Hoppy Blond Thoughts...

[bjl110]

Brewing kind of got pushed to the side lately for family purposes (and because I had dogs in my brewspace last week which kind of makes it hard to brew) and my pipeline has gotten rather low. My plan was to do several 5 gallon batches next to play around with hops that I only have a small amount of, however now I feel like I need to get a 10 gallon going before then. I was thinking about a low abv hoppy blond. Something akin to BM's Centennial Blond, but with a little more hop character for me, yet still smooth enough for my friends who aren't into more bitter beers. This beer will probably be the one that we sit around the pool drinking on 7/4.

5# 2row
1# Munich
1# Wheat malt
.5# C20

For the hops I will mix together 1oz each of Centennial, Amarillo, and Chinook. I will add the charges like this:

.25 @ FWH
.25 @ 60
1 @ 10
1.5 @ Flameout

US-05

OG 1.038/IBU 27.5 (This is with figuring the FWH as a 20 min addition. It is 31 IBU if you go by what beersmith figures FWH as.)/SRM 4.6

I am going to stick with the hop *type*, I've done this blend before and it is delicious. However, I don't know if the schedule is right. I want hops on the nose, but not the bitterness of an IPA. I'm down with increasing them or simply moving them around. Thoughts? Thanks guys!

Cheers!

 

[chuckstout]

I think you could just delete the crystal malt, and mash around 152. I like the hop schedule! Happy brewin

 

[bjl110]

Anymore on this? I'm gonna grind my grain tonight in prep for a hopeful brewday tomorrow.

 

[chuckstout]

Another thing maybe try Wyeast 1272 or even a Pacific/Northwest ale strain with this beer next time.

 

[bjl110]

Yeah. 1272 and 3711 are the next two yeasts I want to play with for sure. I love me some Scottish ales.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I like the crystal, maybe go with 10 for more of a blonde.

 

[bjl110]

Oops! haha. I got my numbers all mixed up. You're talking American ale II aren't you? I'm eventually going to start experimenting with American strains other than 05, but not yet. It's a little further down on my list than the two previous mentioned strains. The profile does look very interesting though. It is probably a candidate for house strain for me. I just haven't experimented with yeast enough yet at all.

 

[OldWorld]

Do you have good temp control? I would use 3068 yeast instead of Safale. The 3068 will give me some clove/banana...If done right it will be fruity, spicey, dry and not at all candy like or bubble gummy.

 

[bjl110]

I can get it down to the low 60s/upper 50s with a swamp cooler in my basement. Westphalian is on the list, but I don't think a hefe yeast is the profile I want here though. This is going to be enjoyed by pool guests this Summer, so I think I probably want something clean to appeal to the masses.