SMaSH Recipe Help with Hersbrucker Hops?

I am looking to do a BIAB SMaSH pretty soon. I am going to experiment with water chemistry on this batch, something I've never done before. My first two BIAB's were just straight tap water and they both had the same weird taste, my theory is that the pH of the mash wasn't right so I got a bunch of unconverted starches or something. This time I am going to start with distilled water and add salts to get the water where it needs to be.

Since I'm still trying to figure out all grain/BIAB, I only want to do a 2.5 gallon (or even smaller) batch so if I get terrible beer again it won't be much of a loss. I have 1oz of 2.0%AA German Hersbrucker hops in a ziplock bag in the fridge. I opened them, realized they were only 2.0%AA and went and bought 4%AA Hallertau instead. So I would like to get rid of these hops while they are still relatively fresh.

So I am looking for a simple recipe, preferably SMaSH, that uses 1oz of German Hersbrucker hops and will produce a tasty beer if it comes out right. What are your ideas?

It's got to be a kolsch, if want to to make an ale.

German pilsner malt, and hallertauer hops, perfect!

4 pounds of pilsner malt, and .5 oz of 4% noble hops at 60 minutes, and .25 ounce at 15 minutes would make a nice 2.5 gallon batch.

Use Wyeast 029 yeast, and ferment in the mid 60s, for an authentic kolsch flavor.

To clarify, the Hersbrucker I have is 2%. (I thought it was 4% when I bought it, but it wasn't, which is why I didn't use it when I intended to!)

Still do-able with 2% hops or would I need to adjust the recipe somehow?

Also, is a kolsch a relatively easy beer to brew? Its only my third AG batch and my first two both had this really funny taste to them that I haven't figured out. I am leaning towards the mash pH being too high since I just used tap water straight out of the tap that is likely very hard. I think on this batch I am going to try using straight bottled spring water and see if that helps me.

I would look to other culprits before I pinned it on mash ph. Is your tap water chlorinated?

Describe the weird taste.

dsaavedra said:

To clarify, the Hersbrucker I have is 2%. (I thought it was 4% when I bought it, but it wasn't, which is why I didn't use it when I intended to!)

Still do-able with 2% hops or would I need to adjust the recipe somehow?

Also, is a kolsch a relatively easy beer to brew? Its only my third AG batch and my first two both had this really funny taste to them that I haven't figured out. I am leaning towards the mash pH being too high since I just used tap water straight out of the tap that is likely very hard. I think on this batch I am going to try using straight bottled spring water and see if that helps me.

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If you're buying water anyway, do not buy spring water. You have no idea what is in it! Buy reverse osmosis water, from those big "water machines" at the grocery stores or places like wal-mart, or jugs of distilled water. RO is cheaper- I paid about $2.78 for 4 gallons- but either distilled or RO is fine.

Add a teaspoon of calcium chloride to 5 gallons of brewing water (again, the RO or distilled) and you've got perfect water for brewing.

Spring water is a tough one- it may be ok. It may not. You really want a "blank slate", and so don't use spring water unless they provide a water report and you know what to do with it.

A harsh flavor, especially with noble hops like hersbrucker and the like, can definitely give a harsh unpleasant taste to the beer.

To use the 2% hops, just do a little math and get the same AAUs (that is double them, and you can leave out the late hops if you don't have any more) and you'll be all set!

Just so you know, you can use 2%AA hops even if the recipe called for 4%. Just use double the amount!


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Tap water is chlorinated but I have been using campden tablets to take care of chlorine/chloramines. It doesn't taste very good straight out of the tap. I don't know why but it took me forever to realize this, and I recently used distilled water in an extract batch and it was the best beer I have brewed, it didn't have this distinct artificial taste like my other extract beers have had. So I am inclined to believe that my tap sucks and using bottled water would do more good than harm.

Anyway, the weird flavor that my two AG batches have had is very hard to describe. I would say it is kind of sweet and tart maybe? Not really astringent (doesn't pucker my mouth up or anything). Kind of a bland taste. Both of my AG batches have been pretty light in color, the first used only english pale malt, the second was BM's cream of 3 crops.

Yooper said:

If you're buying water anyway, do not buy spring water. You have no idea what is in it! Buy reverse osmosis water, from those big "water machines" at the grocery stores or places like wal-mart, or jugs of distilled water. RO is cheaper- I paid about $2.78 for 4 gallons- but either distilled or RO is fine.

Add a teaspoon of calcium chloride to 5 gallons of brewing water (again, the RO or distilled) and you've got perfect water for brewing.

Spring water is a tough one- it may be ok. It may not. You really want a "blank slate", and so don't use spring water unless they provide a water report and you know what to do with it.

A harsh flavor, especially with noble hops like hersbrucker and the like, can definitely give a harsh unpleasant taste to the beer.

To use the 2% hops, just do a little math and get the same AAUs (that is double them, and you can leave out the late hops if you don't have any more) and you'll be all set!

Click to expand...

I am also considering that route. Would I need to include any acidulated malt? Or would the calcium chloride be enough? (In the water chemistry primer you posted it says to add calcium chloride and acid malt for the "baseline")

dsaavedra said:

I am also considering that route. Would I need to include any acidulated malt? Or would the calcium chloride be enough? (In the water chemistry primer you posted it says to add calcium chloride and acid malt for the "baseline")

Click to expand...

You probably do need some acid malt (or another source of acid) to get a low and proper mash pH. You still should be in the ballpark without it, though, with a mash pH of 5.7-5.8. That's a bit high, but it's much better than not using RO water!

Cool. I think I will just go with that baseline of 1tsp calcium chloride per 5gal and use 2% acid malt in my grain bill.

I think I probably have .5oz each of Pearl and Willamette hops in the fridge at my parents house. These hops have been in a ziplock bag in the fridge since july so I'm not sure how fresh and useable they would be, but I'll check them out when I get the chance. Would these hops fit into this recipe? Maybe use the whole 1oz of 2% Hersbrucker at 60min and then toss in the .5oz of Willamette at 15 minutes or so?