Feedback on golden ale/pseudo pilsner(?) recipe.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 2, 2021
Messages
7
Reaction score
2
Hello homebrewers. I'm kinda new to this hobby and was hoping to get some feedback on my recipe from more experienced homebrewers.

Im trying to make a golden/blonde ale; my objective is to make something refreshing that can be drinked easily (its very hot year round here is SA). I'll be using a BIAB system, pilsner malt (subject to change), yeast us-05 and saaz hops (i only have saaz rn and can't go to my local HBS because there are none here, i have to import EVERYTHING :mad:).

For 5 gallons:

11 lbs Chateau Pilsen 2R, 6 EBC
Saaz 2.8% a.a
Target IBU: 28
Target og: 1.050
Expected fg: 1.010
Expected ABV: 5.8%

60 minute mash @ 152 F
90 minute boil
1.75 oz. Saaz @ 60 minutes
0.5 oz. Saaz @ 40 minutes
0.5 oz. Saaz @ 15 minutes

-Cool until 70 F, pitch us-05 (11.5 grams), aereate wort and ferment for 2 weeks at 65 F.
-48 hour before bottling day disolve 5 grams of gelatin in 1 cup of water and add to beer.
-Boil 125 grams of table sugar in 500 mL of water for 10 minutes, add to bottling bucket, rack beer to bottling bucket and bottle.
-Bottle condition for 2 weeks minimum at room temperature (aprox. 82F).

Thanks for the review homebrewers!
 
Pilsner malt and saaz? Can't really go wrong, I'd drink it. I'm not a huge fan of us05, but it will get the job done. If you're looking for more of a lager-like ale yeast, I'd suggest Nottingham (if you have access to it) next time around. It's a pretty boring, but clean tasting yeast.

I can't comment on the gelatin steps. I've never used it.
 
I made almost the same recipe in June & loved it! To add a little body and head retention, I also added .5 lbs of carapils, flaked oats (just instant oatmeal), & honey.

I'm not sure gelatin works as well if you don't cold crash.

But I think the recipe/plan looks good.
 
Looks pretty good to me.

If you want to skip the gelatin and get some pretty good clarity w/o as much trouble, ad a whirlflock tab in the last 10 min of boil.
 
US-05 isn't even all that clean of a yeast. I like S-04 and S-189. Even though S-189 is a lager yeast, it comes out tasty and clean even when used to ferment at room temperature. You can also get good results from W-34/70.
 
Update:

I just brewed this. Ran through some problems: I got 1.036 og (what’s efficiency lol) and pitched WAY too hot. Fermentation chamber malfunctioned when is pitched and while I fixed it, wort’s temperature raised up to 95F. It’s been almost 3 hours and temperature is still coming down to target fermentation temperature (target: 65F, current 70.9F) very slow (0.1F every 15 minutes or so) I’m worried it will produce some off flavors. I tasted a small sample and it looks like it will be a good beer.

I’ll update this post again in 2 weeks when I bottle.
 
If you have access to it this seems like a good situation for a kveik yeast - ditch the temperature control completely. I believe one or more might even be commercially available in dry format. I’ve never used any of the strains personally but a lot of people rave about them. Lutra in particular is noted for being super fast, super clean and “lager like”
 
If it's down to 70 in first 3 hours (and dropping), it will probably be fine. Not ideal, but probably won't matter too much in the end.
 
Last edited:
Update 2: I just bottled today.
A couple notes:

Beer stayed on the yeast cake for one extra week (uni got in the way and literally spent last week studying all day).

Noticed a large amount of sediment in the bottles after only a few minutes of being bottled. I cold crashed and fined with gelatin but still I got A LOT of sediment, I don’t know how to reduce it.

The beer came out very tasty, I kinda like it. I’m getting very close to achieve the flavor profile I’m looking for: slightly malty, not so bitter, easy to drink and crisp.

I’m surprised at the impact that fermentation temperature has on a beer. I have done 2 batches prior to this fermenting at ambient temperature (~80F) and they came out as mediocre beers. This one actually came out OK (I still have to fix a couple of things wrong with this recipe).

Next step is to mess around with my water chemistry. It’s gonna be a bit annoying as I don’t have a water report.

I will update this next Friday when I open the first bottle.
 
I’m surprised at the impact that fermentation temperature has on a beer. I have done 2 batches prior to this fermenting at ambient temperature (~80F) and they came out as mediocre beers. This one actually came out OK (I still have to fix a couple of things wrong with this recipe).

Fermentation temps are key to making good beer. You could have the best grist with hopping schedule but if you don't control the temps during fermentation it can all be for naught.

As mentioned above you can use Kveik yeast and not worry about it...but if you want a clean yeast taste profile you have to control the temperature and pitch the correct amount of yeast.

:mug:
 
I couldn’t wait and I opened a bottle today only 3 days after being bottled. I noticed a Parmesan cheese like smell and off flavor that was not present while fermenting or at bottling day. Is this normal? I can’t help but think that this batch is ruined. Still gonna wait some time before opening another one.
 
I have not encountered or heard of a "parmesan" smell. That is odd, especially if it wasn't present at all when you bottled.

Small chance it's just from the bottle fermentation and will fade out with more time. If it some other infection, it may get worse. I would toss two the fridge and try them 2 and 4 days out to try to get a sense of which way it is going.

Also, if it is bottle infection, there is a least some chance not all the bottles are infected.

I assume you stored somewhere cool and dark?
 
Last edited:
I have not encountered or heard of a "parmesan" smell. That is odd, especially if it wasn't present at all when you bottled.

Small chance it's just from the bottle fermentation and will fade out with more time. If it some other infection, it may get worse. I would toss two the fridge and try them 2 and 4 days out to try to get a sense of which way it is going.

Also, if it is bottle infection, there is a least some chance not all the bottles are infected.

I assume you stored somewhere cool and dark?
Yup, bottles are stored at 70-80 F and are covered up with a plastic bag. Bottle infection could be a possibility, the bottles I used where extremely dirty, so dirty that I had to clean them thoroughly, boil them and sanitize them before using
 
Here is some information about beer smelling/ tasting like cheese
I don’t think it is butyric acid tbh. Could it be bad/old hop pellets? They were sealed in the bag they came in, I opened the bag when I brewed this batch and then immediately I stored them in the freezer in vacuum sealed bags. I have a 1 oz bag of saaz pellets I bought a couple of months before (I don’t know if they are the same brand but they were stored in the same conditions as the new hops I bought) and the old hops are greener than the new ones; the new ones are kinda dark green in color.
 
I find that beer greatly improves over a week or 2 of carbonating. Give it 2 weeks, chill it a day or 2 in the fridge and try it again.
 
I have a beer real similar to this on tap now.

I used about 65% pilsener malt, 12% vienna, 6% light munich, 4% carapils, 12% corn sugar to lighten it up.

For hops, I used perle and crystal.

Used distilled water and adjusted for 3:1 chloride to sulfate.

Used Fermentis 34/70. Our club just did a presentation at the September meeting about warm fermenting this yeast at room temp. There are multiple articles and experiments out there. My primary fermentation was about 68 degrees and it went from 1.050 to 1.012 in about 3 days. Then I lagered it in the spare space in my kegerator at 35 degrees for a month.

It was well received at our meeting last night.

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
%abv: 4.8
IBU: 25
SRM: 3.7
 
Update 3

Took it to a party and people loved it, received lots of compliments and drank a few too many . Cheese smell is completely gone now, I’m guessing it was due to bottle carbonation or something. Let’s see if it passes the hangover test tomorrow. I’ll upload a picture, I likehow clear itcame out
 
Back
Top