Category Archives: 18 A Blonde Ale

Grid Blonde v1_5

January 26, 2022 hommel Leave a comment

Summary:
Brewed 12/2/21
same recipe but changed to vienna malt from honey malt. i think i like the honey malt better but not a huge difference. also used CTZ for whirlpool just cause thats what i have. i also think i prefer idaho 7. i accidentily doubled the magnum addition and it is noticeable more bitter. also don’t prefer the higher bitterness. for this go i used london fog which is pretty good for this beer but not my favorite yeast.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_4
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author:
Date: 11-24-2020

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.047	1.038	1.054
FG	1.010	1.008	1.013
Color	4.1	3.0	6.0
ABV	4.8	3.8	5.5
IBU	27.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.47 G
Volume: 8.87 G
Temp: 152.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.041
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.9 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 10.0 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
16.000 Lb	91.0 %	2-row American Malt (Rahr)	81.3	1.8
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	Carapils (Briess)	74.0	1.3
0.500 Lb	3.0 %	best malz vienna	83.0	25.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Magnum	12.0	60 mins	Boil	12.0
2.0 Oz	ctz	12.0	20 mins	Aroma	15.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	WL London Fog

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.50

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	62	3	21	98	63	30
Sparge	76	3	21	115	73	30
Final	92	4	28	142	91	40
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

Brewing Notes:
12/1/21 Made 1L starter of WLP066 london fog
started didn’t seem to get going as normal
was milky white by 8am next day
but didn’t get foamy till 1pm right before pitching
a reminder to go back to imperial. i just have not had good luck with white labs yeast. this pitch was one month old from my local hb shop. clearly not a health yeast.
12/2/21 normal 3V brewday. did 1oz of magnum rather than 0.5 so a bit more bitter than intended 🙂
12/3/21 ~6sec bubbling at 8am
strong bubbling at noon
12/4/21 steady bubbling
12/7/21~3sec
12/8/21 ~4 sec
12/9/21 ~5 sec
12/11/21 ~9 sec
12/12/21 ~12 sec
12/13/21 same
12/14/21 ~20 sec
12/15/21 ~40 sec
FG 1.014
DTest cold: clean warm: clean.
cold crash to 35F
12/19/21 collected yeast
rack to 2 kegs ~4.5G and 1.5G

nice beer. as noted about – a bit too bitter and london fog flavor profile not my favorite. prefer this beer with chico strain from imperial (flagship) of all the different yeasts i’ve tried. also like it with honey malt.

Grid Blonde 3V Conical v1_4

July 30, 2021 hommel Leave a comment

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_4
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author:
Date: 11-24-2020

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.047	1.038	1.054
FG	1.010	1.008	1.013
Color	4.1	3.0	6.0
ABV	4.8	3.8	5.5
IBU	27.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.47 G
Volume: 8.87 G
Temp: 152.0 F

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
16.000 Lb	91.0 %	2-row American Malt (Rahr)	81.3	1.8
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	Carapils (Briess)	74.0	1.3
0.500 Lb	3.0 %	Honey Malt (Gambrinus)	83.0	25.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Magnum	12.0	60 mins	Boil	12.0
2.0 Oz	Idaho 7	12.0	20 mins	Aroma	15.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Flagship Imperial A07

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.50

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	62	3	21	98	63	30
Sparge	76	3	21	115	73	30
Final	92	4	28	142	91	40
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Water Profile Name:
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

12-30-20 1L starter of imperial cal ale
12-31 changes: 4 -> 5mL of lactic acid
move start temp to 172 since i undershot
bring down sparge to 175 not 180F
figured out why helles was high. did 0.5G too little of start volume based on old numbers 🙁
normal brew day
pitched @ 1:30 pm
@8pm already slow bubbling
1/1/21 happy new year! going full bore & looking good
1/2 steady bubbling
1/4 ~15 sec
1/5 ~23 sec
1/6 no bubbling
1/14 diacetyl test. cold: clean. warm: clean
cold crash
1/21 collected yeast. ~300mL
racked to two kegs – ~4G and ~2.5G for ~6.5G total
1/23 on draft. really nice beer.

grid blonde v1_3

July 20, 2021 hommel Leave a comment

Starting another run of light colored beers for my imaginary brewery – Grid. This blonde is solid at this point. i do prefer the london fog and imperial juice versions better than the cal ale since they have a bit more body and ester profile.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_3
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author: Dennis Pike
Date: 12-21-2019

