Thoughts on my recipe - Blond Ale?

[Kylev]

Hi all, I've been coming here for info for the better part of a year now (started brewing this past February) and I thought I might run my next recipe by some more seasoned brewers.

I've mostly been brewing to my tastes (stouts, porters and IPAs) and thought I should brew something that SWMBO might actually enjoy. I thought I would go with a blond ale similar to one of our local brews she likes (Big Rig Gold from Big Rig in Ottawa) Here goes.

Partial mash
5.5 gal
4 gal boil

5 lbs light lme
1 lb wheat dme
1 lb pale 2-row
1 lb Carapils
8 oz. barley flakes

1.25 oz Tettnanger 4.8 at 60 min
.5 oz Tettnanger 4.8 at 30 min
.25 Tettnanger 4.8 at 10 min

Was unsure of which yeast to use, I was hoping for Nottingham, but LHBS was sold out.

I've got Windsor, s-04 and us-05 on hand.

I've also got 2 oz of hallertauer 3.1 on hand if anyone thinks that might serve me better.

Thanks!

 

[adhomebrew10]

I have never had the beer you are trying to emulate, but blond ales typically are very light on the hops and very simple in regards to malt bill. You are somewhere above 30 IBU for this recipe which will make a relatively bitter beer. Typically, you let the base malt stand out in Blond Ales.

I would suggest reducing the hops to get around 20 IBU and simplifying the malt bill to a good base malt and just a little carapils or crystal for sweetness, but let the base malt stand out.

For yeast, S-05 would be fine. Any clean ale yeast should work.

 

[TimBrewz]

As above, I would drop or decrease the body building grains (carapils and flaked barley) and keep IBU at 20 or so. Here is the recipe I use and it is very good
https://byo.com/grains/item/128-american-blonde-ale-style-profile

Cheers, Tim

 

[Kylev]

Thanks guys, I halved the amount of Carapils and flaked barley, and I've adjusted my hop additions to come in at just over 20 ibu, dropping the flavor and aroma additions completely.

Will post results, thanks again.

 

[bbrim]

I recommend one moderate 5 minute addition. I usually go with 1.5 oz of saaz at 5 minutes. I also like just a touch of Munich malt in mine. I think the other posters are dead on, but I'd suggest anywhere from .5-1.5 oz of tettnanger to finish out the boil.