Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde

Yesterday was my attempt at a version of Biermuncher's legendary Centennial Blonde, currently up to more than 6200 gallons brewed overall.

Here's my recipe using malts that are easy to buy over this side of the pond. The original uses dried Nottingham yeast but I prefer liquid so I've selected WLP023 Burton Ale by White Labs. I've also slightly raised the OG as I prefer my ales around the 4.2% ABV mark.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 25.74 l
Post Boil Volume: 22.40 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.045
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 9.6 EBC
Estimated IBU: 22.2 IBUs
BH Efficiency: 74%
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

3.06 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) 80.0 %
0.31 kg BEST Caramel Pils (BESTMALZ) (5.0 EBC) 8.0 %
0.23 kg BEST Caramel Hell (BESTMALZ) (30.0 EBC) 6.0 %
0.23 kg BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC) 6.0 %
8.00 g Centennial [9.80 %] - Boil 55.0 min 9.2 IBUs
8.00 g Centennial [9.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min 7.2 IBUs
8.00 g Cascade [8.60 %] - Boil 15.0 min 4.1 IBUs
8.00 g Cascade [8.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min 1.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Burton Ale (White Labs #WLP023)


Base water was 28.37l of Asda Eden Falls adjusted to the Brewer's Friend 'Balanced Profile' using these salts dissolved in the mash water except the chalk which is mixed into the grist because it doesn't dissolve without unreasonable effort!


28.37 l Brewer's Friend: Balanced Profile I
3.66 g Calcium Chloride
2.69 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)
1.94 g Baking Soda
1.27 g Epsom Salt
0.94 g Chalk


The afternoon went smoothly with no issues. I think I'm going to have to adjust my efficiency estimates in Beersmith because ever since I started crushing my own grain my efficiency has shot up. This time it was 80% which means that I slightly overshot my pre and post boil gravities. Nothing to worry about though and I got 22l into the fermenter.

I checked this morning, 7 hour after pitching and it's bubbling like crazy in the brew fridge and kicking off a bit of a sulphorous whiff that reminds me of Marston's beers from my years spent in Nottingham (WLP023 is thought to be Marstons).

Here's the photos from my brew log.
Cheers,
Andy


Yeast starter. Got that going on Tuesday and overbuilt by 500ml so I've got some to keep in the fridge for the next brew.


Grains ready for crushing, except the Vienna which was bought crushed before I upgraded to my own barley crusher.


Crushed at a fine setting. BIAB doesn't have the stuck sparge issue so you can crush right down.


Water salts. Chalk gets mixed into the grist and the others are dissolved into the mash water.


Mash in at 66C. With the sleeping bag around the kettle I only lost 1 degree over the hour.


Hops. Normally I use pellet hops but there was a sale on and I got 100g each of Cascade and Centennial for less than 3 quid each. They both smell great but the Cascade in particular smells absolutely intoxicating!


Hops in the boil. There's a shot glass in each bag to keep them dangling below the surface, just at the point where the wort is roiling. Leaf hops are a bit of a wort sponge so they get a good squeeze after the boil.


Starter after cold crashing. I decanted off most of the spent wort, swirled it around and tipped in.

Crikey WLP023 is a vigorous exothermic yeast! 24 hours in the brew fridge in a cool garage and it's managed to raise ambient to 20C on its own without any additional heat. After 24 hours in a (more or less) sealed and insulated box ambient will be close to wort temperature so I'm not concerned but I can see how this yeast produces the fruity esters that it's noted for.

No probs with krausen volcanoes for me. I use a broad shaped 30L Brupaks fermenter so it would take a hugely impressive krausen to reach the lid.

Andy

I brewed this same beer the day after you, very much looking forward to trying it.

blawford said:

Very much looking forward to trying it.

Click to expand...

Me too. Did you use Nottingham yeast in yours?

foxbat said:

Me too. Did you use Nottingham yeast in yours?

Click to expand...

Yes, I had some on-hand.