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.046	1.038	1.054
FG	1.010	1.008	1.013
Color	4.3	3.0	6.0
ABV	4.7	3.8	5.5
IBU	28.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 16.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.16 G
Volume: 8.48 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.040
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.67 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
15.000 Lb	91.0 %	Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)	80.0	2.0
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	chit malt (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
0.500 Lb	3.0 %	Honey Malt (Gambrinus)	83.0	25.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)	14.0	60 mins	Boil	15.0
1.0 Oz	Nugget	13.6	20 mins	Aroma	9.0
1.0 Oz	Cascade	4.7	20 mins	Aroma	3.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Flagship Imperial A07

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	62	3	21	98	63	30
Sparge	62	3	21	98	63	30
Final	98	5	33	155	100	47
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

5/13/21 made a 1L starter of WLP001 w/ canned wort. fermented normally.
5/14/21 normal 3V brewday. no issues. pitched @ 3pm.
5/15/21 steady bubbling
5/17/21 slow steady bubbling. definite blow off. should cut back 0.5 gallons in final gallons to 9G.
5/18/21 ~4 sec
5/19/21 ~5 sec
5/20/21 ~8 sec
5/21/21 ~17 sec
5/22/21 ~13 sec (heater on). took sample. 1.012. tastes awesome.
5/23/21 basically no bubbling
5/24/21 1.010 no bubbling. diacetyl test – cold: clean, warm: clean 🙂
cold crash to 35F and harvest tomorrow during brewday.
5/25/21. dropped yeast. not a very big pull. only 400mL before came out
5/26/21 racked to keg and put on 30psi
5/27/21 put on @ 14psi @ 38 F
5/30/21 carb is finally about right. low the first couple of days. starting to drop clear
6/6/21 completely clear

really nice beer!

Grid Blonde 3V Conical v1_3

grid blonde v1_3

July 15, 2021 hommel Leave a comment

Continuing to refine my imaginary brewery beers :). No big changes. This beer is to build up Flagship for the APA and IPA.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_3
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author:
Date: 12-21-2019

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.046	1.038	1.054
FG	1.010	1.008	1.013
Color	4.3	3.0	6.0
ABV	4.7	3.8	5.5
IBU	28.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 16.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.16 G
Volume: 8.48 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
15.000 Lb	91.0 %	Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)	80.0	2.0
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	chit malt (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
0.500 Lb	3.0 %	Honey Malt (Gambrinus)	83.0	25.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)	14.0	60 mins	Boil	15.0
1.0 Oz	Nugget	13.6	20 mins	Aroma	9.0
1.0 Oz	Cascade	4.7	20 mins	Aroma	3.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Flagship Imperial A07

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	62	3	21	98	63	30
Sparge	62	3	21	98	63	30
Final	98	5	33	155	100	47
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

1/15/20 Brew Day
No starter
Normal 3V Brewday with no issues
No ice needed…tap water is 62F
pitched @ 2pm
10pm slow steady bubbling
1/16/20 steady bubbling
1/17/20 “
1/18/20 ~8 sec
1/19/20 no bubbline
1/20/20 ~26 sec
1/21/20 ~30 sec
1/23/20 > 60 sec
1/31/20 cold crash to 35F
2/1/20 harvested 600mL of yeast. mixed and split across two pitches.
2/3/20 racked to keg. FG 1.012. fairly clear. tastes really good. promising!
2/4/20 turned down to 14psi and put on draft
2/5/20 carb already pretty good. a little low. really nice beer. clarity not great so will track to see how long it takes to drop clear
2/8/20 still hazy
2/14/20 crystal clear

2/19/20 comparison vs thousand smiles golden ale from foothills

aroma – mine: malty sweet w/ bready notes, faint dark honey notes. low citrus and herbal hop notes. low mineral note? clean. no off aromas
foothills: low generic malt aroma. med-low citrus hop aroma. clean.
delta: mine is a bit more malt leaning. foothills has a bit more hop aroma.

