Blonde Ale 2026

Today I'm brewing another style that I really haven't brewed before, a Blonde Ale. This style is an easy drinking, lightly hopped, lightly colored ale. I used to joke that a Blonde Ale is essentially an ale version of a Standard American Lager, and it kind of is. The BJCP guidelines describe the style as follows: 

Easy-drinking, approachable, malt-oriented American craft beer, often with interesting fruit, hop, or character malt notes. Well-balanced and clean, is a refreshing pint without aggressive flavors. 

With warm weather returning to Florida in the not too distant future, this should be an easy drinking and refreshing "lawnmower" beer. I'm also planning on entering this beer in some upcoming competitions.

One other note, equipment update today! I replaced my 12-ish gallon stainless mash tun with a newly acquired Blichmann G2 kettle/mash tun that also features a Blichmann Autosparge setup. I already had a 20 gallon Blichmann G1 kettle/mash tun that I got from my buddy Jerry back in Utah. I primarily use it for larger batches and high gravity batches. I love all the features on it like the sight gauge, the heavy duty false bottom, and easy to clean and adjust linear flow valve (I replaced the original ball valve with the linear flow valve). I'm excited to have these same features in a smaller format. The Autosparge is an added bonus and will help ensure the inflow of sparge water always matches the outflow of mash liquor from the mash tun. During the sparge, I try to shoot for about 1" of sparge water on top of the mash. This has always proved difficult to maintain as it required constant adjusting of the inflow and/or outflow to maintain the proper depth. The Autosparge should greatly simplify things.

Lastly, to give credit where credit is due, this recipe is based on the gold medal beer by Zachary Miller. I'm using Proximity Pale malt instead of Rahr Pale malt, and Solstice Pilsner malt instead of Weyermann Pilsner malt. I also didn't realize CaraHell wasn't available locally, so I'm substituting Rahr Dextrine and Crisp CaraMalt in place of 0.5# Weyermann Carahell. I'm using House yeast instead of Omega OLY-011 British Ale V. Here is the recipe as I'm brewing it today.

Target OG: 1.049

Target FG: 1.009

IBU: 17.2

ABV: 5.3

3.75# Proximity Pale Malt

2.75# Solstice Pilsner Malt

1.875# Weyermann Munich I

6oz Rahr Dextrine Malt

2oz Crisp CaraMalt

1g BrewTan B (Mash)

7g Citra (FWH)

7g Citra, (5 min)

28g Centennial (25-min hop stand @160F)

Whirlfloc (Flameout)
Wyeast Nutrient (10 min)
4.66g BCAA (10 min)

LalBrew® House Ale Yeast 
Zinc Buddy

Mash at 149F, acidify mash liquor to a pH of ~5.3. Chill to ~63F, then oxygenate well and pitch yeast, Zinc Buddy, and ferment at 65F for 2 weeks. 

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
69	0	8	38	97	10

To 11 gallons of RO/Distilled water, add:

• 8.0g Calcium chloride 
• 2.9g Gypsum
• 0.4g Pickling salt
• 0.6g Baking soda

Brewing Notes

No issues during this session. New mash tun (MT) is awesome. Being able to accurately measure strike water volume is great and makes hitting the desired mash temp a lot easier. My HLT has volume markings, so I was able to ballpark it with the old MT, but being able to see the volume on the MT itself is definitely better. I was shooting for a mash thickness of about 1.5 quarts per pound (3.32 gallons strike water into the MT). Given the volume that the pump, hoses, and RIMS hold, this was a little thick. Volume was showing about 2.25 gallons on the sight gauge after I started recirculating (didn't even reach the temp probe). Next time I'll probably shoot for 1.75-2 quarts per pound and see how that does. On my old HERMS configuration I usually did 1.75-ish quarts per pound and that worked well, but it also held less volume than the RIMS Rocket.

Everything else went great during the brew day. The Auto-sparge is a game changer when fly sparging. I know lots of people prefer to batch sparge (or even no sparge) but I've always done fly sparging and this Auto-sparge works exactly as I expected it would. If you fly sparge, I can't recommend the Auto-sparge highly enough. 

One other thing I forgot to mention, I shorted my mash time from 60 minutes to 40 minutes. I've seen lots of articles explaining most starch conversion is usually completed within 20-30 minutes. Additionally, I've read that conversion is typically faster when you do a recirculating mash like mine, so I decided to try taking it down to 40 minutes. 

