Recipe critique (Blonde Ale)

[Whiskey]

Greetings all!

I was wanting to brew a "lighter" beer, color wise at least, due to some family members refusing to try a beer darker then Samuel Adams Boston Ale. My brews thus far have been Porters and Stouts so I decided to do a Blonde Ale.

Anyways I fired up Beertools and built this recipe and I was looking for critiques.

Ingredients:

1.0 lbs American Caramel 10L
.50 Belgian Cara-Pils
1.0 German 2-row Pils
5.5 lbs Extra Light DME


1.0 oz Saaz @ Beginning of boil
1.0 oz Hallertau @ 30 mins.


Yeast: undecided, but leaning towards WY 1056 American Ale

Predicted Original Gravity 1.048
Predicted Terminal (FG) Gravity 1.011
Predicted Color 5.85 SRM
Predicted Bitterness 21 IBU (Beertools)
ABV 4.9%

I was going to steep the grains in 1 gallon of 150F water for 30 minutes. Then I was going to top off with 3 gallons of water and start the boil.


Couple of quick questions,

There has been some talk of adding DME later in the boil to keep it from caramelizing, when during the boil should I add it? 10 min? At the hot break?

Should I add the honey then too?

Should I ease off the hops a bit? The targeted drinker thinks Keystone (you read that right) is a "good beer", though they will drink Boston Lager.

Also anyone have an opinion of what yeast I should use besides WY 1056 AA?

Any suggestions of changes would be great.

 

[paulthenurse]

I'd suggest you buy the Keystone drinkers a couple of racks of Keystone and brew yourself something good.

PTN

 

[Whiskey]

I was hoping it would turn out good. I just wanted to make a light in color full bodied beer. I unfortunately do not have the facilities or resources to do a Lager. The key is getting them to try a craft brew.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'd personally get rid of the last addition of hallertau and use the saaz at the end of the boil. It's great for a flavor/aroma hops...maybe last 10-15 minutes.

i don't know what you need the honey for...it will add very little flavor and probably won't be what your friends are looking for. it'll add a little more alcohol, but no significant character.

 

[Whiskey]

I'd personally get rid of the last addition of hallertau and use the saaz at the end of the boil. It's great for a flavor/aroma hops...maybe last 10-15 minutes.

i don't know what you need the honey for...it will add very little flavor and probably won't be what your friends are looking for. it'll add a little more alcohol, but no significant character.

Thanks updated.

 

[Brewpastor]

Get rid of the German 2-row and the cara-pils, replace 1/2 the crystal with a slightly darker variety and maybe use some corn or table sugar (like a pound) to dry this sucker out. I would say you want this to be finishing around 1.007. It is late in the day so I could be talking out my arse, but I think this would be tasty, easy pounding and enjoyed by Keystoners. Watch the fermentation temp and keep it on the cool side of the ale temps.

 

[DeathBrewer]

yeah, that's definitely key. ferment below 70 F

 

[LouT]

Yeah, like around 62-64F.
LAte extract additions work fine, I do mine with about 15 minutes left in the boil, remove kettle from heat, gradually mix in the DME to avoid major clumping, and about 5 minutes or so in it will be 100% disolved so I put it back on heat and stir and it has just enough time to boil, hot break, and finish you boil time. Keeps the color a bit lighter. Your hops utilization will be a bit higher, so the post about cutting back some of the hops is right on target. Probably about 1/2-3/4 oz of hops for the full boil time (assuming around 7-9AA% hops) and then some hops with around 20 minutes left for flavor/aroma...

 

[z987k]

also, you might want to try using US-05 or Nottingham dry yeast, they both ferment quickly, cost less and leave no flavor from the yeast.

 

[Matt Foley]

I recently did a Blonde Ale kit that I loved and got pretty good reviews from BMC drinkers.

7 lbs. extra pale lme
1 oz. Centennial hops 60 min
1 oz. Willamette hops 5 min
White labs 001.

This brew was pretty good green and only got better.