Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1056
Yeast Starter: Yeast Slurry, 140 ml
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.68
Original Gravity: 1.046
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 37.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 120
Color: 14.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 days at 68.
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): None.
Tasting Notes: Very malty with a good level of hops in aroma and flavor. Bread+bitterness lingers.

This was one of those magical beers where the whole brewing day is a disaster but the beer comes out fantastic nonetheless. Smola is a Croatian word that means either "disaster" or "sap" as in "amber", so I thought the name was appropriate.

The beer has a surprising amount of hops in the aroma and especially the flavor given the numbers of what was added. I think this is from the First Wort Hops but can't be certain. The malt is pronounced and there's a nice balance between the two. It's not super bitter, being bittered to the level of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but with a lower gravity. This is not a crazy hophead beer but one with more balance between the hops and malt. It has a full mouthfeel but a dry finish. Very happy with this one, so thought I'd post it. It's one of the favorites with my friends out of my recent beers.

Type: All Grain
Date: 8/28/2009
Batch Size: 21.50 L
Brewer: Matt
Boil Size: 31.50 L
Boil Time: 120 min (longer boil to bring out that malt more)
Equipment: RIMS and 10 gallon boiler

Ingredients

Grain (percentages posted rather than amounts on grain so people with different efficiencies can just plug in a percentage instead):

Castle Pale Malt (Belgian)(3.6 SRM) 86.31 %
Crystal Malt - 50 (25.4 SRM) 4.96 %
Munich Malt (7.6 SRM) 3.57 %
Crystal Malt -350 (177.7 SRM) 2.38 %
Crystal Malt -150 (76.1 SRM) 1.59 %
Chocolate Malt (340.0 SRM) 1.19 %

Hops(all plugs):

12.00 gm Centennial [9.10 %] (120 min) (First Wort Hop) 15.4 IBU
7.00 gm Chinook [14.00 %] (120 min) (First Wort Hop) 13.8 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [8.70 %] (15 min) 3.0 IBU
4.00 gm Chinook [14.00 %] (15 min) 1.9 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [8.70 %] (2 min) 1.9 IBU
4.00 gm Chinook [14.00 %] (2 min) 1.2 IBU


1.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)

Yeast slurry repitched from previous batch. No starter used.

Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Alcohol by Vol: 4.82 %
Bitterness: 37.1 IBU
Est Color: 14.5 SRM


Mash Profile

Sparge Water: 23.55 L
Sparge Temperature: 169.0 F
Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Add 1.24 quarts per pound or 2.58 liters per kilo of water to achieve:

60 min Step 153.0 F
10 min Step 167.0 F

Table sugar used for priming at bottling, carbonated to 2.55 volumes.