Batch 368: Tropical Blonde Ale

Recently, Uncle Dave's best buddy Greg turned 40, and Greg's bride Colleen asked Dave and me if we would brew a beer for the occasion. Time was short when we got serious about it; I told Dave, "OK, it'll have to be a quick maturing low gravity beer." "How about a nice bitter, or a mild, or an Irish stout?" Well, the party theme was sort of a Hawaiian/Polynesian thing, and at the 11th hour we hit on this: A simple blonde ale with the distinctive tropical fruit flavors and aromas of Citra hops! Here's what we did:

(10 gallons)

12 lbs. Great Western 2 row malt

Mash with 1 qt./lb. at 150F. Vorlauf/lauter/sparge to kettle until runoff gravity falls to 1.008. Make up kettle to 12 gallons with brewing liquor. Boil 90 minutes.

Hops:

1.1 oz. Willamette 5.2% for 60 minutes
1 oz. Citra 13.7% for 15 minutes
1 oz. Citra 13. 7% for 5 minutes

Calculated BUs: 24
OG: 1.038
FG: 1.008

Chilled wort and pitched with Danstar Nottingham. Fermented at 70F.

This beer was really nice; 4% alc/vol, lots of interesting fruit flavor and aroma from the Citra, and undoubtedly from the Nottingham yeast as well, and definitely suited to the party theme.