I only re-hyrdrated on brew day and it was very active even then, like it was trying to climb out of the glass. Massive krausen the next morning after pitching which has now mostly gone, so I suspect it has nearly finished.

Looks like mine has finished, just took a gravity reading at 1.008.

Tasted fairly average at this point, can't expect too much of it, uncarbed and warm after 3 days.

You're down to 1.008 already? :shock: It's 1.011 for me which is where Beersmith predicted it would finish so maybe I won't get any more attenuation. After 7 days I'll turn up the heat from 18C to 20C to encourage the yeast to clean up then when the gravity has settled I'll cold crash for 3 or 4 days before bottling.

foxbat said:

You're down to 1.008 already? :shock: It's 1.011 for me which is where Beersmith predicted it would finish so maybe I won't get any more attenuation. After 7 days I'll turn up the heat from 18C to 20C to encourage the yeast to clean up then when the gravity has settled I'll cold crash for 3 or 4 days before bottling.

Click to expand...

My recipe said 1.009 which is actually exactly where I am, forgot my hydrometer is .001 off. Upped the temp from 19 to 21 earlier and will check again on Saturday. Maybe bottle early next week.

I just took a sample and mine's down to 1.010 after 9 days and I'm pretty sure it's still going, albeit very slowly because there were bubbles rising in the sample jar. It looks like this yeast has a long tail to the fermentation.



I'm going to increase the temperature another degree to 21 and I'll leave it for a full 14 days before switching the fridge on for the cold crash. I don't think there's much more to be done as I'm already at 77% AA compared to WLP023's stated range of 69-75%.

The taste from the sample jar's showing promise. It's hard to look past that yeasty mask when sampling a pale ale early but there's definitely the start of something good in there.

blawford said:

My recipe said 1.009 which is actually exactly where I am, forgot my hydrometer is .001 off. Upped the temp from 19 to 21 earlier and will check again on Saturday. Maybe bottle early next week.

Click to expand...

How's yours going? I bottled mine this morning after cold crashing for a week including 4 days with gelatin and it's still as cloudy as a Glasgow summer.



I'm not too concerned though. US-05 always does this to me as well and it still manages to drop clear in about 4 weeks. Looks like this WLP023 is going to be the same story. FG was 1.010 and I dry hopped with about 30g of Centennial for good luck.

foxbat said:

How's yours going? I bottled mine this morning after cold crashing for a week including 4 days with gelatin and it's still as cloudy as a Glasgow summer.

I'm not too concerned though. US-05 always does this to me as well and it still manages to drop clear in about 4 weeks. Looks like this WLP023 is going to be the same story. FG was 1.010 and I dry hopped with about 30g of Centennial for good luck.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply, I have just got back from 10 days away. I bottled on the 25th and after 10 days at room temperature to carbonate, left outside while on holiday. Put a few in the fridge when I got back and will try one on Friday. Will report back then!

Packaged in brown bottles so no idea on clarity, didn't use gelatin or cold crash, so not expecting too much. I think I will try gelatin on the next brew I do.

After 3 weeks conditioning mine has now dropped completely clear in the bottles. Not homebrew clear, I mean commercial clear. It's a wonderfully balanced brew with the citrus hop flavours coming through at just the right levels, combining with the fruity notes of the WLP023 burton yeast and balancing just right with the maris otter malt. When enjoyed at room temperature the full flavours are present but chill it in the fridge and it takes on a character close to that of a craft lager - very enjoyable at last night's barbecue. The internet was right, this is indeed a great brew and I can't see my bottles lasting long at all.

Note that I dry hopped with 30g Centennial for 5 days in addition to the recipe at the start of this thread.

I finished brewing my attempt at 04:00ish Sunday morning, I'm using MJM36 (because I had some) which has taken off like a rocket. Unfortunately it's slightly higher ABV wise than I wanted, but if it's as good as people suggest then I'll likely brew it again. The smell of the cascade were amazing, the centennial were a little on the dank side.