Experienced SMaSH brewers, I solicit your opinions

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
slothorentropy

slothorentropy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
136
Reaction score
1
Location
Oxford
Brewed a Simcoe/Optic SMaSH on 9/2. Having never done one of these before, I'm keenly interested to try it, though I'm guessing it to be heavy on the BU side and not as balanced as I'd hoped due to missing my OG because of a bad crush. Anyway!

Was curious to hear from people with SMaSH experience regarding time tables. I'd imagine this is a pretty quick grain-to-bottle kind of thing, but I wanted to dry hop in secondary with some Simcoe since I have an ounce sitting around. Basic two-week primary rule of thumb still apply, or ought I just go ahead & rack & dry hop?

Here's the recipe if anyone's interested. Never had anything Optic-based before, to my knowledge.

Recipe Overview
Target Wort Volume Before Boil: 26.00 qts Actual Wort Volume Before Boil: 26.00 qts
Target Wort Volume After Boil: 21.13 qts Actual Wort Volume After Boil: 21.13 qts
Target Volume Transferred: 21.13 qts Actual Volume Transferred: 21.13 qts
Target Volume At Pitching: 21.13 qts Actual Volume At Pitching: 21.13 qts
Target Volume Of Finished Beer: 20.08 qts Actual Volume Of Finished Beer: 20.08 qts
Target Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048 SG Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.041 SG
Target OG: 1.059 SG Actual OG: 1.049 SG
Target FG: 1.014 SG Actual FG: -No Record-
Target Apparent Attenuation:: 75.0 % Actual Apparent Attenuation: 100.0 %
Target ABV: 6.0 % Actual ABV: 6.5 %
Target ABW: 4.7 % Actual ABW: 5.2 %
Target IBU (using Tinseth): 58.6 IBU Actual IBU: 62.5 IBU
Target Color (using Morey): 4.9 SRM Actual Color: 4.9 SRM
Target Mash Efficiency: 75.0 % Actual Mash Efficiency: 63.9 %
Target Fermentation Temp: 72 degF Actual Fermentation Temp: 72 degF


Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
Fawcett Optic Malt 12lb 0oz 100.0 % 5.7 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 20.0 Bagged Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 15.3 Bagged Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 12.1 Bagged Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 7.2 Bagged Pellet Hops 10 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 4.0 Bagged Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.0 % 0.50 oz 0.0 Bagged Pellet Hops At turn off


Other Ingredients
Ingredient Amount When
Irish Moss 1.00 oz In Boil


Yeast
Danstar-Nottingham
Click to expand...
 
2 week primary 2 weeks dry hop. I like the rule of a month rather than 2 weeks, but your beer should be attenuate well, looks really hoppy!!!
 
You're right about the balance in my opinion. That's a lot of IBU's for a low alcohol brew.
But the bright side of it is that it's a hoppy brew, and you can't get enough of those.
 
Looks good to me. Hoppy but a reasonable amount of OG to balance it out.

The primary/secondary/dry hop discussion is done to death elsewhere on the board. In my set up it's a "it depends" situation. Do I have enough empty carboys, how long until that dry hopped beer will be kegged, what is in my pipeline... The list goes on.

I like to be able to free up a 6.5g carboy for primary when I can. Sometimes that means racking to secondary for a dry hopped beer or I'll dry hop in primary and then transfer to keg.

YMMV, as always.
 

Similar threads

D
First Recipe: 1 Gallon Maris Otter / Goldings SMaSH (Comments, suggestions?)
Replies
6
Views
332
Northern_Brewer
Northern_Brewer
rkhanso
My first SMaSH recipe. Opinions appreciated
Replies
7
Views
327
fluketamer
F
Zippy123
Feedback on recipe to split mash for two different beers
Replies
2
Views
401
Zippy123
Zippy123
Rob2010SS
British Golden Ale
2
Replies
50
Views
3K
Deadalus
Deadalus
Gadjobrinus
3 potential new - Best, Strong Bitter, Imperial Stout
Replies
14
Views
1K
Gadjobrinus
Gadjobrinus

Latest posts

Back
Top