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

[Immocles]

Just pulled my first sample after I finished cleaning up after a brew day. Given the reputation, I was super excited about taking a sip and was definitely not disappointed. Very enjoyable! Will brew again.

 

[RedlegEd]

Hello there. Where is the last version of this recipe? Or which recipe are you using?

Regards from Argentina

Hi Chituma!
The version of the recipe you want is the one originally posted by Biermuncher at post #1 here. The rest of the 144 pages and more than 5730 replies are all about how wonderful the recipe is, or how it has been tweaked and modified. I have brewed this at least six times, and I can tell you the very best approach is to brew it first in the original recipe. Once you brew it, and know what it is supposed to taste like, then start playing with the recipe to suit your needs, or availability of ingredients. To be honest, two of my versions were done because I didn't have all the exact ingredients, so I made reasonable substitutions (for example, I used US-05 instead of Nottingham in batch.) Each change you make in the recipe will have an impact in the flavor of the beer. Sometimes it is subtle and good, other times not. Remember, this was designed as an extremely quaffable beer that would also appeal to BMC drinkers. "BMC," here in the USA, are the initials of very light, almost flavorless commercial lagers (Budweiser, Miller, Coors.) Many times people who only drink these beers may be put off by strong craft, artisanal, or home brewed beers, so I believe Biermuncher developed this recipe as a gateway for these folks to home brewed beer. Sorry for the long winded response, but I thought you deserved more than just to go to post #1. Stay well!
Ed

 

[Jeff...]

Racked into secondary around 1.006. Danstar Nottingham, nothing short of amazing. From 1.045 to 1.006 in 6 days.

And it multiplied like there's no tomorrow. 11 dry grams to approx two pints. Jar on left was harvested from the top during krauesen , jar on right from the bottom after primary completed.

 

[walker111]

Brewed 10 g batch yesterday. One with us-05 and one with a 1007 German ale. Got 1.048 on OG. I added a one pound packet of golden candi syrup for first time.
The 1007 is working away and the 05 not much yet as per usual. In spare bedroom with a heater at 18.
I will add 1 oz of citra ( I do this to this Beer) in about 5-7 days and keg 5-7 afterwards.
Love this beer!!!!

 

[Jeff...]

Brewed 10 g batch yesterday. One with us-05 and one with a 1007 German ale. Got 1.048 on OG. I added a one pound packet of golden candi syrup for first time.
The 1007 is working away and the 05 not much yet as per usual. In spare bedroom with a heater at 18.
I will add 1 oz of citra ( I do this to this Beer) in about 5-7 days and keg 5-7 afterwards.
Love this beer!!!!

So you dry hop Citra for arroma?

 

[Chituma]

Hi Chituma!
The version of the recipe you want is the one originally posted by Biermuncher at post #1 here. The rest of the 144 pages and more than 5730 replies are all about how wonderful the recipe is, or how it has been tweaked and modified. I have brewed this at least six times, and I can tell you the very best approach is to brew it first in the original recipe. Once you brew it, and know what it is supposed to taste like, then start playing with the recipe to suit your needs, or availability of ingredients. To be honest, two of my versions were done because I didn't have all the exact ingredients, so I made reasonable substitutions (for example, I used US-05 instead of Nottingham in batch.) Each change you make in the recipe will have an impact in the flavor of the beer. Sometimes it is subtle and good, other times not. Remember, this was designed as an extremely quaffable beer that would also appeal to BMC drinkers. "BMC," here in the USA, are the initials of very light, almost flavorless commercial lagers (Budweiser, Miller, Coors.) Many times people who only drink these beers may be put off by strong craft, artisanal, or home brewed beers, so I believe Biermuncher developed this recipe as a gateway for these folks to home brewed beer. Sorry for the long winded response, but I thought you deserved more than just to go to post #1. Stay well!
Ed

Thanks a lot, I´ve brewed it with pale ale from Castle Malting, Cara-pils, Equinox and Mosaic... US05. Now its fermenting at 20 Celsius. Lets see how it taste in 2 weeks. Thanks again

 

[Ollie8000]

I've brewed two recent batches of this, one a partial mash which is just about ready to drink and an all-grain one that is working through the process and tasting good as it goes. I think it's going to be a hit this summer.

I'm looking to make a third (and maybe fourth) batch, but want to mix it up a little, just for some variety. I've dipped in and out of the thread and see some variants, but there's far too much to take in, so I thought I'd ask. What are people's favourite tweaks?

