Kit O' Beer #8 - Cascading Canadian Blonde

[Glass]

ok so it shouldn't be a spoiler. Steady as she goes then.

[Glass]

ok bottled this one today. I think it was about 55 bottles. Expecting 60. I usually end up with a couple extra. This batch was short. Some losses racking and dry hopping. Temps have been cool days cold nights. Getting down to 3 or 4C. Inside it's about 13C. I didn't get it together to add heat until the last day.

Finished very clear. It tastes cleaner now. There was a surprising amount of yeast left in the secondary. The hops are there in aroma and taste. It is not as strong as KoB #7 where is dominates but it is distinctly there. Cascade seems to have a natural bitterness to it. It is the dominant sense I get from it. Acceptable here. I think this level is closer to the real LCBA.

We'll taste it in a couple of weeks

[Glass]

This one I should have called Cascadian Blonde. Came to me this morning. That was probably what I had in mind.

Ok so this one is 2 weeks in the bottle now. Time to crack one. It's carbonating. A bit light on just yet but enough to drink.

Colour is a nice golden colour. Just a bit cloudy but it has hops in it and it looks like a pale ale. No complaints. Looks good. No real lacing yet but it has a consistent trickle of carbonation going on.

Aroma is nice, fruity and summery. I can smell pine and citrus. It reminds me of a tropical ice confection that I used to enjoy when I was younger. Still have one from time to time when it's hot.

Taste. The taste follows the aroma very closely. There are the beer elements that give a bit more tartness to the taste than the aroma which is mostly sweet. The bitterness I experienced with KoB #7 Little Creatures Bright Ale clone is not evident. Maybe it is the motueka that give the bitterness?

All I can say is Damn, my beer keeps getting better and better. If I do say so myself. I thought this would be passable but its' dang tasty. Lucky too as I'm cranking through the lemon lager and the clone. Need to put some of those aside to share with some mates and there is not much left.

Verdict: It's a winner.

Couple other things. I bulk primed this one so it will be interesting to see how far the carbonation goes. Still not 100% on how much priming sugar - dextrose to use. Some people say they use about 100 grams or 3 ounces. Other people say they use as much as 7. And then there are the middle dwellers. Seems to be an even distribution of people across the range. I am tending between 160 - 175 gms. So 5 1/3 - 6 oz.

I also used screw top glass bottles for these. So they take crown seals but the bottles are threaded so you can open without bottle opener. I'm sure you have them. Consensus is mixed that they are any good to re-use. I figured I would have a go. I drank a lot of coopers who seem to have the more solid bottles. Thicker glass. Most people said thinner glass screw tops usually crack after one or two uses.

Seems to have worked ok. They do seal well. I found I could not screw the crown off as I expected and had to use a bottle opener. No biggie. When capping I found the bottles got stuck in the capping bell. Non threaded bottles don't seem to have that problem. I think it is because the non thread bottle had a bull nose and then curves under and the cap wraps over a bit but the threaded ones are straight and it makes them tight in the bell.

[Glass]

I've really taken to this beer. It ticks all the boxes. It has the colour. It has a slight haze to it which looks good. It has a great aroma and taste that finishes sweet like the canadian blonde but with the hop taste. I'd recommend it. I was going to do a lager at the weekend but I decided I would dry hop another canadian blonde. Just got to brew it.

[BrewTech]

I've really taken to this beer. It ticks all the boxes. It has the colour. It has a slight haze to it which looks good. It has a great aroma and taste that finishes sweet like the canadian blonde but with the hop taste. I'd recommend it. I was going to do a lager at the weekend but I decided I would dry hop another canadian blonde. Just got to brew it.

Glad the beer turned out good... I like the progress!

Unless you are equipped to pitch your yeast and ferment at 10C, I wouldn't bother trying to do a proper lager. Stick with ales.

Tried a Kolsch Ale yeast yet? I use Fermentis K97 for my Gold (won a ribbon recently, TYVM) and it is great. Very lager-like when fermented at about 62F...

[Glass]

Glad the beer turned out good... I like the progress!

Unless you are equipped to pitch your yeast and ferment at 10C, I wouldn't bother trying to do a proper lager. Stick with ales.

Tried a Kolsch Ale yeast yet? I use Fermentis K97 for my Gold (won a ribbon recently, TYVM) and it is great. Very lager-like when fermented at about 62F...

Yes this one I liked a lot. I've got to make another. Soon. Before I run out. hehe

I won't be doing a lager until I can chill it. On the list of things to get sorted out. I haven't seen a Kolsch Ale yeast that I recall but there are many brands of yeast at the LHBS so they may have it and I didn't notice. Will check next time I am there.

[Glass]

I've been drinking this stuff like it's going out of fashion. Soft sweet summer fruit aroma and flavour. It may be a bit a sweet but it's still tasty.

[Glass]

Electric blankets.

I said that I swapped out that electric blanket. I dislike appliance stores and appliances BUT I think I've worked out a pattern of where I am going wrong. That's a whole nother story and I'd just be whinging.

This blanket works but only just. I think the pattern is the brand. I seem to have repeatedly bought this brand for a couple different things and it's like buying safety scissors. Iron, fan heater and electric blanket. Same brand, none of them get really hot but chew the full quota of juice.

I have it draped around the coopers fermenter. It is much larger than the regular size 30L fermenters. It isn't bunched up or overlapped. I pegged the top ends and the sides to hold it. At full setting I can feel it giving off heat. Other settings I can't feel it.

17C inside, running all night and today the fermenter is at 24C. I can smell the beer when in the room and the yeast suds are a good 1" thick. It's a bit warm IMO so have turned it down and will see if we can steady it at 22C. The outside maybe warmer than the inside where the beer is because its got more thermal mass than air. So it may be 22C inside already anyway. I'll run it on #1 for a while and see if it is making heat.

Some things. I put a blanket over the top of it all. I figured the heat is mostly escaping up and these things are designed to build up heat in surrounding bedding. I figured that was the case and was thinking to get some kind of reflective to wrap it in. I've seen this big bubble wrap stuff that I think they use for insulation. Make a soft chamber out of it with the blanket stuck on the inside.

If the fermenter was in a cupboard I would just hang it on the door.

I was unsure about using it wrapped around something. They say don't use if creased or folded. It isn't really folded or creased. You can get these electrically heated throw rugs to put over you on the couch. Its the same thing. And they are machine washable so the element should be durable. Hasn't caught fire yet.

[Libertytree]

They make reflective tape that they use to wrap duct work with and I was thinkin maybe you could line the inside of a cardboard box and set it over the fermenter that's wrapped with your rig?

ETA: Mylar sheeting might be a little cheaper?

[Glass]

Ponce mentioned this bubble wrap stuff in his home heating thread. Maybe he mentioned it before but I did look around and find some. I don't need much and I figured I would tape it into a cylinder or a box to slide over the fermenter having stuck the electric blanket to it first. A cardboard packing box would be about the right size I think and yes it could be an option. Old tea chest size would be about right.

I've had it on #2 setting since the last post. It dropped down to 22C and has sat there nice and steady since. If I had it fully enclosed I think it would over heat at that setting. The idea would be to run it on #1 however I don't think it actually gives off any detectable heat at that setting.

Anyway it is working well for now. The temp is about right and the yeast look plenty happy. We are swinging between 4-6C (39F) minimums to 16-18C (60F) maximum daily temps so I am happy it seems this stable even when the pre-dawn chill sets in. You can really feel the temps drop a couple of degrees around 3 - 4 AM. I think the power use is about 60watts which is good. The heater I was running for 15mins every hour uses 2400watts. So 1Kw per 4 hours or 6Kw per day. This would be about 0.5Kw per day AND I can have some heat as well as the beer. Sitting in the cold while the beer is nice and cosy sucks.

I'd really like to find some mylar. I've looked and looked and you just can't find it in a regular store here. I don't know why that is. I'm sure you can get it but I think you need to go to trade type stores, building supplies and so on. The Local HW doesn't seem to stock it. Saying that there is a new hardware chain opened up and I scored a couple things there you can't get elsewhere. Need to spend more time there.