Carolina Blonde Clone

This was a delicious beer that Foothills Brewing Company produced and was a must for any vacation. It is no longer available, so this is my own take on the brew.

Notes from other websites:
Foothills advertises this brew as a Cream Ale, a somewhat obscure style often characterized by not much character. But Foothills has brewed this one to be drinkable and interesting, with a wonderful German hop expression and some wheat to maintain (and amplify) the smooth, refreshing nature of this brew. Expect a golden straw color with a sizable, fluffy white head. On the nose, look for notes of light citrus with a lemony quality, and some herbal tones. There’s a bit of tangy wheat as well, plus some crackery pale malt. In the mouth, Carolina Blonde is fairly light with a refreshing, palate cleansing, hop profile. Pale malt and wheat make for a nice, clean brew with good flavor. The German hops really shine here, offering distinct notes of lemon pith with a bit of mint and maybe even a touch of lime. The hops combine with the wheat to present a lightly tart impression that really works for us in this well-crafted warm weather brew. Cheers!

Foothills Brewing – Carolina Blonde

  • Alcohol by Volume: 4.30%
  • Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 15
  • Serving Temperature: 40-45°F
  • Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass, Pilsner Glass
  • Malts: North American 2-Row, Wheat
  • Hops: German Tradition, German Perle

Grain Bill / Fermentables

  • 6.5 lbs 2-Row
  • 1 lb Flaked Maize (an old bag of it at this point…)
  • 0.75 lbs Flaked Wheat

Hops

  • 0.25 oz GR Hallertau (3.8% AA)
  • 1 oz Perle (6.6% AA)

Yeast

Other

  • Whirlfloc Tablet
  • 2.8 g Citric Acid
  • 4 Gallons Distilled Water
  • 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient

Target Stats

  • 5.5 Gallons
  • OG 1.045
  • FG 1.011
  • ABV 4.38%
  • IBU 22.74
  • SRM 2.79

Final Stats

  • 5.5 Gallons
  • OG 1.051
  • FG 1.009
  • ABV 5.51%
  • IBU 20.68
  • 90% Efficiency

Brew Day

Heat 8 gallons of water to 150°.  (4 gallons unfiltered Dover City water with chlorine removed, 4 gallons distilled water and citric acid.)

Gently dough in grains until all grain is covered by water.

Mash grains at 146° for 1 hour.

Remove “grain bag“, rinse, squeeze and allow grains to drain.

Bring wort to a boil.

Once wort is boiling, add 0.25 oz Perle hops and continue for 30 minutes.

Add 0.25 oz Perle, 0.25 oz Hallertau hops and continue for 15 minutes.

Add whirlfloc, yeast nutrient, 0.5 oz Perle hops and continue boil for 15 minutes.

Reduce wort temperature to 68° and take OG reading.

Sufficiently aerate, transfer to primary fermenter and add yeast.

Allow beer 1~2 weeks in the primary at 50° to adequately ferment and cleanup any diacetyl produced during fermentation.

Bottle and wait another 2 weeks or keg and carb.

Enjoy!

Notes:

  • September 26, 2020
  • Tilt Readings:
    • 2020-09-26 – 1.051 @ 77° (Recalibrated the Tilt to match the hydrometer reading.)
    • 2020-10-09 – 1.009 (Final hydrometer reading. Drops taste delicious.)