Blonde Ale Suggestions?

[Paddy Bubbles]

I'm looking for some suggestions for a blonde ale recipe. The intended audience are fairly conservative drinkers who normally drink lager and aren't mad into the American hoppy thing.

I'm thinking Maris Otter, wheat malt, small addition of CaraMalt and hopping with something like EKG or Northern Brewer. Yeast will be US-05.

I've got some Hersbrucker hops that I'd like to use, but I'm unsure about using these in a blonde ale. I'm planning to include a small addition of Cascade at zero minutes, to steer them in the right direction!

Would love to hear your suggestions.

Cheers.

[Spikesdad]

Hi Paddy.

I can heartily recommend something like one of mine... here

It is a nice easy going drink, and has had thumbs up from lager lovers i have used as guinea pigs, and not told 'em its really 'an ale', allbeit a blonde one.

You could swap the magnum for a US hop (Amarillo would be my choice), cos while it is still young, the bitterness does come through more than i wanted, but that seems to be mellowing as it ages.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers, dave

[alix101]

I recommend using kolsch yeast for a blonde it has a, superb clean taste almost like lager ...remember your hops don't want to knock your socks off although you can use any variety, the ibu should be around 15- 28.I probably wouldn't use cara malt but instead use some biscuit malt its character.

[Paddy Bubbles]

Great, thanks for the suggestions chaps.

I did consider the Kolsch yeast but my supplier doesn't have any in stock.

[zgoda]

I brew blondes as follows, 200 gms caramalt or any blond type crystal, 400 gms Vienna malt and pilsner malt to og of 1.044. I guess if using mo you can skip Vienna. Mash as usual. Wheat - optional, my beers have good head retention and nice lacing without any wheat.

Hops - any, hersbrucker will be fine, as any other with mild flavour, like Hallertau, Perle, Mt. Hood, Goldings or Challenger, IBU ~25 so bitterness rather low, and hop flavour too.

Fermented with US-05, Notty, Wyeast British Ale II - rather less fruity to catch delicate balance. Kolsch or Altbier yeast would be fine, but they both settle poorly and beer will take forever to clear.

Fine drink for spring and summer.

[jmc]

I've tried Liberty hops in a blonde ale and that's very accessible for non-ale drinkers.
They are used with Saaz in Fuller's Discovery

[Paddy Bubbles]

I've tried Liberty hops in a blonde ale and that's very accessible for non-ale drinkers.

Another hop to add to the "to-do" list!

Thanks dude.

[Paddy Bubbles]

I brew blondes as follows, 200 gms caramalt or any blond type crystal, 400 gms Vienna malt and pilsner malt to og of 1.044. I guess if using mo you can skip Vienna. Mash as usual. Wheat - optional, my beers have good head retention and nice lacing without any wheat.

Just to confirm, you'd use all pilsner malt or just 400g? I'm not a lager brewer so I've no experience of this grain.

Hops - any, hersbrucker will be fine, as any other with mild flavour, like Hallertau, Perle, Mt. Hood, Goldings or Challenger, IBU ~25 so bitterness rather low, and hop flavour too.

Good to hear. I'll give the Hersbrucker a crack. How bad can it be??

Fermented with US-05, Notty, Wyeast British Ale II - rather less fruity to catch delicate balance. Kolsch or Altbier yeast would be fine, but they both settle poorly and beer will take forever to clear.

Nice. I've little experience with liquid yeasts right now, and I've even less patience with non-flocculant yeasts. The US-05 will do fine for this. (I don't want to use an English yeast in this beer as I already have a mild and a couple of bitters on the go.)

[Matt12398]

The Graham Wheeler clone of Fuller's Discovery is on my brew list to go in a keg ready for summer drinking.

Seymour also posted a tasty sounding blonde with Centennial but fumbling around in the search function I can't find it anymore. If someone finds it please post the link because I want to try it.

[jmc]

......

Fermented with US-05, Notty, Wyeast British Ale II - rather less fruity to catch delicate balance. Kolsch or Altbier yeast would be fine, but they both settle poorly and beer will take forever to clear.

Nice. I've little experience with liquid yeasts right now, and I've even less patience with non-flocculant yeasts. The US-05 will do fine for this. (I don't want to use an English yeast in this beer as I already have a mild and a couple of bitters on the go.)

I'd avoid US-05 if you have no patience with non-flocculant yeasts. I've done a couple of brews with them and they've taken an age to settle. A bit dusty too IMHO.

I'd use Notty and if you've got temp-control I'd brew at the low end of its preferred temp-range (say 18C) to keep flavour clean & minimise esters.
More info on Nottingham from Danstar

[zgoda]

400 gms Vienna malt, 200 gms low colour crystal, topped with pilsner to og of 1.044. How much exactly depends on your brewhouse and brew length. In my case it's 3kgms for 19 ltrs or 3.2kgms for 21 litres.

It's not a "lager thing", I just live in Poland and pilsner malt is cheapest here, pale is mostly imported and more expensive.

[Paddy Bubbles]

400 gms Vienna malt, 200 gms low colour crystal, topped with pilsner to og of 1.044. How much exactly depends on your brewhouse and brew length. In my case it's 3kgms for 19 ltrs or 3.2kgms for 21 litres.

It's not a "lager thing", I just live in Poland and pilsner malt is cheapest here, pale is mostly imported and more expensive.

Cheers for clarifying. I'll be slinging in 500g of pilsner malt (as a user-upper) but the rest of the grist will be Maris Otter.

[Paddy Bubbles]

I'd avoid US-05 if you have no patience with non-flocculant yeasts. I've done a couple of brews with them and they've taken an age to settle. A bit dusty too IMHO.

It's not too bad, but it does take a bit more patience. I find that after the fermentation has finished, a gentle rock of the fermenter and a couple of days waiting makes the yeast drop out. It's a little fluffy in the bottle alright, but nothing that can't be overcome by a decent conditioning period and careful pouring. Cheers.