25A Belgian Blond Ale
Riwaka Rascal Blonde Ale
ABV8.4% OG1.066 FG1.004 IBU28Grain bill
| Gladfield Light Lager Malt | 3.1 kg | 42.5% |
| Gladfield Pilsner Malt | 1.2 kg | 16.4% |
| Gladfield Wheat Malt | 1.1 kg | 15.1% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 0.9 kg | 12.3% |
| Harraways Flaked Wheat | 0.85 kg | 11.6% |
| Gladfield Rye Malt | 0.15 kg | 2.1% |
Adjuncts
| Yeast nutrient | 2 g @ 10 min |
| Whirlfloc | 1 g @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 90 min | 30 min | 5 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wakatu | 20g | · | 30g |
| Riwaka | · | 20g | 30g |
Yeast
| Froth Tech Wildling FTW1 | 1 packet |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | 2 g |
| Calcium Sulfate | 4 g |
Tasting notes
2024-06-01
Fermentation profile
Gravity
Temperature
About This Beer
A Belgian Blonde brewed as an all-New Zealand ingredients entry for Euroclash 2024, category 25A. Everything NZ-grown or NZ-produced: Gladfield malt, NZ hops, and Froth Tech Wildling FTW1 for the yeast.
Six NZ malts. Light Lager is the pale clean base, Pilsner adds gentle malt character, wheat malt and flaked wheat together carry head retention and body, Vienna adds warmth and roundness, and a small rye addition gives a subtle spice note consistent with Belgian character.
Two NZ hops across four additions. Wakatu carries the noble German-lineage character, lime, citrus blossom and clean floral, bittering at 90 minutes with a late flavour addition. Riwaka brings passionfruit and tropical citrus at 30 minutes and again alongside the Wakatu late. Total additions stay restrained so the yeast and malt carry the beer.
Boil extended to 90 minutes for better colour development and DMS reduction under the high-adjunct grist.
Fermentation
Wildling FTW1 at 20°C, an expressive NZ wild-culture yeast bringing phenolic and fruity complexity.
The pack was about three months past its best-before date, which showed as a slow 48 hour lag before anything happened. Once started it ran cleanly, attenuating hard to finish dry with a strong yeast character over the pale malt base.
Packaged counter-pressure into bottles.
Tasting
Tasted 1 June before bottling. The all-NZ concept delivered cleanly: Wakatu and Riwaka give a distinctive citrus-floral character against the light wheat and pilsner base, with the Wildling adding complexity without dominating.