appearance – mine: gold. excellent clarity. 1/2″ white head w/ excellent retention
foothills: straw. excellent clarity. 1/2″ white head with excellent retention.
delta: mine is a bit darker

flavor – mine: generic malt sweetness w/ low toasty and dark honey notes. low herbal and grapefruit hop flavor. low bitterness. clean. no off flavors. balanced. finishes dry but not astringent.
foothills: very low malt flavor. med-low grapefruit hop flavor. low bitterness. clean. no off flavors. balanced a hair hop leaning. finishes dry.
delta: mine has subtle but noticeable malt flavor. foothills has no real malt flavor. foothills is a little higher hop flavor and mostly citrusy.

mouthfeel – mine: med body. med carb. not warming or creamy
foothills: med-low body. med carb. not warming or creamy
delta: foothills is noticeably thinner

overall – both are nice beers
for my goal which is an easy drinking step up from bud light but some subtle complexity I feel it is spot on. i think this beer is where I want it!!!

Grid Blonde 3V Conical v1_2

GRID Blonde 3V Conical V1_2

December 22, 2019 hommel Leave a comment

Trying to perfect my Blonde recipe. It is modeled after 805 from Firestone Walker but only loosely. I’ve been on a few work trips to Vegas and they have 805 all over the place there at and it is a really really great blonde ale. Perfect for hot weather but really just great anytime. I wanted to try Great Western’s 2-row and so far it has been awesome. I really did not like their High Color malt but their Premium 2-row is fantastic. I’m trying 5-7% chit malt for my beers to promote head and retention which I got from Scott Janish’s IPA book. 805 uses Gambrinus Honey Malt which I have like when I used it in the past. it’s not so much a sweet honey flavor as a deep rich honey flavor and some other munich-esque flavors but pretty restrained. The hops also came from Scott Janish’s book. I’ve been using CTZ for my 60 minute addition. It does seem to give a spicy note to the beer which I really like. I wanted a blend of earthy/dank and citrus for this beer. Very much on the low end but noticeable. Janish found Nugget and Cascade do very well in the whirlpool so I figured I’d give those a go. And for the yeast, I’m trying Imperial’s Flagship which is the Chico strain. I have been super impressed with Imperial’s yeast but wanted to try a different strain for this run of beers.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_2
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-20-2019

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.049	1.038	1.054
FG	1.011	1.008	1.013
Color	5.5	3.0	6.0
ABV	5.0	3.8	5.5
IBU	24.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.47 G
Volume: 8.87 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.042
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.9 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
15.000 Lb	86.0 %	Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)	80.0	2.0
1.250 Lb	7.0 %	chit malt (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
1.250 Lb	7.0 %	Honey Malt (Gambrinus)	83.0	25.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.35 Oz	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)	15.5	60 mins	Boil	12.0
1.0 Oz	Nugget	13.0	20 mins	Aroma	8.0
1.0 Oz	Cascade	6.2	20 mins	Aroma	4.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Flagship Imperial A07

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.46

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	62	3	21	98	63	30
Sparge	62	3	21	98	63	30
Final	98	5	33	155	100	47
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

Regular 3 Vessel Brewday. No issues.
For whirlpool I killed the boil and i already had cooling setup in place. I cooled to 205F, put in hops and whirlpooled for 20 mins before cooling. It fell to 179F by the end of the 20 mins.
I pitched most of the 400mL of yeast I collected from the APA
The wort tasted great. seemed a bit bitter maybe?
11/1/19 pitched @ 2pm
@8pm steady bubbling
11/2/19 @8am strong steady bubbling
11/3/19 ditto
11/4/19 ~8 sec
11/5/19 ~30 sec
11/15/19 cold crashed to 35F
11/18/19 harvested yeast -> filled up most of a quart mason jar
FG 1.014
tastes really good. nice subtle hop flavor. malt profile is really nice

12/18/19 Tasting notes compared to a Kona Brewing Big Wave Golden Ale (BJCP reference Blonde Ale)

Aroma- Mine: sweet. low bready. low citrus/grapefruit, low earthy, no off aromas
Kona:low generic sweet, med-low citrus, no off aromas

Mine has a noticeably strong malt aroma, especially the bready notes. kona has a much stronger hop aroma but to me it is too much for a blonde ale.

Appearance – Mine: deep gold. nice 1/2″ head. excellent retention. crystal clear.
Kona: straw to pale gold. excellent head and retention.

