Style Of The Week 15/2/07 Blonde Ales

[Stuster]

Well, better late than never (perhaps). This week, we're going to look at another summery style, blonde ales. This is BJCP style 6B.

As the guidelines say, this includes Summer ales and less aggressive APAs and bitters as well, so it's a fairly varied style.

One link only. Blondes are beautiful

So, what can you tell us about brewing this style? Grains? Hops? Yeast? Kits 'n' bits? Fermentation tips? Any commercial examples that are worth trying?

Tell us all you know so we can make better beer. :chug:

6B. Blonde Ale
Aroma: Light to moderate sweet malty aroma. Low to moderate fruitiness is optional, but acceptable. May have a low to medium hop aroma, and can reflect almost any hop variety. No diacetyl.

Appearance: Light yellow to deep gold in color. Clear to brilliant. Low to medium white head with fair to good retention.

Flavor: Initial soft malty sweetness, but optionally some light character malt flavor (e.g., bread, toast, biscuit, wheat) can also be present. Caramel flavors typically absent. Low to medium esters optional, but are commonly found in many examples. Light to moderate hop flavor (any variety), but shouldn't be overly aggressive. Low to medium bitterness, but the balance is normally towards the malt. Finishes medium-dry to somewhat sweet. No diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium-full body. Medium to high carbonation. Smooth without harsh bitterness or astringency.

Overall Impression: Easy-drinking, approachable, malt-oriented American craft beer.

History: Currently produced by many (American) microbreweries and brewpubs. Regional variations exist (many West Coast brewpub examples are more assertive, like pale ales) but in most areas this beer is designed as the entry-level craft beer.

Comments: In addition to the more common American Blond Ale, this category can also include modern English Summer Ales, American Klsch-style beers, and less assertive American and English pale ales.

Ingredients: Generally all malt, but can include up to 25% wheat malt and some sugar adjuncts. Any hop variety can be used. Clean American, lightly fruity English, or Klsch yeast. May also be made with lager yeast, or cold-conditioned. Some versions may have honey, spices and/or fruit added, although if any of these ingredients are stronger than a background flavor they should be entered in specialty, spiced or fruit beer categories instead. Extract versions should only use the lightest malt extracts and avoid kettle caramelization.

Vital Statistics: OG FG IBUs SRM ABV
1.038 - 1.054 1.008 - 1.013 15 - 28 3 - 6 3.8 - 5.5%

Commercial Examples: Redhook Blonde, Catamount Gold, Widmer Blonde Ale, Coast Range California Blonde Ale, Fuller's Summer Ale, Hollywood Blonde, Pete's Wicked Summer Brew, Deschutes Cascade Golden

 

[goatherder]

I made a summer ale a couple of months ago. About the only bjcp style it fitted was the blonde ale. Too pale and not enough hops for an APA, yet too hoppy for a couple of other styles. Anyhow, it was a really easy drinker - we pretty well smashed the keg on xmas morning over breakfast. I'd be happy to call it a blonde ale to get it into a comp. Here 'tis

Recipe: Amarillo Xmas Ale
Brewer: Scott
Asst Brewer:
Style: Blonde Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 26.50 L
Boil Size: 30.43 L
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 9.6 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.80 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (3Grain 58.3 %
1.10 kg Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 EGrain 22.9 %
0.70 kg Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC) Grain 14.6 %
0.20 kg Caramalt (Joe White) (49.3 EBC) Grain 4.2 %
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 17.0 IBU
25.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (10 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
30.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (0 min) (Aroma HopHops -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.40 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc

Yeast - US-56


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge, Equal batches
Total Grain Weight: 4.80 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.40 L of water at 72.5 C 65.0 C 60 min


I'm putting another one down next week using only centennial hops. I see this as a good recipe to get familiar with some of the more aromatic hop varieties.

 

[Jye]

Ive made a few Blondes but my favorite contained about 25% rolled rye (probably not true to style h34r: ) The rest was Pale malt and it was only hopped to 20IBUs with liberty and about 30g at 10mins, fermented nice and cool with US-56.

I actually plan to brew this again very soon :chug:

 

[Adamt]

Made a blonde ale recently which i am coincidentally drinking right now! Quite light in body, bit of malty sweetness up front with a decent whomp of Saaz. Was brewed at 18C with Nottingham and CCd for a few weeks. A bit of mouthfeel from the wheat and quite easy drinking!



My recipe is in my signature.

Edit: Flipped up the glass so it wasn't on it's side! Damn Newton.

 

[KoNG]

I've brewed 3 of these puppies in a row essentially.
by my guessing something like LCBA would fall into this category..!?
and thats what i've gone for in the below recipe. Its nearly finished primary and is tasting great.
i did a prototype before this beer that i am drinking now, if the changes improve the beer i'll be "well" happy.

Here Tis.



