Busty Brunette Blonde (Ska True Blonde Clone)
 

Busty Brunette Blonde
(Ska True Blonde Ale Clone)

2.5 gallon boil, 5 gallon batch

4 lbs Pilsen DME
1 lb. Wheat DME
1 lb Munich 10L
4oz Honey (or 1/3 cup) (last 20 min)

.5 oz US Perle 6.5% (60 min)
.5 oz Tettnang 4.8% (30 min)
1 oz Cascade 6.4% (5 min)
.5 oz Tettnang 4.8% (5 min)

Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast
Note: 1187 can be slow to start (up to 90 hours)

This turned out to be a successful summer beer - very easy-drinking and generally enjoyable to non-"hopheads". Special thanks to Bill at Ska Brewing for a big nudge in the right direction!

Side by side taste test soon to follow!

Frozt,
I wanted to do this recipe and I notice some others recipes around call for .25 oz of cascade but everything else the same. SO since you just recently finish this I was wondering is 1oz a good bet or reduce it .25 oz to be closer to Ska true blonde.

Hi yboeilaog,

In hindsight, I think the .25 oz would give you something closer to True Blonde. What I ended up with here was slightly more bitter than Ska's, so cutting some of the Cascade would probably help. I'm curious though, what other recipes are you referring to? Before I made this one, I looked around and was unable to find any specific to Ska True Blonde.

Frozt,
Apparently I saw your recipe on another thread with .25 oz of cascade: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/american-blonde-specialty-grains-no-302111/
Anyways thanks for all your help! I plan on making this recipe this weekend and I'll probably just do .5 oz

No problem! As noted in the recipe, don't panic if you don't see any activity for the first 2-3 days - 1187 WILL start, but it will take it's sweet time. Good luck with the brew!

Brewed this up on the weekend, sounds like a good brew.
Used Safale US-05 instead of the recommended yeast, as I already had it. :).

Looking forward to your feedback on this one! What kind of honey did you use?

Hey, yeah used clover honey 4.5 oz to allow for it sticking to the glass.
changed the hops too, because there were no perle...
tettnang as bittering
willamette and cascade as others.
still have 0.4 oz willamette, was thinking of dryhopping just for fun? (But I'm a bit torn) because its a good recipe and smells good so far.

Temperature not very constant, but i have a new small cupboard i am insulating to help...

I think dry hopping would make this a significantly different brew, but the choice is up to you.

As for temp control, I personally use a "swamp cooler" (keeping the carboy in a large rubbermaid tub filled with water) and put ice packs in once or twice a day. My setup stays within 2 F even with temps reaching 80 in my house.

Difference is i need to heat my brew to keep at temp. , so i have the heat pad till my chamber is finished.
Swamp Cooler is not an option, mrs. won't allow it. lol.
Will probably just leave the hopping for a pale ale or something, I'll decide on Saturday after 2 weeks in primary.