Session Readings
Beginning mash pH	5.20
Ending mash pH	5.21
1st running gravity	20 (1.081)
Pre-Boil gravity	10.1 (1.039)
Pre-Boil pH	5.28
Post-Boil gravity	13.8 (1.054)
Post-Boil pH	5.19

Update 2/9/2026

Fermentation is moving along nicely. Gravity is reading ~1.015 on the Tilt this evening, but it's read as low as 1.003, so it's been a pretty active fermentation. Assuming it fits the same timeline as the last batch with this yeast, gravity readings will likely start to stabilize tomorrow.

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Rib Rub #1

Today’s recipe is for a meat rub that’s intended to clone one we discovered years ago at Sam’s Club. It’s kind of funny, I enjoy Indian food every time we have it, but I never crave it. I love ramen, but my wife never craves it. She likes BBQ more than ramen, but she still doesn’t crave it, mostly because BBQ can be pretty filling and a bit fatty. But the first time we tried the rub from Sam’s, both of us agreed it was one of the better rubs we’d tried and we both really liked it. The rub was Durkee brand Chicken and Rib Rub. Fast forward a couple years and unfortunately Sam’s stopped carrying our favorite rub and then Durkee stopped making it. Fortunately, Weber started selling as Weber Chicken 'N Rib Seasoning. I’ve tried the Weber version and I think it’s the same or very close to the Durkee one, but my primary complaint with it is I can’t find it locally and the packaging is so small that I have to order it every few cooks. 

Long story short, with the help of ChatGPT I decided to try cloning the blend so I wasn’t having to order it from Amazon all the time. I’m not confident the first attempt will be a perfect clone, so my plan is to try it then tweak it until I get close to replicating the Durkee version or discover a recipe I like as well or better. 

I mixed a batch up this afternoon and rubbed it on some pork spare ribs that I plan on smoking tomorrow. It definitely smells very close to both the Weber and Durkee versions, but the color is definitely a little darker and more reddish compared to the more orange-ish commercial versions. I tasted the rub and I think does taste pretty close but I think I can get closer. Anyway, here’s the first attempt:

Batch size 100 grams, probably enough for at least three racks.

18g Maltodextrin - I used LD Carlson from my local homebrew shop. The maltodextrine will help prevent clumping and adds a light sweetness.

22g Light brown sugar, dried in the oven @175F for about 90 min. 

18g Sweet Paprika

6g Smoked Hot Paprika

12g Kosher salt

8g Garlic powder

7g Onion powder

4g Chili powder (mild, American style)

2g Mustard powder

2g Celery salt

1.5g Black pepper, finely ground

0.5g Cayenne pepper

Use a spoon or fork to blend until well mixed. Apply liberally and evenly to ribs, chicken, pork shoulder, etc. and rub in well. For pork, I like to apply it the night before I plan to smoke, then apply another light coat right before putting the meat in the smoker.

Update 2/3/2026

I wasn't able to provide an update before I had to head out of town for work. I used this on some pork spare ribs and they turned out well, but definitely not a cloned rub. I felt like it needed more salt, and likely more garlic. The paprika ratio also isn't right as this rub went on more reddish while the Weber version is more orange/salmon color. Regardless, I think it was a good starting point and I'll continue to play around with it.

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Carbonnade Flamande

I had a recipe for Carbonnade Flamande pop up in my social media feeds about a month or so back. It looked pretty awesome so I figured I'd bookmark it for a future weekend dinner. This is one of those recipes that isn't hard to make, but it takes time so you need to plan ahead. 

I've never had Carbonnade Flamande before, but having made it today I can tell you I'm going to make it again. Carbonnade Flamande is also known as Flemish Stew and my understanding is it's a traditional comfort food in the Flemish-speaking areas of Belgium. I could see this being served on a cold winter night in a Belgian monastery.  Also, giving credit where it's due, here's the source for the recipe I used. Also, I didn't have fresh thyme, so I used dried. Here's the recipe as I made it today.  