Bright 38
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 3/02/2007
Style: Blonde Ale Brewer: Dowdy
Batch Size: 27.00 L Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 31.60 L Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 % Equipment: KoNG's Brury
Actual Efficiency: 72.7 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
4000.00 gm Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (3.2 EBC) Grain 80.0 %
600.00 gm Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC) Grain 12.0 %
400.00 gm Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 EBC) Grain 8.0 %
20.00 gm Cascade [6.70%] (60 min) Hops 14.8 IBU
20.00 gm B Saaz Flower [7.70%] (20 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
15.00 gm Cascade [6.70%] (20 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
20.00 gm B Saaz Flower [7.70%] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
20.00 gm Cascade [6.70%] (20 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
3.00 gm Bicarbonate Soda (Mash 0.0 min) Misc
5.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.040 SG (1.038-1.054 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.010 SG (1.008-1.013 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.000 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 EBC (5.9-11.8 EBC) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 26.3 IBU (15.0-28.0 IBU)

 

[warrenlw63]

That recipe looks mighty nice Kong... Must do something similar with my newly aquired B Saaz flowers. As for the baking soda? Lotsa uses for that. :lol:

Here's one I did around 6 months ago. I guess it could be deemed to style. Virtually 100% MO with the exception of 2% of it which I toasted in the oven at 180c for around 30 mins. Turned into a real gem of a beer.

Was made in memory of my late father in law.

George's Pale Ale

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

10-A American Ale, American Pale Ale

Min OG: 1.045 Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 30 Max IBU: 54
Min Clr: 12 Max Clr: 36 Color in EBC

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 50.00 Wort Size (L): 50.00
Total Grain (kg): 9.20
Anticipated OG: 1.049 Plato: 12.22
Anticipated EBC: 13.2
Anticipated IBU: 31.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 87 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
97.8 9.00 kg. Baird's Maris Otter Pale Ale UK 1.037 7
2.2 0.20 kg. Toasted Pale Malt UK 1.033 133

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.00 g. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.20 5.1 60 min.
20.00 g. Willamette Pellet 5.00 6.6 60 min.
25.00 g. Wye Target Pellet 10.00 16.4 60 min.
20.00 g. Willamette Pellet 5.00 1.3 10 min.
14.30 g. Goldings - Kent Plug 5.20 0.8 5 min.
28.60 g. Hallertau Hersbrucker Plug 4.20 0.0 0 min.
14.30 g. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Plug 4.50 0.8 10 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 Oz Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

Split Batch
DCL Yeast US56 Yeast
Wyeast 1272 Am. Ale II



Warren -

 

[KoNG]

Heres what i'm pulling from the keg tonight, just to match 'Adamt"
I really like this style of beer in the summer months, its a great quaffer... and is also a good bridging beer for the swilling mates, who really need to make the jump to decent beer. :beerbang:



ps. Warren, bicarb has many uses... :lol:


edit: spelling/typing after 3 pints

 

[Justin T]

I just recently did a partial that would probably fall into the blonde ale catergory. I used 2.5kg Weyerman pilsner malt and a small amount of specialty, not quite sure which one....

It has turned out brilliantly clear and doesn't smell half bad either if a bit light on hop aroma... :super:

 

[DJR]

From the other thread on LCBA - i guess this meets the style criteria as it's just under the APA bitterness and colour.

--
Bottled this one a couple of days ago. Very close, probably not the same hops they used, but i'm sure it would be VERY close to the color, hoppiness, bitterness and overall impression i had from LCBA on tap.

Note that the Wheat and Vienna are both 0.6kg because i ran out for some reason - ideally it should just be 1kg Wheat (no torrified or maybe just 100g), 1kg Vienna (no Light munich). Hops should have been NZ B Saaz and probably Cascade or Amarillo, but the Centennial/Amarillo combo with NZ B Saaz for dry hopping worked well anyway. They use Carapils as well but i don't think that you would use more than 200g or so.

OG 1047@82%, IBU 28

JW Pils 2.4kg (55%)
JW Wheat 0.6kg (14%)
Weyermann Vienna 0.6kg (13.5%)
TF Torrified Wheat 0.4kg (8.2%)
JW Light Munich 0.4kg (9.4%)

Mashed @ 65C for 1hr

Hops

60m - Centennial 8.8% 7g, Magnum 13% 4g
25m - Amarillo '05 9.5% 5g, Centennial 8.8% 5g
Flameout - Amarillo '06 7% 15g, Amarillo '05 9.5% 15g, Centennial 8.8% 15g

Dryhopped with 5g each of NZ B Saaz and US Chinook

Fermented with US56/S33 mix at 18C, CC'ed for 1.5 weeks

Comes out pretty nice, the vienna adds that subtle maltiness that the LCBA has. I'd go another one perhaps using a Kolsch or German ale yeast rather than a Yank one, with the full 1kg vienna and 1kg Wheat, with nothing but B Saaz and Amarillo.

