The spring blonde recipe :
- Color : Blonde
- Alcohol content : 5.7%.
- Quantity : 20L
- Bitterness : Moderate
- Brewing time : 5h
- Difficulty : Medium
Ingredients
- 3.7kg Pilsner Malt
- 500g Rye Malt
- 300g Wheat Flakes
- 30g Saaz leaf hops
- 70g Saaz leaf hops
- 30g elderflower
- 1 sachet SafBrew T58
- Total volume of water: 32L (preferably Chloride / Sulfate = 1:2)
Brew our spring lager recipe step by step
Step 1
In your brewing vessel, heat 13.5 litres of water to 72°C and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well to soak all the malt and don’t hesitate to crush any lumps against the sides of the tank.
Stir until the temperature drops to 65°C and keep it there for 1 hour.
At the same time, heat 18.5 litres of water to 75°C.
Step 2
Once the saccharification time is over, move on to filtration and rinsing.
Step 3
Then heat your wort and boil for 60 minutes.
Add 30g of hops as soon as the timer starts. With 5 minutes to go, add the remaining 70g.
The IBU for this beer will be around 30.
Optional: If you don’t want to go overboard, you can add the elderberries at the same time as the aromatic hops.
That said, to maximise the floral aromas, there’s another way of doing things and I’ll come back to that in step 5.
Step 4
Then cool the wort to 20°C and transfer to the fermenter, not forgetting the yeast.
Your initial specific gravity should be around 1.043.
Ferment at 20°C for the first three days, then rise to 22°C for the next 4 weeks.
Step 5
For those who haven’t incorporated elderflower, you’ve made the best aromatic choice! Here’s how to do it:
To be on the safe side, you’ll need to sterilise the elderflower. To do this, place it in a saucepan and cover with a little water. Heat to 80°C (no boiling) and leave for around 15 minutes.
Add everything (including the water) to your fermenter. The advantage of adding your dried flowers at the end of fermentation is that the aromas will not escape during boiling or primary fermentation.
Step 6
Ferment for a final week (or two if fermentation is on hold – this can happen with seasonal yeasts, so I recommend that you measure your specific gravity).
To help your little creatures a little, raise the temperature to 25°C. Don’t worry, saisons have a good tolerance to heat.
The final density should be around 1,000. Yes, it’s low, but the Belle-Saison is voracious! And that’s what gives this beer its fresh, thirst-quenching character.
Step 7
Add 7g per L of sugar at bottling. We want a nice froth and good carbonation here.
Over view
This friendly little blonde is simple, floral and thirst-quenching. The rye malt adds a little spiciness that blends perfectly with the yeast aromas.
The addition of elderflower in secondary fermentation will also add a freshness that’s perfect for spring.
It’s late January as I write this, but seasonal yeasts tend to take breaks during fermentation. So you’ll need 5 to 6 weeks in the fermenter. Allow about the same time in the bottle and paf! Brewed in February, it will be perfect for early April when the days start to get longer and the temperatures start to ease.