Blonde Ale Kona Big Wave Golden Ale clone

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I am in the process of brewing this one right now. I did hit a snag.....I use BeerSmith and it told me to get my strike water to 161 for a mash in temp of 152. Not thinking, I went ahead and did this and came out real short on the 152. I added some boiling H2O but only really got it up to 150.5. Any foreseen issues with my low mash temp? Otherwise....it's full steam ahead!

Tim


I forgot to click "Adjust temp for equipment", that's why their temp was too low. Dang it!!!!

Should be fine, you may end up with a slightly drier beer. Imo this may not be a bad thing for this beer.
 
I picked up the clone recipe from Austin Homebrew and here's how it came out. I dry hopped with an extra ounce of Citra as suggested earlier in the thread. Compared to a regular Big Wave it's a little darker with more of a hoppy bite but I'm happy with the end result and it disappeared quickly at my 4th of July party.

20150702_200004.jpg
 
Here is what I did for a 2-gallon batch:

Grains:
3# 2-Row
0.6# Crystal 20L

Hops:
0.1 oz Citra (60 min)
0.5 oz Citra (4 min)
0.5 oz Citra (Dry Hopped after 14 days)

Water Chemistry:
Ca: 72 ppm
Mg: 7
Na: 0
Cl: 85
SO4: 88

Yeast:
Wyeast California Lager - 2112
No starter, harvested about 16 oz of yeast slurry from previous batch of California Common
Fermented at 17C

Brewed: 5/25/15
Dry hopped: 6/9/15
Bottled: 6/14/15

This tastes amazing! I wish that I had made more than 2 gallons...I took this to 4th of July family celebrations and had 8 other people do a blind tasting side by side with the real thing. Everyone loved it. The only difference that anyone picked up on was the clarity - my version was not as clear as the commercial beer. If you looked at it by itself, it looked pretty darn clear; but once you held it up next to the real thing, you could tell it doesn't have that perfect, commercial level clarity. I would consider using gelatin to clear it up a bit more, but I don't want to lose any of the hop flavor or aroma. However, the leftover beers have been sitting in the fridge since then and they have definitely cleared up a bit more.

I am sending this one off to 2 different competitions here in the next few weeks - I am very excited to see how they do; this has probably been my best beer yet. This is going to be a staple beer around here.
 
I brewed this recently and everyone enjoyed it! Compared to the real thing, its pretty darn close in my opinion. Thanks for a great recipe, this will definitely be added to my round up!
Forgot to add that I stuck to the original recipe, but with no dry hop additions
 
I brewed this on 11/29/15. I finally picked up a six pack of the commercial version to compare.
My version is way darker than the commercial version, not that it's a bad thing. The commercial version really has no flavor, actually kind of weak. I much prefer my version although will need to up the dry hops and maybe do a whirlpool with all the 15 and zero min hop additions.
I will definitely brew this again. May replace the crystal 20 with 10 to see how that affects the color.
 
This one turned out really good! I haven't had Kona in a long time, but I think this turned out better. I dry hopped for 4 days..came out perfect.

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The commercial version sucked, at least the one I had. Very little flavor and not much carbonation. Maybe it was an old batch but this recipe is way better.
 
This stuff is so good. I'm brewing 10g of this today. I brewed over 30 gallons of this last year and everyone loved it.
 
This version is way better than the commercial version. Maybe the one I had was old- didn't remember the date but it basically had zero flavor.
 
I'm pretty new at this. If I want to do a 1 gallon test batch, what would be the recommended proportions of those ingredients? Thanks so much!!
 
Iimchstrss, there's probably a scientific method, but I usually just divide by the recipe batch size. Then, round the ingredients to the nearest 1/4oz hops and 1/4lb grain.
 
Since the 5 Gallon recipe already calls for 0.25oz of Galaxy, if I divide everything by 5, I would be only using .05oz of Galaxy. If I round that to the nearest 1/4oz, I would be back to 0.25oz Galaxy!

dividing by 5:
0.05 oz Galaxy 60 min.
0.1 oz Citra 15 min
0.1 oz Citra 5 min
Dry hop 0.3oz Citra after 14 days

how little is too little hops!?

If I just half the 5 gallon recipe for hops, would it be too much?
dividing by 2:
0.10 oz Galaxy 60 min.
0.25 oz Citra 15 min
0.25 oz Citra 5 min
Dry hop 0.5oz Citra after 14 days
 
Since the 5 Gallon recipe already calls for 0.25oz of Galaxy, if I divide everything by 5, I would be only using .05oz of Galaxy. If I round that to the nearest 1/4oz, I would be back to 0.25oz Galaxy!

dividing by 5:
0.05 oz Galaxy 60 min.
0.1 oz Citra 15 min
0.1 oz Citra 5 min
Dry hop 0.3oz Citra after 14 days

how little is too little hops!?

If I just half the 5 gallon recipe for hops, would it be too much?
dividing by 2:
0.10 oz Galaxy 60 min.
0.25 oz Citra 15 min
0.25 oz Citra 5 min
Dry hop 0.5oz Citra after 14 days

That's why we should all use the metric system. :p
0.25oz = 7g Galaxy for 5 gallons, so 1.4 g for 1 gallon.

Anyway the recipe sounds good.
Maybe I'll give it a whirl in the middle of next month. :tank:
 
Just brewed this recipe this morning as my first all grain. Everything went great expect when I pumped the wort from the Brew kettle to the carboy the beer was very hazy / cloudy. Should I expect that to settle out during primary fermentation and be much clearer when I rack to the secondary?
 
