Vienna Amarillo sMasH

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KraphtBier

KraphtBier

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Hello all! I plan on brewing up a sMasH ale with my dad over the holidays and I wanted to get some feedback from the good people here on my recipe, as well as take suggestions on mash and fermentation temps. I want to do an american pale using Vienna as my base malt and amarillo hops. So far the recipe is:

10lbs Weyerman Vienna
1oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) 60 min
0.5oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) 15 min
0.5oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) dry hop 5 days
Whirlfloc tablet
S-04

I want some body to the beer but I've never used vienna as a base and don't know where exactly my temps should be to get that out of this particular malt. I usually use Maris Otter or 2-row and mash for light body, but most of the time there is a little crystal or other adjunct that lends some body to the brew.

Also, should I ferment a bit warmer (read: 65-68) to get some yeast character or would I be better off getting the temp lower for a cleaner fermentation? Thanks in advance for the help :mug:
 
I would dry hop for a week plus, but less than two weeks.

Mash at around 152 not, too much body bbut not too light. Ferment with a neutral yeast at 65 to 67 to make sure you are getting the flavors of the hops and malt.

I would start this way, then if you find you want more yeast character try fermenting higher with the next batch or with a different yeast.

Recipe looks nice, let us know how it turns out
 
KraphtBier said:
Hello all! I plan on brewing up a sMasH ale with my dad over the holidays and I wanted to get some feedback from the good people here on my recipe, as well as take suggestions on mash and fermentation temps. I want to do an american pale using Vienna as my base malt and amarillo hops. So far the recipe is:

10lbs Weyerman Vienna
1oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) 60 min
0.5oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) 15 min
0.5oz Amarillo (~9.3aa) dry hop 5 days
Whirlfloc tablet
S-04

I want some body to the beer but I've never used vienna as a base and don't know where exactly my temps should be to get that out of this particular malt. I usually use Maris Otter or 2-row and mash for light body, but most of the time there is a little crystal or other adjunct that lends some body to the brew.

Also, should I ferment a bit warmer (read: 65-68) to get some yeast character or would I be better off getting the temp lower for a cleaner fermentation? Thanks in advance for the help :mug:
Click to expand...

I've been working on trying to get my water profile together for the different style of beer so I was wondering what your water profile would look like for this? Is it the same as the normal 1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride to each 5 gal water treated with 3% sauermalz added to the grist?
 
I don't plan on adjusting my water for this beer as the water at my dad's has plenty of calcium. I am going to boil off my water ahead of time to drive the chlorine out and other than that I'm just gonna go with it. Sauermalz/Acidulated malt is a good idea but I don't wanna use anything other than the listed ingredients so I can create a true sMasH. I've used ph5.2 buffer in the past but I'm skipping it this go round as I don't really think it ever worked the way it is advertised.
 
That's been what most people have said when referring to 5.2 buffer. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
 
It's a matter of taste, I mash 100% Munich 10L Marzens at 158... I like a lot of malt character in my beers...
 
I think I'm going to shoot for somewhere around 152-154 for a nice medium bodied beer. I'd still like to get a nice hop presence in this brew. Any higher than that and I'm afraid I'd only showcase the toastiness of the vienna and lose that wonderful amarillo flavor. Maybe I'll boil for 90 minutes to get some malt complexity.
 
Ok, so I spent some time researching my yeast and I'm in a bit of a bind. I typically use US-05 for my american ales or anything I want to have a clean profile. Sadly the LHBS didn't have any so my choices were Notty or S-04. I've used both but that was quite some time ago. I opted for the S-04 but after some reading I'm wondering if I should've gone with notty for a cleaner profile. My ability to control fermentation temps is so-so. I do the water bath and t-shirt with frozen bottles method to maintain constant (or close to) temps. The temps in NC have been warmer (~75 degrees) the last few days and I'm worried that the brew will not be cool enough to prevent a massive ester bomb from going off inside the carboy. Should I go with Notty instead?
 
Merry Christmas! The brew day went very well, we hit all of our numbers and I'm proofing the yeast as I type this. I decided to stick with S-04 and see how it comes out. Hydro sample tasted good so I'm hopeful this one will be a winner. I will update in after a few days and take a gravity reading.
 
I am drinking a Vienna/Amarillo SMaSH as I type this. One week in the bottle and its already carbed and delicious. Can't wait to taste it with a little age on it.
 
Update: This is one damn tasty beer!

Bottled on January 17th, the final gravity at bottling was 1.012. The beer is perfectly balanced and is honestly one of the best beers I have ever brewed or tasted. The toasty/biscuity/malty flavors from the Vienna are perfectly offset and accented by the citrus bitter notes from the amarillo. Anyone looking to brew an interesting and highly drinkable sMasH should give this combo a try!

Edit: Bottle conditioned for two weeks before drinking, carbed with 4oz of corn sugar for 2.5 volumes. Ended up not dry hopping this time but may experiment with it in the future, I will definitely be brewing this one again.
 
I do an Amarillo / Vienna SmaSh regularly about every 5-6 brews I use 11lbs Vienna 1oz FWH, 1oz @ 20 min, 1oz @ 10min ,1 oz @ 5 min and 1oz @ 1 min a pack of rehydrated notty and 3 weeks in primary then kegged everybody loves this its one of my favorite beers.
 
I've got a Vienna-Hallertau SMASH dry hopping now - bottle Monday or Tuesday. Don't want to get my hopes too high based on a small, warm, flat sample, but it tasted pretty damn good, and that was before the dry hop. I used Wy. 1056, OG 1.042, FG 1.013
I'm brewing a Munich-Mittelfruh next week.
I've got some Amarillo - may have to try some with Vienna.
 

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