blonde ale

Iliff Avenue Brewhouse

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So I'm basically going for a basic, low IBU blonde ale with a little bit of hop punch in the aroma. I have never used only bittering and dry hop additions so I'm not sure if no late hops is a good idea or not. I thought late boil hops might start to take it closer to pale ale territory. I want it to be reasonably recognizable as a blonde with the yeast and dry hops obviously adding some uniqueness. Any thoughts?

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/307796/yum-yum-blonde
 
My understanding with later hop additions is less flavour and aroma compounds are boiled off leaving more in the wort. I usually do a 60 FWH then a 20 or 15 for flavour and drop some in near end of boil or flameout/ Whirlpool. I think it's whatever works for you and your tastes. Think back to previous blondes you've done look at the hop schedule and adjust from them. I recon you could simplify that blonde ale more by ditching either Munich or honey malt.
 
My understanding with later hop additions is less flavour and aroma compounds are boiled off leaving more in the wort. I usually do a 60 FWH then a 20 or 15 for flavour and drop some in near end of boil or flameout/ Whirlpool. I think it's whatever works for you and your tastes. Think back to previous blondes you've done look at the hop schedule and adjust from them. I recon you could simplify that blonde ale more by ditching either Munich or honey malt.

Thanks for the feedback! My blondes usually don’t end up with enough malt character for my tastes hence the Munich and more crystal malt than I would normally use.
 
Do the whirlpool hops. You'll get a ton of flavor and a smooth addition to the perceived bitterness as well as contributing to the aroma. Can't comment on the hops much as I don't use the Mandarina. Amarillo, IMO, gives a floral density to the flavor that's best offset with a more aromatic fruit/citrus hop - Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade etc. The Mandrina may be perfect for that if it's not overpowered.
 
Thanks for the feedback! My blondes usually don’t end up with enough malt character for my tastes hence the Munich and more crystal malt than I would normally use.
Yep makes sense then you could try mashing up higher in the sac rest. I've been having this issue to so I've.been mashing at 66c instead of Step mash of 62c 40min then 68c 20min. I've also favoured chloride ratio in malt favoured beers. Some of it I believe is a yeast thing how much it attenuates.
 
Little complicated, drop everything but the Pilsner and Honey malt. Whirlpool your hops and go for 1.5 oz MB and 1 oz Amarillo. Let DryHop naturally ramp from 66, finish at 74. should be tasty.
 
Little complicated, drop everything but the Pilsner and Honey malt. Whirlpool your hops and go for 1.5 oz MB and 1 oz Amarillo. Let DryHop naturally ramp from 66, finish at 74. should be tasty.

Whirlpool is not an option. Probably sticking with the grain bill which I don’t consider complicated. More concerned about hop presence with only bittering and dry hop. Since I won’t be whirlpooling should I not worry about late kettle additions?
 
Whirlpool is not an option. Probably sticking with the grain bill which I don’t consider complicated. More concerned about hop presence with only bittering and dry hop. Since I won’t be whirlpooling should I not worry about late kettle additions?
You could just do a hop stand or a good 5 minute addition for flavour.
 
Ok so I am second guessing the munich malt I just I want come malt character. Any comments on how much of crystal malt would be appropriate? I rarely use more than a half pound of crystal in anything. I have used a pound of honey malt one time and it was too much hence why I am splitting it with the carahell.
 
Crystal will usually add body, sweetness and caramel flavors. if you want malty character, stick to the Munich.
 
Crystal will usually add body, sweetness and caramel flavors. if you want malty character, stick to the Munich.

Thanks. I think I have come up with a good compromise although I think some will still think it's too complicated.

84% pilsner
7% munich I
6% carahell
3% honey malt
 
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Seems like a good route to go. You've got some Munich for flavor with the Honey malt adding some character and sweetness and the Carahell/Carapils will give some extra body so you can mash low for good attenuation. ;)
 
Thanks. I think I have come up with a good compromise although I think some will still think it's too complicated.

84% pilsner
7% munich I
6% carahell
3% honey malt

My last brew was a slightly modified clone of an imperial stout. I dropped the original 11 grains to 8 but I still felt slightly dirty ordering all those different grains. Now to wait the weeks to see if I can tell the difference.
 
My last brew was a slightly modified clone of an imperial stout. I dropped the original 11 grains to 8 but I still felt slightly dirty ordering all those different grains. Now to wait the weeks to see if I can tell the difference.

If you can justify having each grain then I don't consider it to be complicated however I rarely use more than 3-4 grains for anything unless I'm doing something dark and complex...
 
The beer is still carbing up but is tasting very nice and interesting. I ended up forgoing the dry hop so I could get a feel for the yeast alone. I used bittering hops only but it smells and tastes as if it was dry hopped which is really kind of cool. There is sort of a tart character from the sacc trois part of the blend so I'm curious if that will be remain. My palate is a little off as well because I haven't been able to shake a cold however I'm very impressed by what this yeast can do on it's own.

I mainly get apricot and vanilla on the nose with added citrus in the flavor.
 
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