2-3# Chuck roast, cubed
12g Kosher Salt
6g Black pepper

All-purpose flour
3 Yellow onions, thinly sliced 
2 Slices bacon, minced
1T Butter
3 Garlic cloves, crushed
1-2 Bay leaves
1T Fresh thyme (or 1t dried thyme)
400ml Belgian ale - I used Westmalle Dubbel + a tiny bit of my Irish Extra Stout
400-800ml beef broth - I used ~450ml
1T Apple cider vinegar
1T Dark brown sugar

Instructions

1. Prepare all ingredients (cube beef, slice onions, mince bacon, etc.).
2. Season beef roast cubes with salt and pepper and mix well to coat. 
3. Lightly dust beef with flour, again mixing well so that so sides are coated with salt, pepper, and a small amount of flour. I used about 1.5T of flour.
4. Hear oven-safe braising pot/Dutch oven over medium high heat on your stove. Add enough canola oil to form a thin layer.
5. Sear the beef in batches, being sure to brown all sides. Don't worry too much about the brown bits sticking to the bottom, you'll deglaze the pot later on. 
6. Transfer browned beef to a plate.
7. Add butter, bacon, onions, and garlic to pot and sweat over medium heat. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom of the pot. The liquid from the onions will deglaze the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
8. Continue caramelizing the onions, stirring regularly to avoid burning the mixture. This should take a minimum of 45 minutes. Add a splash of water as needed to deglaze the pot when needed and to avoid burning. 
9. After 45 minutes, add beer to pot, stirring well. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. 
10. Return beef to pot.
11. Add bay leaves, brown sugar, vinegar, and thyme. Gently stir to mix all ingredients. 
12. Top off with enough beef broth to mostly cover beef, but don't worry if it isn't fully submerged.
13. Partially cover the pot and put it in the oven at 300F for 4-6 hours. I did about 5 hours with the pot lid cracked open about 3/16". Most of the liquid had evaporated leaving a thick sauce/broth behind.
14. Taste before serving and add additional salt, vinegar, and/or sugar to taste. In my case, I thought it was pretty much perfect and didn't add any additional. 

Allow it to cool a little bit before serving. It's often served with French fries (frites), but pretty much any potato or starchy side will likely go well with it. I served mine with Potato Pavé, but you don't have to get too fancy here. 

Update: This dish was great, super flavorful, a little sweetness from the caramelized onions, nice tangy acidity from the vinegar. It’s a great comfort food for sure and I’ll definitely be making it again. This is one of those dishes that’s even better the next day.

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My Milk Stout Brings All The Boys To The Yard - 2025

Today I’m brewing a beer that I really love, and haven’t brewed recently, my Golden/Blonde Milk Stout. I’ll be donating this beer to pour at a local homebrew festival in February. If I’m remembering correctly, this beer took bronze at Beehive Brew-off for Spice Herb and Vegetable Beer at least two years in a row, but I’m pretty sure it was actually three years in a row. It was also a crowd favorite at our club booth at the Mountain Brewers Beer Fest in Idaho.

One of the things I love about this beer is that the color looks like a pale ale, but the flavor and aroma are straight up rich and roasty stout due to the coffee toddy and the bomb tincture. It tastes and smells so different from how it looks, it’s a complete mind f’ beer. It leans sweet and malty, but not cloying. Today’s version has a couple minor tweaks compared to the last version. I’m using Proximity Pale Malt instead of Maris Otter, which will likely result in a little less malt-derived perceived sweetness. I'm also toasting the flaked oats, something I've always wanted to try but apparently never planned far enough ahead. The maillard reactions that occur when toasting oats is said to give you more complexity including some nuttiness that you don't get without it. More info on the process below. I’m using LalBrew® House Ale for the yeast. House Ale is described as follows:

LalBrew® House Ale is a next-generation performance yeast strain that is extremely fast and incredibly clean, making it the perfect versatile house strain to meet your brewing needs.

Selected by our partner Escarpment Labs (ON, Canada) for its superior fermentation performance, this strain allows brewers to achieve greater efficiency with faster fermentations, shorter maturations, high stress tolerance, excellent repitchability, and quick cleanup of off-flavors like acetaldehyde and diacetyl.

LalBrew® House Ale is suitable for a wide range of beer styles, including IPAs, Blond Ales, and Stouts, due to its neutral fermentation profile.

