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Buddy of mine has a Festabrew Blonde Lager. I am going to brew it up for him for Chritmas day drinking (he tried another Festa on his own, but it was infected, so I want to make something palatable this time around). It's the Blonde Lager kit. They don't provide enough lager yeast to start with, and the yeast has been sitting in a hot room to boot, plus I don't feel like messing around with a lager (even if I had time). Instead, I am going to throw a pack of S-04 in there (my go to for quick, clear, drinkable beers).

I have never done the Blonde Lager, but it sounds pretty boring: "yellow coloured", OG 1.048, 11 IBUs. I assume that its a straight two-row malt wort. I want to tweak it a little to make it a bit more interesting. I don't have any grains right now or extract (taking a brewing hiatus), but I do have a bunch of random hops from my first year backyard garden (small amounts of a number of varieties). Was thinking of moding it as follows: boil a gallon of wort with some hops to knock up the IBUs to the low 20s, and a late hop for a bit of flavour, add a touch of sugar to give it a touch more omph (and to compensate for the lower attenuation with the S04), and dry hops it.

Either that or just dry hop it.

Anyone made the Festa Blonde and want to comment. If it is loaded with adjuncts already, then I won't mess with simple sugars.

I've done this kit as per instructions and it's very bland. Very commercial tasting, a lot like Alpine, if I had to compare it to something.

Here is the Festabrew description of their Blonde Lager

Festa Brew Blonde Lager
A yellow coloured, crisp beer with a genuine lager yeast. This is a true all-malt lager brewed with no adjuncts. The yeast provided will ferment well at 9-15°C, but will provide good lager characteristics up to 24°C.
23 Litres of wort
OG: 1.0476 – 1.0484, FG: 1.0080 – 1.0088, Yeast: Saflager S-23, IBUs: 11

I have made this kit for other people before and it is what it is, just plain beer. If I recall there is a bit of grainy sweetness in the finished beer.

I might suggest using US-05 or BRY-97 to dry it out more to make let your hop additions shine through.

Dave was out of 05, and I am actually a big 04 fan (love that yeast for most American and British beers). Plus, I figured the lower attenuation would allow me to use some simple sugars to knock it up a bit.

I often like a little crystal malt in my pale ales. Maybe I'll try to boiling down a touch of the wort for some carmelization. Honestly, I am mostly just playing around, as I have been embargoed from brewing for the past two years (trying to finish my PhD), and I am in the mood to be excessive. Will post tasting notes!