Belgian Blonde

Did a workshop series brew this evening that's just a basic small 60 minute addition (Magnum) and then specific hop combo at flame out. My version is Amarillo and Simcoe...it smelled heavenly going into the fermenter. Will be dry-hopped with the same combo.
I'd like to try the same thing with a FWH of Columbus.
Sounds great JA yep with FWH your getting extra bang for your buck out of your hops with some flavour contributions and smooth bitterness. Yep will be interesting to see how that beer turns out.

Question have you ever cold dry hopped before meaning dry hopped when fermentation temperature is 4 ish degrees ( unsure of Fahrenheit temp)? Reading an old exbeerment from brulosophey website today stating a smoother hop aroma and aroma lasting longer in the Keg. It's their warm dry hop vs cold dry hop exbeerment if you wanna check it out. Cheers
 
Did the recipe calculator give you 26 IBU for the FWH addition, or did you enter hops as a 30 minute boil addition?
the calculator by default assumes a boil time of 20 minutes FWH so I just input the actual boil time, 30 minutes in this case, as "Boil"
 
Question have you ever cold dry hopped before meaning dry hopped when fermentation temperature is 4 ish degrees ( unsure of Fahrenheit temp)? Reading an old exbeerment from brulosophey website today stating a smoother hop aroma and aroma lasting longer in the Keg. It's their warm dry hop vs cold dry hop exbeerment if you wanna check it out. Cheers

Haven't so far done any dry hopping except in secondary. This workshop brew is set up so that we'll use 2 ounces of hops in with the yeast pitch. Dry-hopping during fermentation should give a different result from dry-hopping in secondary. The other interesting thing about this group brew is that we're all using Amarillo as an "anchor" hop (since it seems to bring out the best in a lot of hops) and different brewers are choosing one of 4 different hops to pair with it for late- and dry-hopping. It'll be really informative to sample the results of everybody's efforts.
 
Haven't so far done any dry hopping except in secondary. This workshop brew is set up so that we'll use 2 ounces of hops in with the yeast pitch. Dry-hopping during fermentation should give a different result from dry-hopping in secondary. The other interesting thing about this group brew is that we're all using Amarillo as an "anchor" hop (since it seems to bring out the best in a lot of hops) and different brewers are choosing one of 4 different hops to pair with it for late- and dry-hopping. It'll be really informative to sample the results of everybody's efforts.
Sounds like Nelson Sauvin it's a great pairing hop too. Yep saves a lot of brewing time that way you can find out your favourite combination.
 
you really, really should be steeping some grains. You're missing out on half the beer and it's remedied by just steeping a half pound of specialty grain in the water before you add the DME. Easily the biggest improvement for the least investment and input of anything else you'll do.
Just a quick check - will this add sweetness to the brew? I've come to the conclusion that I really don't care for sweet (after)tastes.
If you know 1664 or Chouffe blonde, these are sweet beers for me. there are quite a few local craft examples too. Whitch makes me concerned that sweetness is a desirable feature for some brewers.
I'm not familiar with US beers, but I liked stone's cali-belgique and plain ipa. brewdog's punk IPA is quite to my taste. I'm also very partial to Budvar (the czech Budweiser) or Pilsner Urquell (even though it smells like old socks).
In short, the one thing I don't want violating my palate is sweetness. Like Brick Top says, "No, thank you, Turkish, I'm sweet enough"
 
Just a quick check - will this add sweetness to the brew?

Some definitely will, but so will darker extracts. You can sweeten an all-extract beer substantially using Munich or Amber LME and a yeast that attenuates in the 70-75 range.
If you steep a small amount of Carapils for instance you'll be adding dextrin sugars (complex, non-sweet-tasting molecules) present in the converted malt. Too much can give you a less clean tasting beer but in the right amount you gain unfermentables that add body and head retention to your beer. Steeping Pilsner malt at mashing temps of 145-155F will not only give you some converted sugars to add to the fermentables but will add some of the dextrins you want for body and give you that dry malty flavor that some the beers you mention definitely have.
I completely understand your preference for dry tasting and clean finishing beers. All the beers that you mention will have substantially more bitterness and hoppy flavor and aroma than many others.You may be experiencing hop character as drying and adding to the crispness.
If you get good attenuation on most beers, you're not going to end up with too much sweetness from adding a little steeping grain. Throw in enough hops to give you the bite you're looking for and you'll be very happy. ;)
 
sweetness is a desirable feature for some brewers.

1664 has a high % of wheat on the bill. Wheat has a natural sweetness regardless of how dry it ferments, and makes Hefeweizens popular as a summer drink. I don't believe La Chouffe uses any wheat, but it finishes at a high FG (>1.020) leaving many residual sugars. That's more a result of yeast attenuation limits in a high gravity beer.

The only steeping grains that will push thresholds are crystal malts. Their characteristic caramel flavor and sweetness are a result of non-fermentable sugar content. Dark roasted malts also contain non-fermentable sugars, but the bitter astringency of a roast usually wipes out any perception of sweetness. Most other grains, when steeped outside of mashing range, don't allow conversion of starches to sugar and contribute only their grain flavor.
 
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