Modifying a Canadian Blonde

As I have posted before, I'm a big fan of Coopers Canadian Blonde, and I slightly prefer it to the Coopers APA, which is often the kit of choice for UK 'kit modders', which will become apparent if you browse through the Kit Brewing forum on Jim's Beer Kit. So for my first 'modified kit' experiment (these posts are out of chrolilogical order, I actually did this one before the 'Stout Old Gentleman outlined below), I thought I would keep it simple and 'Saaz up' a Canadian Blonde. What inspired me was a bottle of 'Saltaire Blonde' that I got on special offer, which is described as;

A straw coloured light ale with soft malt flavours, delicately hopped with Czech and German hop varieties.

So, I thought Saaz would be a good place to start.  Just for the record, the piccy in the right is my crap photography, not official Saltaire promo material! While on the subject of pictures, I'm afraid I didn't take any of this brew, but if you look at the 'Stout Old gentleman' post, you will get the general idea.

Type: Modified Kit Brew
Sugars: 1 Coopers Canadian Blonde, 1Kg Muntons Brew Enhancer, 500g Muntons Extra Light Dried Malt Extract
Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Yeast
Hops: About 75g Saaz, boiled in 5L water + 500g of malt extract, 50% @ 15mins, 50% @ 5 mins
Additions: Water de-chlorinated with 1/2 Campden tablet.
Time in Primary: 3 weeks
Secondary method: King Keg
Time in Secondary: 4 - 5 weeks
O.G. 1050
F.G. 1014

The method for using the hops was as follows. The 500g of Extra Light DME was mixed into about 5 litres of water in a stock pot, which was brought to the boil. Once boiling, half of the hops were added in a muslin bag. After 10 mins, the other half were added and it was left to continue to boil for 5 more mins. Then, it was taken off the heat and the hop bags removed. This was then added to the FV containing the brew enhancer, the kit malt extract, and also used to swill out the kit tin. Once it had cooled sufficiently, the packet of Danstar Nottingham Yeast was thrashed into the wort, and then the FV was placed in my usual builders bucker water bath set to 21 degrees C.

The idea of using the Nottingham yeast was that it was meant to give a clean taste to brews, with little esters, and that is what I thought would suit this style of ale best, what with it using extra lager hops. The first thing I noticed, after fermenting had begun, was the usual 'slight pong' given off by some brews was pretty intense, and had my spare room smelling a bit like a drain for a couple of days! I don't know if this was the hops or the yeast or what, but it was interesting to note.

I left it in the FV under an airlock for 3 weeks to allow the yeast plenty of time to clear up after itself, and it was then king kegged with the usual 80g of priming sugar. It took much longer to come good, after 2 weeks although fully carbonated, it was more cloudy than Gordon Brown's mood on election night, and wasn't fully clear and suitable drinkable until after 4, more like 5, weeks. Oh, and it was really, really hoppy!

After  7 or 8 weeks it was improving, or perhaps my pallet was getting used to the Saaz hops, when a friend came to stay to go fishing. After a long fishing session, ending at the local watering hole, we returned to my house with the customary Chinese takeaway. He asked to try this creation, and was suitably impressed. I showed him how to keep the keg gassed up as he took beer out, and left him to it, with a 'help yourself, there's over thirty pints left'.

The next day, while cooking Sunday lunch for us both, he turned to me and said, 'What am I doing wrong, it's stopped coming out'.

'Erm, that's because the barrels empty, mate'

I will take that as a success, although I didn't get anywhere near the Saltaire Blonde taste. A good first attempt then.