Naked Blonde

Hello Everyone,

So now that I have your attention, I have a question about a Blonde Ale I have sitting in primary (Jamil’s recipe from BCS). This past weekend, I took a gravity reading from a beer that is one week into primary and forgot to re-cover the carboy afterward. The beer is sitting in my basement and was uncovered from around 4pm on Saturday until around noon on Sunday. I doubt that it was exposed to any direct sunlight, but the basement does receive a fair amount of light from outside. I’m not sure if it matters, but the reading came out at 1.005 (lower than I expected - does US-05 often finish this low?).

My questions are:

  1. Am I in trouble?

  2. What exactly are the effects of sunlight on beer?

Yes, you are in trouble for not posting pics :x

US-05 can finish that low, it depends on fermentability of the wort (mash temperature, many other factors).

In my experience, it’s pretty hard to skunk a beer without DIRECT summer sunlight. I think you’ll be fine.

:cheers:

My blonde finished at 1.005 with 05 also. It was my second AG batch and I got a nasty flavor from it so I dryhopped it with 4oz centennial :slight_smile:

This was brewed as a throw together batch for my in-laws who will be visiting next month and will probably not be interested in the darker, heavier beers I’ll have available. I haven’t used 05 in a long while, but since I had a package in the freezer and happened to have the other ingredients on hand, I thought I’d go ahead and brew the recipe. When I tasted the sample (1 week in), there was a distinct yeasty flavor present, which I hope will filter out with time. I also plan to cold condition for a couple of weeks in an effort to help smooth things out. I don’t often use dry yeast and was just surprised at the gravity reading, which I double checked.

Sunlight wouldn’t affect your gravity. Could skunk your beer, but I doubt it in this case.

I had a pale ale end at 1.007 with 05. No nasty flavor, although a dry hop wouldn’t have hurt. :cheers:

I had a pale ale end at 1.007 with 05. No nasty flavor, although a dry hop wouldn’t have hurt. :cheers: [/quote]
I don’t blame it on the yeast at all because most of my beer uses US-05. I didn’t test mash PH and had 10lb 2-row, 1lb fl barley, 1lb fl. oat. It’s cloudy as hell!!