Kona is noticeably lighter in color

Flavor: Mine: Low honey sweet, low toasty, low bready, low citrus, stonefruit (apricot) and earthy.
Kona: sadly showing a bit of age and oxidation. low clean sweet generic malt, med-low citrus/orange, grapefruit

Kona has zero malt flavor and much higher hop flavor. similar levels of bitterness

Mouthfeel – Mine:medium body, no astringency, lingering low breadiness and earthy notes
Kona: similar but lingering citrus

Overall: kona seems out of style. the hop flavor and aroma are more pale ale or even ipa although the bitterness is good. i like my beer but i need to tune down the honeymalt – maybe in half? to bring down the higher than i want for this style bready and rich honey notes as well as bring the color down from a deep gold to a light gold to straw color.

Grid Blonde 3V Conical v1_0

November 25, 2019 hommel Leave a comment

We all dream of opening a brewery. For fun, I’m making a run of brews that I would want as a part of my line-up. I want to experiment across the various ingredients especially different base malts, house yeasts and hop blends. For this run I’m using Imperial House A01 and the last of my left over NHC run ingredients.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_0
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author: Dennis Pike
Date: 07-06-2019

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.047	1.038	1.054
FG	1.010	1.008	1.013
Color	3.9	3.0	6.0
ABV	4.8	3.8	5.5
IBU	25.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 16.55 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.17 G
Volume: 8.5 G
Temp: 149.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.040
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.68 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
13.000 Lb	79.0 %	Pilsner (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8
2.750 Lb	17.0 %	Wheat (DURST MALZ)	84.0	3.6
0.800 Lb	5.0 %	Munich I (Weyermann)	82.2	7.1

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.3 Oz	Simcoe	14.1	60 mins	Boil	9.0
2.0 Oz	Simcoe	14.1	15 mins	Aroma	15.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
0.100 L	House Imperial A01

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
1.000 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.40

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	75	3	21	30	187	30
Sparge	74	3	21	30	185	30
Final	100	4	28	40	249	40
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 27.444 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.250 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 8.0 g
Lactic Acid: 6.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 6.0 g

Notes

Ferment at 68f for 2 weeks

Brewday notes:

Normal 3V Conical brewday

Pitched 150mL of thick slurry from last beer. fingers crossed.

7-19-19 @8am slow bubbling ~8 sec
@5pm rippin’
7-20-19 strong steady bubbling
7-21-19 slow steady
7/22/19 ~ 7 sec
7/23/19 ~15 sec
7/24/19 no bubbling
8/2/19 pulled yeast for next beer and took sample
FG 1.010
tastes good. clean. a bit mirky. cold crash for 48 hours
8/4/18 racked to keg

Blonde Ale 3V 1

November 18, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

I took a long break from brewing to totally remake the cold side in my brewery and move to conicals. For this I build a glycol loop which I thought would take a month or two but ended up taking four :). For the first beer on the new conicals I wanted to do something really simple and light to pick up on any flaws. Also, I had won a bunch of ingredients this year including a 50+ lb sack of Cargill 2 row and 2 pounds of Loral hops. Seemed like a good time to do a SMASH of those two and do a Blonde but with Session IPA level hopping of just Loral.
Recipe Info
Recipe: blonde 3v 1
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-10-2018

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.051	1.038	1.054
FG	1.011	1.008	1.013
Color	3.7	3.0	6.0
ABV	5.2	3.8	5.5
IBU	34.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 19.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.94 G
Volume: 9.46 G
Temp: 150.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.044
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.23 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 10.0 G
Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
19.000 Lb	100.0 %	Pale Malt – 2 Row (Cargill)	80.0	2.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Loral	11.0	60 mins	Boil	11.0
1.5 Oz	Loral	11.0	10 mins	Boil	12.0
2.0 Oz	Loral	11.0	15 mins	Aroma	11.0
2.0 Oz	Loral	11.0	3.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Wyeast 1318 London Ale III

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
0.500 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	61	3	21	30	153	30
Sparge	68	3	21	30	171	30
Final	97	4	32	45	242	45
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 30.284 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.000 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 7.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.000 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 7.0 g
Notes
Pitch at 67 and hold for 3 days. Raise 1 degree a day to 73 and hold through 2 weeks.
Collect yeast
Dry hop for 3 days
Cold crash
Drop hops
Rack to keg and carb to 2.5 vol
9/17/18 1.1L 110g DME starter of yeast 1318 London ale III
9/18/18 normal 3V brewery but used new conical for first time. No issues.
pitched @ 2:45 pm
9/19/18 @ 6am strong bubbling
9/20/18 steady bubbling
9/21/18 strong bubbling
9/22/18 ~7 sec raised to 68F
9/23/18 ~13 sec raised to 69F in morning and 70F in evening
9/27/18 very limited bubbling
10/2/18 plan was to harvest yeast for next beer but I ran off yeast using block and blow and I dumped waiting for yeast to go creamy and next thing I now I’m dropping beer. likely b/c I had not cold crashed and I dropped a bunch of yeast. dry hopped
10/5/18 set temp to 35F for cold crash
10/8/18 dropped trubb. wanted to rack to but immediately clogged dip tube. purged racking can but checked with brewery friends and said the cold crash for 2 days, dump the trub, then crash for another 2 days, then dump trub as well as racking arm and if that looks clean then they rack to keg otherwise wait 2 more days and repeat until it looks good but rarely more than 4-6 days total.
10/10/18 dropped bottom valve again and lots o trub. thick. ran off racking arm valve. pretty clean so racked to keg @ 3 psi with no issue. got a full 5 gallons which I was able to gauge by just looking at the condensation on the outside of the keg. ran off the rest from racking valve and had just under a gallon. beer seems good. a hair of rubber in the nose? we will see. put in keezer @ 30 psi for 24 hours then dropped to 12 psi and put on draft
10/16/18 tasted good. very hazy. not a loral fan. very floral and boring.
10/21/18 well made beer with no issues. kinda boring. Cargill 2 row really has very little flavor. loral’s description of “super noble” is kinda right. herbal but also has some berry notes and big floral / rose / geranial notes. berry could be from the London ale III. really nice frothy head. still very hazy even after being on draft for a few weeks. definitely looks like a hazy IPA. gypsum character is good. right where I would want it for a German pils. verdict -> Cargill 2 row is fine if you want a totally blank canvas. not good for single malt beer. loral is not great. wouldn’t use it again. London ale III is great for hazy IPA. I don’t like it otherwise. its ester character is not to my liking. too much berry notes.

Blonde Ale eBIAB 1

March 27, 2015 hommel 2 Comments

I just finished building my new brew rig which is a single vessel eBIAB setup so now the moment of truth. The first brew on the new system. Here is the new rig:

I’m basically assuming a bunch of stuff will go wrong so I’ve decided to go small batch with a cheap and simple beer that will show flaws and maybe a style I haven’t brewed before. Also my wife is tired of malty lagers so maybe something a bit hoppy. I scanned the style list and realized I’ve never brewed a Blonde Ale. How is that possible? Also I have about 2 lbs of various hops in my fridge including a half pound of Cascade and half pound of Centennial. So, how about a SMASH Blonde Ale? 2 row and Centennial hops. Why not.
I’ve also coded up a new recipe tool called BrewDesign (Please, try it out!!! And give me feedback!!!) so I used that as well. Here is the output for this brew:

BrewDesign

Recipe Info

Beer Name: blonde ale eBIAB 1
Style: Blonde Ale
Author: hommel homebrew
Date: 3-4-15

Style

Original Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.009
Color: 3.1
Alcohol: 4.6 %
Bitterness: 27.5 IBUs

Brewery

Efficiency: 75
Attenuation: 80

Mash

Mash Fermentable Weight: 8.7 Pounds
Mash Thickness: 2 Quarts per Pound
Grain Temp: 72 F
Strike Water Qty: 4.35 Gallons
Mash Volume: 5.05 Gallons
Strike Water Temp: 166 F
Mash Temp: 155 F

Boil

Kettle Gravity (start of boil): 1.033
Starting Boil Volume: 7.375
Boil Duration: 90 Minutes
Evaporation Rate: 1.25 Gallons per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 5.5

Fermentables

Weight (Lbs)	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
8.5	97.7	Canada Malting 2-Row	80.0	1.8
.2	2.3	Acidulated Malt	78.7	2.3

Hops

Weight (ozs)	Name	AAU	Time (mins)	IBUs / Addition
.5	Centennial Pellets	10.0	60	20.2
.5	Centennial Pellets	10.0	10	7.3
.5	Centennial Pellets	10.0	0	0.0
1	Centennial Pellets	10.0	dry hop	0.0

