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Author Topic: Honey Blonde Ale  (Read 7757 times)

Offline BrewinSB

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Honey Blonde Ale
« on: June 01, 2011, 10:06:38 pm »
Hi everybody!  I am going to be attempting my first all grain batch on my next brew session.  This will also be my first time creating my own recipe instead of using a kit, so I want to get some advice/feedback.  I want to do a honey blonde ale that has a slight toastiness to it.  Ideally I want to take this on a vacation to San Diego in September (when should I brew it?).  This is what I plugged into Beersmith.  Any suggestions, critiques etc. would be awesome.  I am building a cooler MLT and will be doing batch sparging.  What temp(s) should I mash at?  I can't wait to start all grain brewing and creating recipes.

-8 lbs Pilsner 2 row
-8 oz crystal 20L
-8 oz Vienna Malt
-1 lbs Honey (orange blossom or something like that)

-1/2 oz nugget 60 mins
-1/2 oz amarillo 5 mins

**My choices for hops in Beersmith had nugget at 13%AA and amarillo at 8.5%AA, but who knows what it would be when ordered.  **Estimated IBUs:  27.6
**Estimated OG:  1.055

***Oh and I forgot yeast, what yeast would be recommended, WLP001 (Wyeast 1056), WLP029 (Wyeast 2565)(Kolsch), or some other strain?

What do you all think?  I kind of what a session type beer, but not too light and with some toastiness and hops; but overall an easy drinking beer.  Will that much honey really dry it out a lot?
« Last Edit: June 01, 2011, 10:21:17 pm by BrewinSB »

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Honey Blonde Ale
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2011, 11:37:36 pm »
I think that amount of honey will be fine, if anything the half pound of crystal might make it a bit sweet for a cream ale.  I would probably dial back the bitterness unless that's the way you like it.  Any of those yeasts will be fine, but don't discount US-05.  Brew it 5 weeks before your trip, it will be ready to bottle after two weeks in primary.

If you get your system set up before then, I'd recommend getting a tried and true recipe from somewhere and practice with that.  Better to work out the kinks of the system with the recipe being a known quantity then to have that as another potential problem.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline euge

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Re: Honey Blonde Ale
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2011, 11:42:37 pm »
I don't think the honey will dry it out, but you might not get the expected "honey" experience. It'll be in there, but perhaps a bit of honey malt might accentuate/complement the real honey. Also, it would be in line with the theme. :)
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Offline EHall

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Re: Honey Blonde Ale
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2011, 10:09:48 am »
I think your recipe looks fine. If you really want the honey flavor to come thru add it in the last 5min. You didn't mention if your bottling or kegging... I'd suggest if your bottling, brew it now and give it at least a month or more in the bottle, it'll taste much better than having only a month or less in there. If your kegging, you could shoot for having it kegged up about 2 weeks prior to leaving. Make sure you ferment as cool as you can, it'll be worth it too.
Phoenix, AZ

Offline bluesman

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Re: Honey Blonde Ale
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2011, 10:49:16 am »
I recommend swapping out the crystal and some of the base for a total of 2 pounds of Vienna to achieve some toastiness. The honey should be fine but add it at the very end of the boil. Hops are a personal preference. I would brew it in a few weeks for a September beer. S05 is clean whereas 029 will lend some fruitiness to the flavor profile. I like to mash this style 150-152 but keep your yeasts performance in mind.
Ron Price

Offline BrewinSB

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Re: Honey Blonde Ale
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2011, 10:58:43 pm »
This is all very new to me and I all these tips are great. Maybe I will end up using 001, 1056 or US-05 for the yeast. I'll attempt mashing at 153. Also, I may switch up the hop schedule a bit to dial down the IBUs. I don't want it to be too bitter as I want an easy drinking beer. Although, I do love hoppy beers, but my wife doesn't so much. What about:
-6lbs Pilsner
-1lbs Vienna
-4oz crystal 20L
-.25 oz Magnum 60 mins
-.5 oz Amarillo 5 mins or flameout
-1 lb honey 5 mins
-mash at 153
-estimated OG:  1.046
-estimated IBU:  14.1
-AAU's:  .7

I'll be bottling these (mixed 12oz and 22oz)