Help with recipe adjustment - Blonde ale

[oregonianredbird]

I’m helping my friend brew in 10 hours, and we need advice ASAP. He went to a brew shop and accidentally measured out 10x the amounts of carapils and aromatic malt called for in the recipe we’re brewing (a blonde ale - kolsch malt bill with american hops). Now, he has the following grains measured and milled together:

6.38 lb pilsener malt (38.5%)
4.5 lb aromatic malt (27.1%)
4.75 lb carapils (28.7%)
0.9 lb munich malt (5.7%)

I know that’s way too much aromatic and carapils… I’m guessing this wouldn’t be a good batch if brewed as is. My question is, how much additional pilsener would we need to add to get those grains down to an amount that would result in a good beer?  I.e., what’s the max percentage of aromatic malt or carapils that will result in a decent beer (it’s for my friend’s wedding)?  Thanks!

[chezteth]

If possible, I would go back to the LHBS and get a new batch of grains.  I understand that if it is for a wedding you want it to be perfect.  Otherwise I think you would have to add a lot of pilsner malt to get the percentages where you want them.  I am assuming you want the aromatic and carapils to be approx 5% of the grain bill each.  You could use the current grains in another beer.  Hope this helps.

[quattlebaum]

@chezteth

If possible, I would go back to the LHBS and get a new batch of grains.  I understand that if it is for a wedding you want it to be perfect.  Otherwise I think you would have to add a lot of pilsner malt to get the percentages where you want them.  I am assuming you want the aromatic and carapils to be approx 5% of the grain bill each.  You could use the current grains in another beer.  Hope this helps.

I agree go back to the shop and get the right amount

[klickitat_jim]

Yup if you want that recipe and don’t have it on hand that’s the only option

[thirsty_t (In The Sand)]

If he’s getting married then it doesn’t matter if the beer doesn’t turn out good. He should get used to disappointment.

JK good luck. I’ve never brewed a blonde so no advice, just jokes.

[klickitat_jim]

My blonde is a work in progress but the grain bill is pretty set at 100% 2 Row

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

@quattlebaum

@chezteth

If possible, I would go back to the LHBS and get a new batch of grains.  I understand that if it is for a wedding you want it to be perfect.  Otherwise I think you would have to add a lot of pilsner malt to get the percentages where you want them.  I am assuming you want the aromatic and carapils to be approx 5% of the grain bill each.  You could use the current grains in another beer.  Hope this helps.

I agree go back to the shop and get the right amount

+1

[reverseapachemaster]

It might make for an interesting beer but I definitely would not want to find out the hard way at a wedding. Get some other grain for this batch and try out the first batch of grains another time.

[oregonianredbird]

Thanks for the thoughts. Sounds like it’s pretty much unanimous, so I guess I’ll recommend we re-visit the LHBS this morning. Yes, the amounts should have been 4.5-5% for both the aromatic and carapils. He got the pilsen and munich amounts right, and I think saw ~7 ounces of those other malts and multiplied by 10. We’d have to get something like ~40 additional pounds of pilsen malt and a couple pounds of munich to get in the right ballpark for my recipe.

Out of curiosity, what would happen if you tried to brew with those grains? Aromatic has enzymes for conversion, but the carapils doesn’t, right? So would the huge amount of carapils be more of a problem? Would you end up with a beer on the sweeter, thicker side? Not an experiment to try for the wedding, unfortunately.

[jds357]

If you still want to use the grains, I’d mash in at a very low temp to get as many fermentable sugars in the wort as possible.

[morticaixavier]

@oregonianredbird

Thanks for the thoughts. Sounds like it’s pretty much unanimous, so I guess I’ll recommend we re-visit the LHBS this morning. Yes, the amounts should have been 4.5-5% for both the aromatic and carapils. He got the pilsen and munich amounts right, and I think saw ~7 ounces of those other malts and multiplied by 10. We’d have to get something like ~40 additional pounds of pilsen malt and a couple pounds of munich to get in the right ballpark for my recipe.

Out of curiosity, what would happen if you tried to brew with those grains? Aromatic has enzymes for conversion, but the carapils doesn’t, right? So would the huge amount of carapils be more of a problem? Would you end up with a beer on the sweeter, thicker side? Not an experiment to try for the wedding, unfortunately.

.9 lb of munich you might as well leave it out.
you could just buy some more base malt, and take 10% of what you already have as the character malt portion, maybe 15%.