Sneaky Big Blonde Ale
#1
Posted 21 April 2009 - 08:39 AM
#2
Posted 21 April 2009 - 09:24 AM
#3
Posted 21 April 2009 - 10:42 AM
#4
Posted 21 April 2009 - 11:06 AM
Hi Ken, I'm going to ferment around 57-59 degrees. In fact, I'm going to be using your tub/frozen water bottle method of keeping my fermentation temps down. Any other tips using this method?I've become a HUGE fan of Whirlfloc...it's so much better than IM. I've never had any issues with my water (I don't think! ). I just pull it right out of the tap!It's named after my sister-in law's...ummmm...chest! She wanted a light blonde ale named after her!Yeah, it looks nice. What temp are you going to ferment with the 2565? The Kolsch yeast will make a nice blonde ale (cleaner at lower temps, a little fruitier at higher temps) and you can even get a pretty clear beer even though the 2565 is a low-floccer. Use some Whirfloc in the brewpot, maybe a gel solution in the secondary and maybe get the secondary cool/cold before you package it. Do you know what your water is like? If it's the slightest bit hard, you might consider some amount of distilled water in the mash & sparge to soften the beer a little. When I used to make pilsners, blondes, cream ales or American wheats with my hard water in the past, I ended up with a clunky, non-smooth finish to the beer. These are beers that are meant for warmer weather and relatively quick-consumption so the softer water will play right into that. Cheers & good luck.Hey... where's the beer's catchy name?
#5
Posted 21 April 2009 - 12:27 PM
Use enough water so that everything stays consistent... the more water, the better the insulating power and the less things will fluctuate. If you can, place a probe thermometer in there so you know where you're at. If it starts to creep up, rotate the water bottles.On the water, as long as you've made beers in this style before, you're fine. My local tap water is relatively hard and very high in chlorine. The filtering cuts out the chlorine which makes the water better, for sure. But on light-colored beers that are supposed to be "smooth", the finish can be a little "hard" which turns off some people. This is not an issue with things like pale ales, reds, ambers, etc. where there's more flavor and the finish is not as noticeable. On some of the latest Czech & Mexican Lagers I just made, I used some distilled in there along with the filtered tap water which should smooth things out a little bit. Cheers and good luck... Hey, your SIL wants a beer named after her? She's got it!Any other tips using this method?
#6
Posted 21 April 2009 - 01:07 PM
#7
Posted 21 April 2009 - 01:17 PM
#8
Posted 21 April 2009 - 02:31 PM
Bingo.Chad,If I can give advice on your pitch temp I would suggest chilling to 2-3 degrees lower than your intended fermentation temperature and let it rise with the heat of fermentation. I would say chill down to 55-56 and let it rise to 58ish if you like. I think the Kolsch yeast will add some nice character to your beer as well. Enjoy and good luck.
#9
Posted 22 April 2009 - 06:30 AM
#10
Posted 22 April 2009 - 08:09 AM
#11
Posted 22 April 2009 - 08:25 AM
hmm...so your SIL has a sneaky chest...one of those girls that hides them....then BAMMO where'd those come from....I'd...umm...drink itIt's named after my sister-in law's...ummmm...chest! She wanted a light blonde ale named after her!
#12
Posted 22 April 2009 - 08:41 AM
#13
Posted 22 April 2009 - 09:15 AM
#14
Posted 22 April 2009 - 11:40 AM
#15
Posted 22 April 2009 - 12:33 PM
TTIUWP!!!!!She hides them well but come summer time, those babies are ready to be let out!
#16
Posted 22 April 2009 - 12:41 PM
+2TTIUWP!!!!!
#17
Posted 22 April 2009 - 12:48 PM
#18
Posted 22 April 2009 - 01:13 PM
Nice. We'll be waiting.On the water thing... I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but earlier this year I made 4 "gold lagers" with Wyeast 2000 Budvar and Wyeast 2001 Pilsner Urquell. The only one I have ready to drink is one with 2001 and I didn't do anything to my water but filter it. It's good all the way around, but it's just not as smooth as it could be and I'll assume that it's my hard water. I made a few others with 50% distilled water and my guess is that they will be noticeably smoother. They're all in secondary or primary at the moment so time will tell. All that said, I just use filtered tap for my Blonde Ale and I really enjoy that beer so maybe I just "expect" a pilsner to be smoother than a Blonde Ale.I'll fill her full of my Sneaky Big Blonde Ale and see if she'll let me take a few pics! I'll just tell her I'm thinking about putting a new label together
#19
Posted 22 April 2009 - 01:15 PM
On the water I can agree that using soft, especially low in carbonates has lead to smoother tasting golden beers for my taste buds anyways.Nice. We'll be waiting.On the water thing... I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but earlier this year I made 4 "gold lagers" with Wyeast 2000 Budvar and Wyeast 2001 Pilsner Urquell. The only one I have ready to drink is one with 2001 and I didn't do anything to my water but filter it. It's good all the way around, but it's just not as smooth as it could be and I'll assume that it's my hard water. I made a few others with 50% distilled water and my guess is that they will be noticeably smoother. They're all in secondary or primary at the moment so time will tell. All that said, I just use filtered tap for my Blonde Ale and I really enjoy that beer so maybe I just "expect" a pilsner to be smoother than a Blonde Ale.
#20
Posted 22 April 2009 - 01:37 PM
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