FG 1.008. Extra Vienna made it a little dark but it's got good flavor.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[jpm92]

This is the second brew I ever attempt and I think it went quite good considering I scaled it down to a 5L (1,3 gal) batch.
I have some questions though:
- Mashing temperature was 64ºC-ish (~148ºF), I didn't calculate well the strike water temprature. Should it have a noticeable impact in the beer?
- Gravity after boil was 1.050, I added one more liter of water to top up to 5L in the fermenter (I cannot add it to the boil because my pot isn't big enough), so I guess it went down a bit. Again, huge impact?
- The color of the wort before fermentation is quite brown/dark, is it supposed to be like that? I had to use The Swaen malts and I'm not sure I picked the right ones for the recipe since they have their own names.

Thanks in advance, looks like a great recipe!

J.

 

[dwhite60]

148F on the mash is where you wanted to be. Looks like you got there.

Extra liter of water should have you about 1.040, where you need to be too.

It will lighten with fermentation and will be lighter is a glass. Got a pic of how dark it is? Swaen makes a variety of different malts. What type exactly did you use?

All the Best,
D. White

 

[jpm92]

148F on the mash is where you wanted to be. Looks like you got there.

Extra liter of water should have you about 1.040, where you need to be too.

It will lighten with fermentation and will be lighter is a glass. Got a pic of how dark it is? Swaen makes a variety of different malts. What type exactly did you use?

All the Best,
D. White

Well, I used the substitution chart (attached) I found online as a guide to get the malt, and just now I noticed I screwed up.

I used:
- Swaen©Ale as Pale Malt (6-9 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Not bad
- GoldSwaen©Light as Carapils (10-20 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Almost ten times darker!
- GoldSwaen©Munich Dark as Crystal Malt (130-160 EBC vs 10 SRM) -- > Ten times darker!
- Swaen©Vienna as Vienna Malt (9-12 EBC vs 3.5 SRM) -- > Good enough I guess.

Let's see what kind of beer I get, I hope taste is not ruined.

Is there any difference between the malts apart from the color? (I guess not everything is about color, that's why I didn't choose only based on that).

I'm gonna pitch later today (I chilled the wort overnight), so I'll edit the post with a picture.

Thanks again!

J.

 

[dwhite60]

Well, I used the substitution chart (attached) I found online as a guide to get the malt, and just now I noticed I screwed up.

I used:
- Swaen©Ale as Pale Malt (6-9 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Not bad
- GoldSwaen©Light as Carapils (10-20 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Almost ten times darker!
- GoldSwaen©Munich Dark as Crystal Malt (130-160 EBC vs 10 SRM) -- > Ten times darker!
- Swaen©Vienna as Vienna Malt (9-12 EBC vs 3.5 SRM) -- > Good enough I guess.

Let's see what kind of beer I get, I hope taste is not ruined.

Is there any difference between the malts apart from the color? (I guess not everything is about color, that's why I didn't choose only based on that).

I'm gonna pitch later today (I chilled the wort overnight), so I'll edit the post with a picture.

Thanks again!

J.

At this point it will be what it is. Might be a happy accident.

Keep us posted.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

I am new to brewing, and I selected this as my first brew. The Mrs likes lighter crisp blondes, so I thought this would be a good one for her to critique. Amazing the powers of smell and taste that my wife possesses, but I fall short.

Primary fermentation was about a week of CO2 off gassing. I closed the SsB Unitank blow off valve at about day five to hold in some of the natural carbonation. It has been in the unitank for about four weeks now.

After three weeks I crash cooled (lowest I could get with SsB 1/5 hp glycol chiller was about 36.6°F) for several days, and then started force carbonating through the carb stone. Following the SsB unitank instructions, and a carbonation chart, I brought regulator pressure up to 20 psi. The unitank pressure came up pretty quickly to nearly 15 psi (the PRV limit), so I brought regulator back down to 11 PSI. Let it sit overnight.

The next day, we tasted it. Not all that foamy, but the wife said there was a metallic aroma and aftertaste. I sensed something there, but I could not put my finger on it.

Then came a lot of reading/research on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet about metallic aftertastes which led me to the possibility of carbonic acid. I bled off the unitank pressure to 5 psi, waited a day, and we tried it again. Same taste. Then I poured some and placed it in the fridge to de-gas. Odor gone, and aftertaste at least 95% gone if not completely.

Very excited that my first brew turned out “Ok”, and very possibly “Good”. I’m not going to make a claim of “Great”, but my initial goal was better than just “Ok”, and hoping for “Good”. So now I can say that I have actually brewed beer.

Cheers!
Greg

 

[dwhite60]

View attachment 666490 I am new to brewing, and I selected this as my first brew. The Mrs likes lighter crisp blondes, so I thought this would be a good one for her to critique. Amazing the powers of smell and taste that my wife possesses, but I fall short.