I've been enjoying british-style beers recently; would using EKG as the hop work here, or would it simply be not as good as either the original recipe or more typical british ales? What other hop combinations have worked here? Any grain substitutions that make for similar but slightly different beer?

 

[Localhopper]

Brewed this a month ago for the second time and have had it in the keg for the last couple weeks. It’s really hit it’s stride now.
I switched up the 2 row for Pilsner and increased the ibus slightly.

 

[walker111]

Great looking summer beer right there!!!!

 

[walker111]

So you dry hop Citra for arroma?

Yes. I brewed this beer 8 times now and double batches as I mentioned it is the beer most of my crew enjoy.
The second time I brewed I added the citra and it does come through a bit and enjoy the effect.

 

[Jeff...]

Just kegged this Blonde Ale after a week of secondary. Nice clarity and color, good flavor and arroma. Easy drinker for sure. I'm going to cold crash, then carbonate and serve. I think it'll be a good beer as per the original BM recipe post #1.

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

Hello, I am writing to thank BierMuncher first and then all the thread. I have made this recipe after having read almost all the thread and I must say that it is fantastic, the result was better by far than expected. I made some last minute modifications since when I weighed the grain I had only one pound of caramel 10 for an 11.5 gallon batch so at the time I decided to add half a pound of Vienna malt to somehow make up for it, I had no other alternative. The other change I made was to use Argentine Cascade hops since the US cascade is very expensive here. Finish cooking with an original gravity of 1041 and a final gravity of 1012. bring primary fermentation to about 62 ° temperature (ferment in the lower part of temperature and the fruity and citric esters combined with the hops are really delicate and very tasty) and Nottingham was not as aggressive as most describe it. and take the secondary. To my amazement when I took gravity I filled a 200cc cylinder, I drank the beer right there and I couldn't finish it, obviously the non-carbonated beer and it was at room temperature. This is definitely the best beer I made (although I'm a novice) and it will be a head recipe. I can't wait for it to come out of secondary fermentation, carbonate and enjoy it finished.
Cheers and thanks everyone again.
(Sorry if there are any spelling or writing errors but this is a comment translated on the internet from Spanish)

 

[KookyBrewsky]

As someone said on the first page of this thread, I think I screwed up. I tried doing BIAB with it, the beer is super hazy and has a strange smell to it. It's been in primary for 11 days. The FG is also high at around 1.014-1.016.

Should I give it a swirl and see if the yeast finish up then cold crash it? I usually keep my beers in primary for 3 weeks.

My beer is far more yellow than everyone else's, a very pale yellow whereas most people's on here seems to have a nice amber color.

 

[Jeff...]

As someone said on the first page of this thread, I think I screwed up. I tried doing BIAB with it, the beer is super hazy and has a strange smell to it. It's been in primary for 11 days. The FG is also high at around 1.014-1.016.

Should I give it a swirl and see if the yeast finish up then cold crash it? I usually keep my beers in primary for 3 weeks.

My beer is far more yellow than everyone else's, a very pale yellow whereas most people's on here seems to have a nice amber color.

If you look at one of my previous posts. While mine was fermenting it smelled.like straight up buttered grapefruit. But that smell went away during secondary fermention. It tasted good when I racked into keg, that I have in lager, until I get an open facet in my keezer. With "the virus" faucets don't open up that frequently any more.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

If you look at one of my previous posts. While mine was fermenting it smelled.like straight up buttered grapefruit. But that smell went away during secondary fermention. I tasted good when I racked into keg, that I have in lager. Until I get an open facet in my keezer. With "the virus" faucets don't open up that frequently any more.

I have no way to describe my smell. I’d say it smells less fruity as it does some sort of “skunk“ or maybe even the cat pee aroma. Those are the two closest aroma profiles I’ve found when Googling but neither of those is precise either. It just smells odd.

I’m about to transfer it to secondary now. Color photo follows :

 

[Jeff...]

I have no way to describe my smell. I’d say it smells less fruity as it does some sort of “skunk“ or maybe even the cat pee aroma. Those are the two closest aroma profiles I’ve found when Googling but neither of those is precise either. It just smells odd.

I’m about to transfer it to secondary now. Color photo follows :

View attachment 678118

Skunk or cat pee IDK... I'll let someone more experienced reply to that one...

I did brew a pilsner with Frosted Lime Hemp Flower instead of arroma hops. And it had a skunk arroma that subsided, but it was supposed to.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

The color looks amber inside the fermenting bucket, maybe I scooped up way too much yeast with my wine thief I used to test the FG.

about to transfer to secondary

 

[Jeff...]