• Faster fermentations – to save time and space.​ 
• Shorter maturation times – accelerated clean-up of diacetyl and acetaldehyde.​ 
• High stress tolerance – capable of handling difficult fermentations.​ 
• Excellent repitchability – genetically stable and proven consistency in key brewing parameters.​ 
• High FAN uptake – more stable final product.​ 
• Neutral flavor profile – Versatile for a wide range of ales

Finally, I’m reducing the mash temp slightly because I think it could benefit from a little more restrained sweetness. Also, I tend to shoot for more tailored water profiles nowadays, so this will use the Amber Balanced (7-17 SRM) profile from Beersmith. Hopefully this beer is as well received here in Florida as it was in Utah and Idaho. Here’s the recipe as I’m brewing it today:

Target OG: 1.070

Target FG: 1.020

IBU: 19.1

ABV: 6.4

8.75# Proximity Pale Malt

1.00# Flaked Oats (either toasted or untoasted)

1.00# Gambrinus Honey Malt

1g BrewTan B (Mash)

0.75 # Lactose (10 min)

3.0 ml Hopshot (60 min)

14g EKG (10 min)

28g EKG (0 min)

Wyeast Yeast Nutrient

4.66g BCAA (10 min)

Whirlfloc

LalBrew House Ale

Zinc Buddy

Coffee Toddy (at kegging)

The Bomb Tincture (at kegging)

Mash at 152F, 90 minute boil, ferment at 61F, raising temps to 66F over the course of a week.

Toasted Flaked Oats Instructions

As mentioned above, toasting the flaked oats can add a layer of complexity to your beers. Joe Aruscavage was a member of my homebrew club back in Utah and employed this technique in most of his beers that called for flaked oatmeal, including his award-winning Oatmeal Stout. I'd always wanted to try it myself, but most brewers will recommend you do it a few days in advance as the character from the toasted flaked oats improves when left out to breath over a few days. In my case, I always forgot to do it a few days ahead of my brew day, so this is my first time trying it. Here's the process I'm using:

1. Set oven temp to 325F.
2. Use a cookie sheet and spread the oats out into an even layer. You can optionally line the pan with parchment paper which can make it a little easier to remove the oats after you're done toasting.
3. Transfer the pan to the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes. 
4. After 10 minutes, remove from the oven and give it a gentle stir with a spatula. Spread it back out evenly and put it in the oven for another 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, remove it again and give it another stir before returning it to the oven for the final 10 minutes (30 minutes total).
6. Remove the pan and let it cool.
7. Transfer the oats to a fine mesh, paper bag, or even a grain sock. Being in Florida and the multitude of little critters we have, I put mine into a fine mesh paint strainer bag. Allow them to breathe/off-gas for at least three days, and up to a week before brewing. 

Note: The aroma coming off the toasted oats was pretty amazing. Similar to oatmeal cookies but without sweetness and additional spices. I'm really excited to see how this impacts the finished beer.

The Bomb Tincture Instructions 

6 oz Vodka - Any decent one will do

1 Vanilla Bean, split and scraped, chopped into 1/4” pieces

3 oz Cacao Nibs - I prefer TCHO Roasted Cacao Nibs

1. Mix the vodka and vanilla bean (and parts) in a tight sealing jar like a jelly jar or mason jar. Shake every day, several times, for 7 days. 
2. Add the nibs for another 4 days, continue to shake everyday.
3. Strain the nibs and vanilla out of the dark extract. I have a stainless steel pour over coffee filter that I like to use. Discard solids.
4. Place the extract in the freezer overnight.
5. In the morning, carefully scrape out the fat cap that may have formed and discard. I don’t usually get a fat cap with TCHO nibs, it just depends on the fat content.
6. I use the entire tincture in this beer and add at packaging along with Coffee Toddy.

Coffee Toddy Instructions

I like to use Ethiopian beans for the toddy because I never seem to get the dreaded green pepper character with them. For this batch, I decided to go with Ethiopian Guji Wush Wush from a local roaster named Day of the Dead (D.O.D.) Coffee Roastery. D.O.D describes this coffee as follows:

Sourced from the Guji region of Ethiopia, these beans are meticulously roasted to perfection, resulting in a vibrant and aromatic cup of coffee. With notes of floral jasmine, ripe berries, and a hint of citrus, this medium roast is perfect for any coffee enthusiast looking to elevate their morning routine. Enjoy the unique taste of Ethiopia with every sip of our premium Guji Wush Wush coffee.