Primary fermentation was about a week of CO2 off gassing. I closed the SsB Unitank blow off valve at about day five to hold in some of the natural carbonation. It has been in the unitank for about four weeks now.

After three weeks I crash cooled (lowest I could get with SsB 1/5 hp glycol chiller was about 36.6°F) for several days, and then started force carbonating through the carb stone. Following the SsB unitank instructions, and a carbonation chart, I brought regulator pressure up to 20 psi. The unitank pressure came up pretty quickly to nearly 15 psi (the PRV limit), so I brought regulator back down to 11 PSI. Let it sit overnight.

The next day, we tasted it. Not all that foamy, but the wife said there was a metallic aroma and aftertaste. I sensed something there, but I could not put my finger on it.

Then came a lot of reading/research on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet about metallic aftertastes which led me to the possibility of carbonic acid. I bled off the unitank pressure to 5 psi, waited a day, and we tried it again. Same taste. Then I poured some and placed it in the fridge to de-gas. Odor gone, and aftertaste at least 95% gone if not completely.

Very excited that my first brew turned out “Ok”, and very possibly “Good”. I’m not going to make a claim of “Great”, but my initial goal was better than just “Ok”, and hoping for “Good”. So now I can say that I have actually brewed beer.

Cheers!
Greg

Congratulations. I'm sure you've already got something new in the fermenter. No? Why not?

What you have will go faster than you think.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

Congratulations. I'm sure you've already got something new in the fermenter. No? Why not?

Yes I do. Irish Red Ale, also from this forum.

Cheers!
Greg

 

[iancl]

If the centennial was your first batch in your new equipment, may have been some leftovers from converting raw metal into something great. Let us know how the Red turns out. Meantimes, I am going to make another batch of CB tomorrow. The original recipe works! Enjoy brewing, and the fruits of your labor, and as dwhite said, keep your fermenter going, fresh delicious beer does not last long. Cheers!

 

[dwhite60]

Do keep us posted. Don't hesitate to ask questions! We're happy to help.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[DigB]

Done, carbed and about a week and a half in the keg, I gotta say, it turned out really nice. I'd still like another opinion on it but it tastes really good. This was also my first beer using a fermentation chamber (small bar fridge with an inkbird temp controller) I'd like to think this made a big difference as well. Thanks again for posting this recipe. I'll be sure to brew it again!

Subscribed, this is my next beer!

 

[jpm92]

At this point it will be what it is. Might be a happy accident.

Keep us posted.

All the Best,
D. White

Well, I finished it a couple weeks ago and it indeed went "different" than expected. It has definitely a bigger Stout flavour than anything else. BMC drinkers didn't like it much, and I can't blame them.

Where I live, Covid-19 is screwing things up a bit, so I thought maybe it's a perfect time to brew beer!
Could you guys help me figure out what malts should I use from the The Swaen to get a beer close to this recipe?
Their catalogue can be found here

Apparently I will have plenty of time to brew...

 

[Saunassa]

Well, I finished it a couple weeks ago and it indeed went "different" than expected. It has definitely a bigger Stout flavour than anything else. BMC drinkers didn't like it much, and I can't blame them.

Where I live, Covid-19 is screwing things up a bit, so I thought maybe it's a perfect time to brew beer!
Could you guys help me figure out what malts should I use from the The Swaen to get a beer close to this recipe?
Their catalogue can be found here

Apparently I will have plenty of time to brew...

After reading through your substitutions and notes on color differences something to note is that EBC and Lovibond or srm numbers are not the same. For example A 50 ebc crystal malt is close to a 20L crystal.

 

[Saunassa]

I am brewing up a bunch of beer now figuring if I were to get quarantined at least I would have liquid bread

 

[jpm92]

After reading through your substitutions and notes on color differences something to note is that EBC and Lovibond or srm numbers are not the same. For example A 50 ebc crystal malt is close to a 20L crystal.

So is it only the colour of the malt what matters? Should I just match EBC's of the grain bill with whatever malt I find on The Swaen?

Anyway Spain has been just shutted down, so I have to stick with the malts I mentioned earlier...

- Swaen©Ale as Pale Malt (6-9 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Not bad
- GoldSwaen©Light as Carapils (10-20 EBC vs 2.0 SRM) -- > Almost ten times darker!
- GoldSwaen©Munich Dark as Crystal Malt (130-160 EBC vs 10 SRM) -- > Ten times darker!
- Swaen©Vienna as Vienna Malt (9-12 EBC vs 3.5 SRM) -- > Good enough I guess.
​

Can I get something with these malts?

Thanks a lot!

J.

 

[dcn]

I’m taking my third (and fourth!) crack at this one after buying ingredients today. I wanted to get above 4.2% (my last batch) so I added what turns out to be too much grain to the bill. Beersmith says 6.5% but we will see. Maybe I’ll have an imperial blonde at the end of this hehe