The color looks amber inside the fermenting bucket, maybe I scooped up way too much yeast with my wine thief I used to test the FG.

about to transfer to secondary

Color is not far off from what mine turned out after primary.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...l-grain-5-10-gall.42841/page-144#post-8832851

 

[RedlegEd]

The color looks amber inside the fermenting bucket, maybe I scooped up way too much yeast with my wine thief I used to test the FG.

about to transfer to secondary

Hi,
If that's what the beer looks like after 11 days, I think something isn't quite right. Did you brew the recipe on page 1 as listed, or did you make any substitutions? Also, this is a very forgiving beer, I've never used a secondary and just cold crashed after about 8-10 days. It was always pretty clear to start with, and then drops to a very brite beer once crashed. Skunkiness is usually the effect of sun struck beer, and I've never had Notty or US-05 give off anything like that odor. What yeast did you use and what temp did you ferment it?
Ed

 

[KookyBrewsky]

.!

Hi,
If that's what the beer looks like after 11 days, I think something isn't quite right. Did you brew the recipe on page 1 as listed, or did you make any substitutions? Also, this is a very forgiving beer, I've never used a secondary and just cold crashed after about 8-10 days. It was always pretty clear to start with, and then drops to a very brite beer once crashed. Skunkiness is usually the effect of sun struck beer, and I've never had Notty or US-05 give off anything like that odor. What yeast did you use and what temp did you ferment it?
Ed

I agree, I'm pretty disappointed in myself for potentially messing up such a well documented and forgiving beer...

I did a BIAB 100% identical to the 5.5 gallon batch. Every last thing listed was the same. The only difference was the first few minutes after putting the grain bag in, the strike temp didn't lower much after I did which had the mash temp a bit too high before I put some cold water in. I tried a mash out at the end based on tutorials I read online and then people on here advised against it afterwards, it's hard to find 100% accurate information all the time when doing these things.

Other than that, identical, on point OG, yeast was rehydrated after sanitizing what needed to be. Then I left it alone for these 11 days surrounded in 66-68F wet towels halfway submerged in a bucket of ice water. The fermentation temp was probably around 70F however I just kept two towels constantly at 68F-70F around the fermentation bucket the whole time like I have done with every beer so far.

I double milled my grain before putting it in the BIAB, and the second pass was very fine. Beer was fermented inside my bedroom surrounded in towels, no way any light got to it.

I just transferred to secondary, the smell was infinitely better than the sample I had for some reason, the color was about the same but more amber depending on how much horizontal distance of beer there was.

Regardless, I didn't see anyone else with a hazy beer

 

[RedlegEd]

Hi,
I can imagine your disappointment. If you said it wasn't skunky when you racked into secondary, I would suspect you might have picked up something either during the process, or maybe in the secondary vessel itself. Mashing a little high usually results in a little sweeter/maltier beer that doesn't quite ferment all the way down to the expected attenuation level, so that may account for your FG being a little high. I don't think that would contribute to the haze. Did you use Whirlfoc or Irish moss after you boiled? Do you have somewhere you can cold crash it and maybe fine it with gelatin? That's about all you can do for the haze, but if you have an infection that caused the off odor, you'll have a hard time getting rid of it. You can try to let the odor age out, but be careful if you bottle it. You could get gushers or even bottle bombs. I wish I had good things to say to make you feel better, but this one might be a learning experience.
Ed

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

.!


I agree, I'm pretty disappointed in myself for potentially messing up such a well documented and forgiving beer...

I did a BIAB 100% identical to the 5.5 gallon batch. Every last thing listed was the same. The only difference was the first few minutes after putting the grain bag in, the strike temp didn't lower much after I did which had the mash temp a bit too high before I put some cold water in. I tried a mash out at the end based on tutorials I read online and then people on here advised against it afterwards, it's hard to find 100% accurate information all the time when doing these things.

Other than that, identical, on point OG, yeast was rehydrated after sanitizing what needed to be. Then I left it alone for these 11 days surrounded in 66-68F wet towels halfway submerged in a bucket of ice water. The fermentation temp was probably around 70F however I just kept two towels constantly at 68F-70F around the fermentation bucket the whole time like I have done with every beer so far.

I double milled my grain before putting it in the BIAB, and the second pass was very fine. Beer was fermented inside my bedroom surrounded in towels, no way any light got to it.

I just transferred to secondary, the smell was infinitely better than the sample I had for some reason, the color was about the same but more amber depending on how much horizontal distance of beer there was.