Flavor Notes: Berry, Strawberry, Red Wine, Jasmine, Dark Chocolate

For 5 gallons of beer you’ll need:

3 oz fresh coarsely ground beans

3 cups RO or filtered water

1. I usually bring the water to a boil in a microwave safe measuring cup for sanitizing as well as driving off O2, then chill.
2. Add the chilled water to a French press then add ground coffee and cold steep in the fridge for 24 hours.
3. Add to beer at packaging.

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
50	10	15	75	63	40

To 11 gallons of RO/distilled water, add the following salts:

• 2.6g Gypsum
• 4.3g Epsom salt
• 5.4g Calcium chloride
• 2.3g Baking soda

Brewing Notes

Mash pH was low so I added 1/4 teaspoon of chalk after the initial pH reading. I waited about 15 minutes then took another reading and it was at 4.98. I added about 1/8t of chalk then took another reading after about 15 minutes which read 4.99. Rather than risk overdoing it with the chalk, I decided to leave it as is. In hindsight, I should have checked pH before adding an acid to the mash. No other issues with this brew session. I chilled down to about 54F then let it sit for 15 minutes before transferring to the fermenter. By the time I got yeast pitched and wort oxygenated, the temp was 62.8F. 

Session Readings
Beginning mash pH	4.85
Ending mash pH	4.98
1st running gravity	21.4 (1.087)
Pre-Boil gravity	11.2 (1.0 44)
Pre-Boil pH	4.98
Post-Boil gravity	17 (1.068)
Post-Boil pH	4.92

Update 12/29/2025

Gravity is down to approximately 1.061 from an OG of 1.068 today. I bumped the temp controller on my fermentation chamber by 1F this morning.

Update 12/30/2025

Gravity is reading 1.04013 this morning on the Tilt. Fermentation seems to be pretty active as I'm seeing some wobbling in the readings, so I suspect the actual current gravity may be a point or two higher, but it's in the ballpark.

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Cajun Jambalaya

Food recipe today. I made up a boxed jambalaya a couple weeks ago and figured I'd try making one from scratch to see how it compared. I love jambalaya and it's kind of like stews/soups in that it's better the day after you make it. This recipe is Cajun rather than Creole; based on some quick Googling, the primary difference between the two is Cajun style uses broth only. whereas Creole style usually includes tomato sauce and/or crushed tomatoes. 

I really enjoyed this recipe but I think I might try a minor tweak next time. I wouldn't say this dish was too salty, but it was definitely salty. Next time I think I'll dial the Cajun seasoning back to 3 teaspoons total and see how that turns out. The heat level on this dish was great; noticeable spice, but not punishing. Here's the recipe as I made it today:

1# Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2t Baking soda
4t Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning with salt, divided (consider reducing to 3 teaspoons)

2t Canola oil
13oz Johnsonville andouille smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1c Yellow onion, diced 
1c Green bell pepper, diced 
1/2c Celery, diced 
4 Large garlic cloves, minced

2c Long-grain white rice, rinsed
2t Worcestershire sauce
2 Bay leaves
1t Dried thyme
1/2t Ground black pepper
3c Low-sodium chicken broth
4 Scallions/green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Prep all ingredients.  
2. Combine chicken with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 2t Creole seasoning in a bowl. Mix well and allow to "marinate" for at least 15 minutes. The baking soda will help keep the chicken tender.
3. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  
4. Add chicken to Dutch oven and brown on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. 
5. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate. There should be some nice flavorful brown bits stuck in the pot. Don't worry about them for now, they'll be deglazed later.  
6. Add the sausage to the pot and continue to cook over medium-high heat until browned and some of the fat has been rendered (about 5 mins), then transfer the sausage to the plate with the chicken. 
7. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, bell pepper, and celery to the pot. Sautee until tender and translucent (about 5 minutes). The moisture from the vegetables will deglaze the pot, so stir periodically.
8. Return the chicken and sausage to the pot. 
9. Add garlic, broth, Worcestershire sauce, rice, bay leaves, thyme, black pepper, and remaining 2t Creole seasoning (or optionally 1 teaspoon for less saltiness).
10. Mix well, then turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. 
11. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. 
12. Fluff with a fork and serve with sliced scallions/green onions and Tabasco sauce to taste.  

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