Brewing now

Saaz is nice in a Blonde. I haven't used S-33, so can't comment in that. I would recommend a more characterful base malt and/or some munich. An (american) Blonde is mostly about the malt character.

 

Not a lot. I should have this memorized, because I brewed the same exact recipe four weeks in a row, but I have a very good Blonde recipe, and I'll check the hop additions when I get home.

 

Is this an AG or extract brew?. If it is AG I would suggest you to mash a bit high(156 F). I would not use S-33 for this style, I rather use Nottingham or Windsor.The addition of Vienna and/or Munich malts could benefit this beer enhancing the maltiness. Try to do not add too much bitterness, maltiness is the star in this beer style.

 

I agree you should not use the S-33, it has a low attenuation. I do like the Nottingham, but in this case for a blond I would go US-)% all the way. ferment low, ~62F if you can and it will be real clean, almost lagerish. It will extend the fermentation time by a day or three, but worth it.

 

I didn´t have good results with S-04. Don´t worry if you must delay 2-3 hs prior pitching, you can get the other yeasts suggested.


´Would you suggest sticking just with the 1 oz. Glacier at 60 min?´


What is your OG ?

 

It is extremely important that you know these numbers, otherwise you are going to fly blind.You only need an hydrometer, a test tube and a thermometer, cool wort and take a read.Then you must adjust that read in regards wort temperature.


Assuming you are near 1050 you are going to get something around 19 IBUs adding 1 oz Glacier 5,6 AA% for 60 min.It is a good choice.

 

Not much to do in terms of figuring it out. Just read the hydrometer.

Grab a sample, put it in the tube, put your hydro in it, and make sure the sample is at 60*F, or whatever you hydro is rated too.

Do it before you boil get a reading to find your pre boil OG from the mash. Then get a reading after you've chilled down, that would be your post boil, or your "true" OG.

Then your FG is the last reading you get after fermentation. Nothing else to do, no real calculating needed for it.

Take your OG-FG=X and then you can use X*131.25= ABV %.

 

I doubt you will get a FG of 1000 because your mashing temp was a bit high, there will be some dextrines remaining in your beer that could lead the FG to be around 1012-1014 .So your ABV% will be in the range of 5,4 - 5,1 aprox.

 

Correct.

It's not different than reading a thermostat, or reading a thermometer. Hydrometer is just an instrument that gives you a number.

You'll learn more by noting all your OG's and FG's. You can take a similar recipe, which you liked but thought it could use less alcohol and more body. You can mash higher get the same OG, and a higher FG, which will lend more sweetness, more body, and less alcohol, obviously.

 

I use a freeware program called Q-Brew. it is easy to use, FREE, and works very well. Put you ingredients in and it tells you what your looking at. You method of brewing will be the determining factor, but it will get you ball park numbers to use as a guide for future brewing. There are other programs out there, much more comprehensive, cost money, and require a degree to understand. I prefer simplicity, Once you figure out your average mash extraction, and your fairly consistent, you can predict your numbers fairly well. But if you have a system that works for you, by all means use it.