Second brew, SMaSH what I would assume Pale Ale, comments?

I'm starting my second AG this weekend and wanted to keep it simple, so I'm going with a SMaSH. I plan on growing Cascade hops in my backyard this year, so I figured I'd go with a few brews using just Cascade to get my footing. Here's my recipe, lemme know what you professionals think!

12# Marris Otter
1oz Cascade at 90
.5oz at 30
.5oz at 10
.5oz at flameout
.5oz dry hop 7 days before bottling.
WLP001

Pretty basic setup, basic recipe. I figured I should start easy, why get crazy right?

That sounds delicious! My first AG was a SMaSH with 10# Maris Otter and 2 oz Goldings. 1@60, .5@20 and .5@5 and it turned out great!

I would have liked a little more hop presence and it sounds like ur gonna hit it just right.

And I used WLP001 and it had a very nice yeast flavor. I'm definitely gonna brew this again soon.

Yeah, I sort of pieced it together from other people's ideas. I wanted a bit heavier of a beer (I like my beer with kick) so I went with 12#. Last time I sparged with almost two extra gallons of water and just boiled down, ended with a super heavy beer. Gonna try it "almost" similar, I don't want to boil for almost 5 hours again.... yeah... 5 hours....

You don't need to boil MO for 90 min unless you are looking for kettle caramelization.

also move the flameout addition to dry hop

I would keep the flame out. In the latest BYO they talk about whirlpool hops. The consensus of most of the commercial breweries is if you split your dry hop amount evenly between dry hop and whirlpool you will get the max amount of aroma and flavor.

The big boys get considerably more iBU and flavor contribution from fewer hops also. I just don't think .5oz of dry hop will give him much.

GlenF said:

The big boys get considerably more iBU and flavor contribution from fewer hops also. I just don't think .5oz of dry hop will give him much.

Click to expand...

Agreed I'd dry hop with 1-2 oz. I read the BYO article and tried it in the Lagunitas Sucks clone I just did. Called for like 3.5 ounces 30 mins post boil. I used my IC to drop to 180 degrees after flameout, then added hops and stirred gently for 30 mins (no pump or whirlpool yet, then chilled the rest of the way. It's cold crashing now after 10 days of dry hopping and the sample was awesome. I also really love dry hopping with bagged leaf hops in the keg, if you are kegging yet. Did a Sweetwater IPA clone and dry hopped in keg, wow the aroma was good.

Hmm.... I don't think I'm gonna switch the recipe but it's very good ideas!

I truly love this forum for the great amount of info that you all bestow on us new brewers. We need all of your imput!

That being said, I'm not discounting anything. Please continue with any info or feedback. I won't be writing anything off.

Although, I am slightly considering going

1oz at 90 min boil
.5oz at 15 min
.5oz at flameout
1oz dry hop 7 days before bottle