Yeast and Friends

Amount (Milliters)	Name
1 sachet	US-05

Misc

Amount	Name	Time
1	Whirlfloc Tablet	15
1 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10

Notes

mash salts:
4.5g Gypsum
boil salts:
4g Gypsum
should give mash pH of 5.4
pitch @ 65 and ramp to 68 over 2 days then hold till done (14 days). rack to keg lager for 2 weeks. rack to clean keg and force carb to 2.5 volumes.
Brew Day:
All in all it wasn’t hugely different than brewing on a 3 vessel system. Obviously the mechanics and chemistry of making beer all grain is the same. Some observations:
1) wow, the element is really powerful. admittedly it was smaller volumes of water but still. My sparge water was up to temp in 15 minutes. I got it to a boil in the same or less. So, even with working out kinks rookie style I still cut about 30 minutes off my brew day and I can imagine that I can get it down to about 5 hours from about 6.5 hours.
2) Don’t forget to turn on the element 🙂 my mash kept dropping in temp and i couldn’t figure out why. I then realized I had turned off the element when I pulled the bag up to drain but forgot to turn it back on. Oops 🙂
3) My wort was VERY hazy. And I now have the beer on tap and it’s still hazy. Like hefeweizen hazy. That said, I brewed another beer since and with my fixes in place that I’ll discuss, I have very nice and clear wort post mash and on down the line.
4) efficiency was crap. about 65% vs 80% on my old batch sparge setup. I improved this to 73% on my next brew which I’ll discuss below.
So where did the hazy wort and poor efficiency come from? I put in two fixes so not sure which it was but… First off, after I mashed in it seemed to be a really thick mash. I normally do 1.5 QT / LB water to grain ratio but most stuff I read said go thinner for BIAB so I did 2 QT / LB but it wasn’t right. It was way to thick. After the fact I realized in my cooler mash tun I have maybe 1/2 gallon of deadspace and all my beers were 5 gallon batches. My new setup has a basket in it that holds the BIAB bag and there is about 2 gallons of dead space below that. So for this brew it was 4.35 gallons of mash water but if you remove the 2 gallons it is really 2.35 which is a ratio of 1.08:1. Yow. For my next brew, I changed my recipe software to calculate the thickness with the deadspace removed then add the deadspace in to get the strike water quantity.
Also, in my setup I originally used a 1/2″ pipe to return the water to the top of the mash so it was like a garden hose of water coming back in and the mash bed never settled since it was constantly disturbed by the return water. So, I built a sparge arm to return the mash water gently back to the top. Here is a picture:

Needs a bit of work but it got the job done.
Back to what caused the haze and low efficiency. I think what happened was the mash was so thick that the enzymes were impeded and I didn’t get full conversion so hence the (probably) starch haze and low efficiency. So my guess is the thinner mash is what fixed it but the nice gentle recirculation likely didn’t hurt the wort clarity
With my next brew, the wort was very clear at the start and end of the boil – maybe better but at least as good as I had with my old 3 vessel setup so doesn’t appear to be a BIAB issue in general. Just me screwing things up a bit on the first go around 🙂
3/11/15 @ 1:30ish pitched rehydrated US-05 into at 66F
3/12/15 8 am nice big fluffy kreusen and solid bubbling. temp raised over 24 hours to 67F and held for whole fermentation.
3/13/15 same as yesterday. still bubbling strong
3/14/15 similar to yesterday but maybe slowing a bit
3/15/15 still kreusened but clearly slowing down but steady bubbling
3/16/15 kreusen dropped. hazy but bubbling slowed to ~2 sec
3/17/15 bubbling stopped
3/19/15 dry hopped with 1/2 oz centennial (1st of 2). yeast seems to have dropped but still hazy
3/21/15 2nd 1/2 oz centennial dry hop
3/24/15 racked to keg
FG 1.012 pH – 4.15 ( a little low but fine)
dropped to 35F in lagering fridge
forced carbed by shaking for 5 mins at 20 psi
3/25/15 put on draft
very hazy but otherwise a really nice beer. boring but 100% 2 row will do that 🙂 clean flavor and nice aroma. very promising if I can get the haze cleared up.