 

[KoNG]

bumpsy
Anyone been brewing a blonde of late, with any further advice....?
i'm looking at brewing another for FA cup next month. (if i can get over Rovers loss )

 

[Thommo]

I feel your pain Kong.

The boys have put in a good effort this season. Semi's of the FA Cup, knock out stages of the UEFA. With little money and a small squad they can hold their head high. (Apart from a certain embarrassing loss against the Arse!)

To make this post semi relevant...no, I haven't brewed one lately, but it's on the to do list. When it's my turn to take the beers along after the game this season I think a keg of Blonde Ale will go down nicely.

Cheers,
Thommo.

 

[KoNG]

i really had high hopes for an underdog cup final again this year...!
instead 2 of the BIG 4 doin battle again.

As for the Blonde, i'm out of B saaz flowers now, so i think i'll go mainly cacsade late and then bitter with some B saaz pellets i have.
The nottingham worked well too... drying it out a little for sessionability.

 

[warrenlw63]

For you poor crying Rovers;

What have Blackburn Rovers and a three pin plug got in common?

They're both bugger all use in Europe!

Edit to keep this thing on topic... Go the Pacific Hallertau!!!




Warren -

 

[Thommo]

That made me chuckle Warren, but to be fair we actually finally won a few games in Europe this time around.

Much better than our previous efforts.

Long live Sparky!!!!!

EDIT:
Forgot to get it back on topic. Think I might try Nottingham for my Blonde Ale yeast as well. Plus, my wife goes for Forest!!!

 

[Aussie Claret]

Thommo,
I have tried the Nottingham in a few paler style beers and to be perfectly honest I wasn't that happy with the results, simply due to the estery (dusty) profile of the yeast, these were fertmented cool around 15-16c.

Nottingham is a great yeast but more suited IMHO to darker styles. I prefer a neutral yeast in the lighter styles, I have had good results with US56 and also Californian V white labs yeast.

Cheers
AC

 

[Adamt]

I used Nottingham in a blonde recently; got the same dusty, grainy profile.

Use US-56.

 

[///]

Hiya

We use 1028 and take the English stance in our Blonde, akin to Everards and the like. Graham at Murrays has gone the Euro Blonde with higher alc's and Belguim yeast.

I no doubt love this style, and am remiss about the market taking up the drier versions.

Hops in ours come from Goldings and EKG's, with an expected TG of 1.006. An easy drinking enjoyable beer should be the target, with mash temps around the 64c for the Brit style.

Scotty

 

[KoNG]

Hiya

I no doubt love this style, and am remiss about the market taking up the drier versions.

Hops in ours come from Goldings and EKG's, with an expected TG of 1.006.
Scotty

Hey Scotty,
i would have thought that your desired FG would probably result in quite a dry beer itself..?
That said, i dont mind my blonde ales a little drier and have enjoyed the results of nottingham without any great dusty results some are mentioning.

KoNG

 

[mika]

Recently made a Blonde, basic grainbill
90% Wey Pils
5% Wey Munich 1
5% Wey Carapils

I think the colour is close to how a blonde should be (even though it has my trademark murkyness), maybe needs something a little extra to get more gold in it.
Hopped with Tettnang with 25g at flameout to give it some aroma.
I also mashed this fairly low at 66degs (low for my system).
The WY1335 yeast I pitched failed to fire, so ended up throwing in a packet of T58.
Finished at 1.006.
It's kinda like Corona....except without all that flavour :blink:
Even highly forced carbed it lacks the mouthfeel (due to low mash temp I guess), has basically no malt taste and I don't know what happened to the Tettnang, but there is no hop flavour/aroma to speak of.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience with the Blonde.

Fortunately the missus loves it, so at least someone will :chug:

 

[Jazzafish]

I find this style is a great one to introduce swill drinkers to real beer. Not too full on in hops, but enough to give them a taste of the dark side! This one worked a treat on some of my work mates, who started brewing their own after enjoying some of these:

SOCKEYE Amarillo Summer Ale

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 22.00 Wort Size (L): 22.00
Total Grain (kg): 5.20
Anticipated OG: 1.055 Plato: 13.52
Anticipated EBC: 12.6
Anticipated IBU: 34.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
76.9 4.00 kg. Pilsner Australia 1.037 3
9.6 0.50 kg. WHEAT Australia 1.040 2
5.8 0.30 kg. Munich Malt Australia 1.038 12
4.8 0.25 kg. CRYSTAL Australia 1.035 109
2.9 0.15 kg. Torrified Wheat Australia 1.030 2

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.00 g. Amarillo Gold Pellet 10.00 10.2 Mash H
10.00 g. NORTHERN BREWER Pellet 10.00 13.1 First WH
20.00 g. Amarillo Gold Whole 10.00 7.1 15 min.
20.00 g. Amarillo Gold Whole 10.00 4.4 5 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 Unit(s)Whirfloc Tablet Fining 20 Min.(boil)
1.00 Unit(s)Gelatine Fining 12 Days(fermenter)


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend