LODO American Blonde

Beer Recipes
1

I still feel my beers could get an order of magnitude better than they are right now, so I’m going to give a shot at a LODO beer. The purpose is not so much to test for oxidation in the long range, but for immediate flavor enhancements. I want to see major improvements, no bias sh*t. It’s a variation on the New World American Blonde from Gordon Strong’s latest book:  44% pale, 44% pils, 7.5% Munich ||, 4.5% Caravienne. Galaxy and Citra in the boil and whirlpool. 21 IBU, 1.043 SG, American Ale II. Preboiled water, some (probably 40 ppm) na-meta added, 60m Hochkurz mash, no sparge, 60m simmer boil. Fermentation in a keg, spunding valve added after a couple of days, transfer to serving keg under co2 pressure. Since I’m taking these anti-oxidation measures all at the same time I won’t know what the impact on the hot side is, but what’s the harm in trying?

Sneers and other comments are welcome!

2

Congrats on giving it a shot! I don’t know that I wouldn’t use at least 50ppm (maybe more) until you learn how well your system is for oxidation.

3

I tried some of the LODO techniques on the Rochefort clone I brewed last weekend.  No idea how it’ll turn out (came in a little low on gravity and high in volume), but I definitely noticed that the house wasn’t full of the smell of malt which it usually does when I brew.

4

I would definitely call that a success :wink:

5

Without the preboil and smb the cold side closed transfer and spunding won’t make a big difference short term. Have noticed a that another  fermentation in the final vessel seems help with oxidation as well.

6

Tried the meta once before in a mild. Smelled like Satan’s a$$. Also, the yeast did not take off, not sure whether there was a connection. Dumped it.

7

Did you use the 100ppm dose and no sparge?
That seems to be the most you would ever want to use. I have fly sparged with 100 ppm and still had residual smb. Most have gone to 50ppm for no sparge.

8

Yes i did use 100 ppm. Waaaay toooo muuuuch

9

Any results on this one? I plan to brew a low oxygen version of my Rochefort 4 “clone” in a couple of weeks.

10

I opened a bottle last weekend, but it was completely undercarbonated.  It tasted OK, but I didn’t drink the whole glass.  I’ll try another one this weekend and report back.

11

Just asking because many Belgian brewers believe HSA to be a hoax. Not sure about the good monks from Rochefort though. And I’m very curious what the influence of low oxygen brewing is on Belgian styles.

12

Had my first glass of the American blonde tonight. It’s a bit bland. But it’s less than 4% ABV, and no crazy amounts of hops, so maybe that’s normal. I’ll need to drink another glass to verify.

13

I’d expect any of the small breweries to believe HSA is a farce. The larger breweries, though, most likely will tell you the opposite.

14

And is Rochefort small or large, that’s the question.

15

Oh I’d say Rochefort is pretty large, especially if we’re getting their beer over here en masse. Which reminds me, I have a bottle of Rochefort 10 in the fridge…mmmmm might have to drink that tonight. Election night! Which heaping pile will it be!!!

16

Hm, not sure yet. Maybe I’ll have another one, just for science.

17

If you consider 18,000 hL/ a year large. That is ~15,000 bbl/year. The brewery does not look large from the other side of the gate.

18

Sure, small operations can have low oxygen brewing practices. Hard to say in this case.

19

But does it have it?

20

I am Belgian. We Belgians don’t believe in it. But it certainly does not taste like oxidized phenolic soup. Which I cannot say of 90+% of the homebrews I tasted this year. Unfortunately I’ve never had a commercial American Blonde, so it’s difficult to compare. Some of the malt flavor may or may not have been scrubbed out.