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Another blonde ale thead

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frozt

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Jan 25, 2012
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Hello all,
Brew day for the Ska True Blonde clone draws close, and I'm having last-minute paranoia about my recipe. I've actually got all the ingredients already, but looking at BJCP guidelines and commercial examples has me worried.

Current ABV is expected to round out 5.9% with ~13 IBUs. This doesn't quite fit the 6B. Blonde Ale style (which doesn't worry me), but as a beer meant to satisfy my girlfriend's taste for Ska True Blonde, will this be too unbalanced? Do I need either more hops or less gravity, or am I just paranoid?

Once again, here is my current recipe:

Busty Brunette Blonde
(Ska True Blonde Ale Clone)

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.9%
IBUs: 12.86

2.5 gallon boil, 5 gallon batch

5 lbs Pilsen DME
1 lb. Wheat DME
1 lb Munich 10L
4oz Honey (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
or Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast
Note: 1187 can be slow to start (up to 90 hours)
 
See if you can get the OG and IBU specs on the beer you intend on cloning from the brewery website. That should tell you wether or not you need to adjust your recipe.
 
True Blonde is supposed to be 5.3 ABV, but the IBUs are a little bit sketchy. Ska's site lists 39 "ISUs", and consequently other sites such as beer advocate list True Blonde with 39 IBUs. I don't know what an ISU is, but I doubt this beer has 39 IBUs, else it would not be a blonde.

The recipe I got from one of the guys at Ska lists 13 IBUs, but ABV is off (OG: 1.047, FG: 1.009, ABV: 5.1%), leading me to question the accuracy of what he sent.

I would like this to taste similar to the original, but beyond that I'd like it to be a balanced beer, hence my conundrum.
 
The site says 5 percent abv. 22 ibu and 4 srm color. That seems more like a blonde ale but right on the edge of a pale ale.
 

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