Just brewed this recipe this morning as my first all grain. Everything went great expect when I pumped the wort from the Brew kettle to the carboy the beer was very hazy / cloudy. Should I expect that to settle out during primary fermentation and be much clearer when I rack to the secondary?

Yes. It will all settle out between primary and the optional secondary.
 
Just tasted this brew after 1 week bottle conditioning.... Could not wait long but held myself to just one. I did go with crystal 10 so it's a bit lighter but tastes great. Also my efficiency was a bit low so I might add 1 more pound to the base malt next time. Overall very pleased.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1471109014.863158.jpg
 
I did my own clone recently but with a lager yeast wlp940... Very delicious. My recipe was pretty similar to those listed here.
 
I know it sounds like a lot, I thought the same thing. I did the recipe as written with 1.5 lbs of C20 and it was very close to the original. Most actually preferred mine side by side...

Agreed. When I scaled the recipe for my system, the Crystal Malt was like 15% of the grain bill. I have brewed it twice and it has been very close to the original.
 
I brewed a batch last year- after scaling the crystal was 16%.
I had the commercial version and it sucked. maybe it was an old batch but I much preferred the home brew version.
May have to put this back on the list for round 2.
 
I just sampled this after carbing and it is fantastic. I stuck to the original recipie (including 1.5# C20) except that I dry hopped with .50 oz of Citra and .50 oz Lemon Drop. It was a great decision. The beer has a cloying quality and a brightness that is not in the original. It's almost as if this is the beer that the commercial version is trying to be. It is darker than the original, but i don't see that as an issue at all.

Thanks to the OP for this recipe, it's a winner.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the crystal malt. Going to add it to the short list and brew it.
 
I think we will try this next. Big wave is my dads favorite beer and I would love to gt him a couple of cases of this for his birthday.
 
That looks tasty! How much less crystal did you use? Did you compensate with additional 2-row?

Color was spot on and taste was very similar but could use some changes next time to be a real clone. With side by side tasting next to the real thing, people preferred my version more. My version had notably more apricot/peach notes on the tongue from the citra hops than the commercial version. It is my opinion that the commercial version actually has Galaxy hops and Citra hops in the late additions instead of just Citra. I also would use less Citra in the dry hop, maybe 0.50-0.75 ounces instead of the 1.25 ounces I used. Again, this is if I were trying to make an exact clone but I preferred my version more.

Here's the exact recipe I ended up using:

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.75 gal
Boil Size: 7.49 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.09 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.50 gal
Fermentation: 5 days @ 68F, 7 days @ 70F, 2 days @ 32.5F (cold crash)

BIAB full volume
Batch Size: 5.75 Gallons
Efficiency: 78.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.4 %

7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, 2-Row (Rahr) (2.0 SRM) 88.2 %
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) 11.8 %

0.25 oz Galaxy [15.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 14.9 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 6.6 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 -
0.50 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 5.3 IBUs

1.25 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Dry Hop for 5 days in primary fermenter

1 - US-05 American Ale Yeast

Mashed @ 150F for 60 minutes
Mashout @ 168F for 10 minutes
 
I just grabbed it from our local groceries store. Absolutely brilliant beer!!! Such a nice session beer ;). Gonna brew it very soon! Cheers from the Netherlands!! :)
 
My home-brew store guy said using one whole whirl floc tablet for a 5 gallon batch is too much , is that true? I also can't get galaxy hops what is the best substitute ?Any suggestions?
 
Citra is supposed to be the closest with Amarillo and Mosaic as acceptable substitutes. IME Citra is very fruity and would cover most of what you would lose in Galaxy, but the tropical flavors are different and not as bright.
 
My home-brew store guy said using one whole whirl floc tablet for a 5 gallon batch is too much , is that true? I also can't get galaxy hops what is the best substitute ?Any suggestions?

Yep, according to the mfg you would use one tablet for 10 gal so 1/2 for five. It goes in @ 5 - 7 minutes left in the boil, any sooner and it can "denature" and be less effective...
 
Brewed this a few weeks ago, been carbonating for a few days now. Could use a few days of carbing more before I start sharing with friends but so far this is an awesome summer brew.
 
Color was spot on and taste was very similar but could use some changes next time to be a real clone. With side by side tasting next to the real thing, people preferred my version more. My version had notably more apricot/peach notes on the tongue from the citra hops than the commercial version. It is my opinion that the commercial version actually has Galaxy hops and Citra hops in the late additions instead of just Citra. I also would use less Citra in the dry hop, maybe 0.50-0.75 ounces instead of the 1.25 ounces I used. Again, this is if I were trying to make an exact clone but I preferred my version more.

Here's the exact recipe I ended up using:

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.75 gal
Boil Size: 7.49 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.09 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.50 gal
Fermentation: 5 days @ 68F, 7 days @ 70F, 2 days @ 32.5F (cold crash)

BIAB full volume
Batch Size: 5.75 Gallons
Efficiency: 78.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.4 %

7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, 2-Row (Rahr) (2.0 SRM) 88.2 %
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) 11.8 %

0.25 oz Galaxy [15.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 14.9 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 6.6 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 -
0.50 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 5.3 IBUs

1.25 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Dry Hop for 5 days in primary fermenter

1 - US-05 American Ale Yeast

Mashed @ 150F for 60 minutes
Mashout @ 168F for 10 minutes

Out of curiosity, what were your gravity readings? I just tried your batch, getting ready to dry hop it :)
 
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