It's finally time to try my batch of this year's Learn to Homebrew Day recipe, which was a SMaSH "Sensory Blonde Ale." For my version of this, I used two pounds of Great Western Milling 2-row pale malt and Cluster hops.

As you can see in the photo it came out VERY light and clear -- probably too light honestly -- but it still has really good balance and is full-flavored despite the appearance. And hey, my wife likes it so that's a big win!

I brew using the brew in a bag (BIAB) no sparge method, and I think why it came out lighter than I would have liked is when I plugged this into Brewfather I had it set to target 1.25 gallons going into the fermenter since that's my default, but I didn't adjust the recipe accordingly. And at these small volumes .25 gallons is a rather large percentage difference.

Coulda shoulda woulda boiled longer had I noticed and thought about the volume issue, but I'm pretty happy with the result from a flavor perspective. It definitely doesn't drink like "water beer," is nicely balanced (I could use a bit more bitter, but it's not bad), and is super drinkable.

If nothing else it definitely wins the award for the lightest beer I've ever made. It'll be interesting to compare to the second batch I made with this same recipe using tap water with a campden tablet (this batch was made with RO and some additions).

While we were hanging out in the brewery it was also time to cold crash the Bourbon Porter I've had going for a while. Petey the brew dog seems worried I'm going to drop it.

Petey's saying, "Don't drop it dad."