Regardless, I didn't see anyone else with a hazy beer
[/CITAR]

With the fuzzy beer I would throw gelatin at it to see if I can rinse a little. I have heard from people who have had very good results, but have not used it until now. It is likely that with the high temperature in the mash you have extracted some more tannin from the malt if you ground it too much.
Look at this article maybe it will help you:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/gelatin-fining-cold-versus-warm.679125/

 

[KookyBrewsky]

It's sitting in secondary right now. Will see how it changes over time but I highly doubt it will clear up. I'm going to taste a sample of it again in a few days and hope that the little sample I got was just filled with skunky dead yeast.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

The taste was nothing like the nasty sample I referenced. The beer is still very hazy, however I'll probably just go ahead and leave it in secondary for a little under two more weeks and bottle it at the 4 week mark. Give it a chance to finish any fermentation that's left since my FG was a bit too high, and hopefully clear up in the process.

I read someone else's account of having a hazy beer that cleared up like a switch was flicked on at a certain week. Hoping I might have something similar!

 

[rtstrider]

Well here ya go! I hit this with gelatin and it’s been a week and a half in the bottle! Giving it a few more weeks before I call it done and phenol issues .fixed. So far SO good though

 

[Jeff...]

I bottle primed a 1/2 gallon grower with .5 ounces of table sugar, for my daughter in law. She followed directions and left it on the counter for 14 days. The 15 day (today) she called me to come over for a taste test.

It's a good beer no doubt, and most definitely has a citrus flavor, I would called it mild grapefruit and maybe a tad of tangerine flavor. My daughter in law said it's like drinking liquid sunshine. So that's a complement to you @BierMuncher She's not a big drinker and very picky about what beers she will drink.

Her bottle primed pour was slightly cloudy, she could have chilled it longer. But she was excited to open the growler after about 6 hours in the refrigerator. I suspect my cold crashed corny is clear though. I've had it in 35F lager a few weeks waiting on a open tap.

 

[kmmuellr]

Love this beer. I've brewed it a few times now, and the last was a 10 gal batch, grain to glass in 1 week!!! It was a bit green, but easily drinkable, and improved by the day. Awesome recipe!

K

 

[Nick Z]

I got around to brewing this. Fantastic stuff. I usually like porters/stouts and IPAs. But this was just an all around really good beer. Good flavor, good head, easy to do. Just enough hop flavor to make it interesting but not so much as to turn it into a pale ale.

I bought centennial and cascade in whole cone form just to have on hand to make this beer. Second go round in bottles now. Third going to be made this week. This is one I am going to try and brew regularly. Probably with different yeasts just to see what I get.

 

[rtstrider]

It's been a tad over 3 weeks in the bottles. I'll say I went into this brew expecting it to be a blonde. It's not. It's more of a session Pale/IPA. The ibus are a tad too high for a blonde IMO. While it's a good brew I think classifying this as a blonde, without dropping the ibus, is a tad misleading. With that said I'm definitely going to be rebrewing this in a few brews. This is the first time using Nottingham and I really like how that yeast pairs with this brew. I think Nottingham makes a better Blonde ale yeast than Chico. Anywho this is an enjoyable beer for sure and has got me on the quest of designing a nice blonde ale, that's closer to style, with Nottingham (something that's much less busy on the grain bill and noble hops).

Edit: I used the 5 gallon recipe which comes out to right over 25 IBU. Will drop the IBU's down to 20 next go. The issue with the current 5 gallon recipe is .25 oz across the board leads to 25 ibu. However, if you change that to .20 oz across the board then you'll get right at 20 ibu. Going to make that change for the next brew and will let everyone know my thoughts.

 

[RedlegEd]

Hi rstrider,
While I respect that you think the IBUs may be a little high, this beer, even at 25 IBUs is definitely not a Pale Ale, and nowhere near an IPA. Depending on your tastes, if it's a little too hoppy, you may want to consider changing the hop schedule so you can adjust the bitterness, flavor, and/or aroma additions. For me, I substitute the final Centennial addition with Ahtanum, which is a little milder. Just for reference, the BJCP IBU scale for a Blonde Ale is 11-28; Pale Ale is 30-50; and an IPA is 40-70. So in terms of style, Centennial Blonde is right where it's supposed to be. The wonderful thing about brewing your own, is you can tweak to suit your tastes, and I think backing off to 0.20 oz is one way. The other might be adjusting the schedule to accentuate the bittering, flavor, or aroma as desired. Cheers!
Ed