Never brew without your notes

[gunhaus]

You would think after a couple three decades THAT would sink in. Anyway, as some of you know back around Christmas time i helped a couple of newbies get started. Both are firmly addicted, and have gone up the scale to all-grain albeit to slightly differing degrees. A couple of weeks ago my nephew said he was looking for some " party beer" for non craft friends. I knew from experience he liked BM's Centennial Blonde so that was my suggestion.

Now I have brewed this recipe A LOT. A whole lot. I have tweaked it once or twice but always came back to and finally settled on the original. It looks like this:

****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)


Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

Now we were about 50 miles from my notes, and heading the opposite direction. But I know the bill like the back of my hand. So a little later that morning we stopped at the brew store, and loaded up, then headed to his house to make his gear messy. ALL went smoothly, he wrote it all down as we went for future reference. And when we took an OG after cooling the wort and dumping to his fermentor, I was taken back when I saw an OG of 1.058! 18 points higher give or take than I am used to. But we were committed now SO yeasties away. A week later, and all the fun was done, so I went up and helped him set up his sparkly new kegging set up and put this blonde on some bubbles. I took my note book this time . . .

SO - we filled the keg, and hooked her up. I set it for 30 lbs, and after 24 hours he turned it down to serving pressure and let her set for a week before we gave it a test drive. And a test drive is what it was, because when I checked my notes against what we had ACTUALLY concocted, it seem i added 2 lbs of flaked corn to the mix (I DO NOT KNOW WHY- ) That and some pretty good efficiency explained the OG. Then for fun, we got an FG of 1.004, a good bit lower than I am used to so we now have taken BM's 4% fun beer up to an even more fun 7.07%. But that is not all. The hop schedule calls for .25 oz per addition. Well i went .50 oz per. So much for shooting from memory. All that said: Sunday was the day. It poured nice and clear. It was bubbly with the familiar head. It smelled good. . . . And not surprisingly it was good. I was really worried it might have a pronounced alcohol bite to it, but nope. It tasted just like blonde ale. It is a tad more bitter/sharp, than the original, and it is dryer. But not by huge margins. It DOES have a bit more hammer to it! But it is beer for his BBQ buddies - they won't be bitchin!

Still - NEVER trust your memory, it WILL stab you in the back when you least expect it.

 

[Pappers_]

LOL. My memory is horrible. In any case, its good that you messed up both the grain bill and the hops - the extra hoppy bitterness probably helped balance out the extra malty goodness.

 

[gunhaus]

Amen! I am thinking it helps with the alcohol flavor as well. It was only on primary about 7-8 day and then a week on the keg. I was worried it might need a little mellowing to curb the raw taste, but it was actually pretty good. Plus it will be mauled by a group of 20 somethings standing in the heat watching a smoker works its magic on pig butts! ALL GOOD!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

That's one of the things I like about Brewer's Friend. I have all my recipes and brew notes at my fingertips all the time.

 

[gunhaus]

OOOH! I know that many will act with shock and awe - But nothing is at my fingertips. I do not carry a cell phone. Nor do i have any intention of joining that world again. Life is to short to live in a perpetual phone booth!

 

[Manufacturedevolution]

This years log so far.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

OOOH! I know that many will act with shock and awe - But nothing is at my fingertips. I do not carry a cell phone. Nor do i have any intention of joining that world again. Life is to short to live in a perpetual phone booth!

Or, have it for your convenience and responds when it beckons only if it suits you. I don't live and die by my phone nor do I always feel the need to respond to a text or call, but I love having my brew log with me whenever I want it, or a gps when I need it, or a way to make an emergency call should the need arise.

 

[gunhaus]

That IS the era we live in! And more power to all who embrace it, it is still a semi-free country. I just don't want to play. That's all. I like keeping my notes on paper. The batteries never need changing. I am good with directions and rarely get lost, and when i do I have maps. And in an emergency I have no doubt that 84 people will whip it out and call, while the other 700 or so try to catch it on video. Went to dinner with some friends a couple weeks ago, and all but one spent most of the time doing something vital on their phones. When they were not engaged with earth shattering texts, they were busy sharing memes and videos. Conversation WAS NOT much of the equation - but then looking around the room that was true at every table. Makes ya wonder how the world ever got along with out them -ya know it! Back before celly's, I could leave home for hours, and be completely away from a phone: On the lake, in the woods, at work - And not once did anyone need to contact me with something so apocalypticly earth shattering that it could not wait till I got back home and checked messages. I guess my life was quite sad and pathetic - and still is. BUT I will get by . . .