Blonde Ale / Premium Lager

Geosmashing · Joined: 25 Apr 2014 Posts: 36 Location: Ottawa, Canada

I brewed this recipe on February 7th, 2015. It was my 22nd brew, and my very first on my new electric rig. It was also my first all-grain batch ever.

I tried to follow the author's recipe as closely as possible, however there were some, uh, deviations:

- I did not use a Campden tablet
- I did not use brewing salts or make any pH adjustments to my tap water
- My home-made hop filter clogged and I couldn't use my chiller, so I let the beer cool overnight in the kettle

Despite these small setbacks, the beer turned out great. It turns out both my boil-off rate and my efficiency are a bit lower than Kal's. I calculated my boil-off to be 1.6 gallons per hour, and my efficiency at 90%. I use a copper manifold instead of a false bottom, so I was expecting performance differences. I'm still really happy with 90% and it's been consistent in subsequent batches.

Notes:
OG 1.046
No chill
Aerated well and pitched US-05 dry
Primary for 15 days @ 70-72 F
Transferred to secondary for 5 days
FG 1.009
Crash cooled to 40 F, added gelatin
3 days later, kegged
Force carbed

After just one day in the keg this beer tasted great! I suspect it's a little more bitter than intended due to the fact that I couldn't use my counterflow chiller. It also has some chill haze, which I don't mind. It certainly has a bit of ale character, which makes sense as it was fermented a bit warm.

I'm really happy with how this batch turned out. The beer is slightly grainy, slightly sweet, and has lots of nice, fresh, almost minty bitterness.

Cheers!

**kal** · Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:01 am Post subject:

Glad you like it! The chill haze will subside after a couple of weeks in the keg. The beer will also be better after 2-4 weeks at near freezing temps.

Kal

drcraig · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 33

After reading about them in a HBT post, I decided to buy some Huell Melon hops and want to design a beer that will showcase them well. Everything I read suggests that these are really mild and best used late. Some brewers report being underwhelmed by the characteristic melon/strawberry notes these hops are supposed to have, but the amounts added always seem too light.

I was going to try these out in a pale ale, backed up with some El Dorado and Amarillo, but then I thought what if I used these solo in a blonde ale recipe, but was a bit more heavy handed than the other brewers had been?

For a 7 gallon batch, I'm thinking of doing NO bittering addition, 3 oz in a 30 min whirlpool at 180F, and 1 oz dry. Beersmith is calculating this at 22.8 IBUs.

Has anyone tried out a fruity/tropical-ish hop as a late addition (and in volume) in a blonde ale, and were the results any good?

drcraig · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 33

The Huell Melon hops were very much underwhelming in my blonde. I couldn't tell what if any character they added. The beer was good, but unremarkable.

Today I'm brewing another variation on the original blonde recipe with a few changes for fun.

78% pilsner malt, 17% white wheat, 4% golden light DME (to bring up gravity for the my volume target, I don't have as much base malt as I want)

1 oz Hallertau + 0.5 oz Saaz for 18.5 IBU

WLP 320

Estimated OG 1.047.

DFITZ · Joined: 10 Jul 2014 Posts: 33

I'm interested in using this recipe but I want to add fresh raspberries. I'm considering a 5 gal batch. Most recipes I see say to add fruit to the secondary however I'm using a conical so I believe I'd just add the berries after the second week. Should I add the berries to a secondary to lager? How long should I leave them in? I can just rack to a keg after an acceptable period and continue to lager?

**kal** · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 1:08 am Post subject:

rickysa · Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 133 Location: Southern Pines NC

Followed the ale recipe version to the letter...Having made other errors in previous tries, I'm wondering if a slight "tartness/sour" aftertaste was normal. The flavor isn't like anything described in Palmer's book, and I was curious if the S-05 may impart that flavor in such a lite beer?

I don't have any SG measurements ( Embarassed

), but I am upping my record keeping game for all ensuing batches!

**kal** · Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:54 pm Post subject:

rickysa · Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 133 Location: Southern Pines NC

68 degree fermentation throughout

Crash chilled to 34-35 degrees 2-3 days, kegged, then put under CO2 at 10psi for 2 weeks at 35 degrees

No changes to the original recipe/process (other than not mashing out)

No additions to city water (I have the profile somewhere)

added 1 ml lactic acid to the mash to get 5.6 pH, and another 1 ml lactic acid to the sparge to get it to 6.0 pH

I made sure the final sparge water had cooled (can't remember just how much) to avoid tannins

**kal** · Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:46 pm Post subject:

Nothing sounds odd.

Could be the water. It's a lighter tasting beer, so the water came possibly show through. I had similar issues with some of my beers very early on before doing any water adjustments. Keep in mind however that all water's different so what works for one person doesn't always work for another.

Your carb level should give you around 2.5-2.6 volumes of CO2 which is fine so it shouldn't be astringency due to overcarb'ing. Over-carb'ing can sometimes make it taste tart or astringent due to a carbonic bite.

Weyermann Pilsner Malt isn't as 100% clean tasting as most north american 2-row I find. It has a slight bready/cracker taste to it which many like (including myself, which is why I often use it for a beer like this). I'm assuming it's not that you're tasting.

Leave it near freezing for another few weeks and let us know. Things can and often do mellow.

Kal

rickysa · Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 133 Location: Southern Pines NC

Will do, as always kal, thanks for the feedback Mug

dward4421 · Joined: 21 Jan 2016 Posts: 32

I'm looking to make a nice summer beer. Kal, what do you like better? The blonde ale/premium lager vs the updated blonde ale (cream ale recipe with pilsner malt)

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 12:34 am Post subject:

dward4421 · Joined: 21 Jan 2016 Posts: 32

Sorry, updated probably wasn't the right word. I was referring to one of your old posts. I was just wondering how this turned out:
So I brewed this Blonde Ale yesterday and this is the second time I've made the following changes:

1. Used 10% regular table sugar to help dry it out a bit more, hopefully bringing the FG down to 1.006 - 1.007.

2. Reduced the OG from 1.048 down to 1.044 to compensate for item #1 above as I want this to still be around 5% ABV.

3. Used American Crystal hops for a different taste. Crystal are Mild, and almost 'Noble' if an American hop can be considered noble. To quote Beer Tools Pro: "Used mainly for its aroma which is mild and pleasant".

4. A touch of Carapils®/Carafoam® for mouthfeel.

So it's almost like our Cream Ale recipe, actually quite close, just still with Weyermann Pilsner malt instead of 2-row.

It's fermenting now.

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 12:52 pm Post subject:

Sounds like it'll be tasty! Let us know how it turns out!

Kal

Anticlimaddox · Joined: 05 Feb 2016 Posts: 89 Location: Harrisonburg, VA

So brewing this recipe for the inaugural run on the electric setup. Had a yeast question as I've never used dry yeast. Always used liquid with a starter. Is 24g right for 12 gallons? I bought 4 x 11.5g packets of 05 just in case. thx!

**kal** · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:01 pm Post subject:

If brewing the ale version and using reasonably fresh yeast (at least not expired) then yes, 24g is adequate. If in doubt, you can always use more. Yeast pitch rates are a highly argued subject - it's rare to find two brewers that agree!

Cheers!

Kal

Anticlimaddox · Joined: 05 Feb 2016 Posts: 89 Location: Harrisonburg, VA

Thanks Kal - I realize I'm overthinking this.