my first smash recipe... IPA?

so this is my first all grain single malt single hop recipe, i brewed it last thursday and ran into a few problems. the main one being that all of the hop matter clogged the inlet filter to my pump so i had to use a racking cane to get it into my carboy. the second is that my efficiency seems to be fairly low, but has been higher than my previous batches... anyone have any ideas on boosting this number?

grain bill:
13.5# briess pale ale malt

hops: czech saaz 3.3%
1 oz first wort
1.5 at 60min
.5 30
.5 20
.5 10
.5 5
.5 1

yeast: 1 packet of us-05 re-hydrated and used an active fermenting starter using palmer's method.

after pitching i used a brew belt on a timer for about 3 hours. the average temp out in my brewspace hangs around 60 but does not fall below due to infloor heating and an electric heater.

after my pump clogged i collected an estimated 4 gallons of 1.050 wort and pitched, fermentation seems to be going strong.

I'm just curious of any thoughts that anyone might have, I had a few pounds of base malt laying around and really like saaz so I thought it would be worth a shot...

any thoughts are much appreciated,
bryan

oh yeah i forgot to mention that my mash was at 150 for 1.5 hours

To help with efficiency, we need to know what your mashing parameters are (other than temp) and then what your sparging methods are. Also, before your next SMASH, you may want to do some homework on dual-use hops. I'm not sure how excess amounts of Saaz will present themselves in an IPA format.

My first SMASH was Maris Otter and Challenger hops. It was disgusting and undrinkable. I sincerely hope yours is better, but I have reservations.

i chose saaz because i really like the aroma/flavor from these hops and had read about first wort hopping with finishing hops for a smoother bitterness. i have read that some people perceive the bitterness from "noble" hops to be less harsh. this inspired me to give it a whirl. as far as mashing goes, i ground the grain a little bit finer than i usually do in hopes of a little bit more extract. my strike water was 183, i added one gallon to my mash tun then added grain and added 1 gallon of strike water. my temp was right on but i thought my mash was thick so i added one gallon of cold water to thin it out then added enough strike water to get it back to temp at 150. my mash was very thin. after 1.5 hours i recirculated 2 gallons of wort then ran until there was an inch above the grain bed. I took a very low sparge time prob about a quarter pint a minute and cut the sparge off when i thought i would hit my mark draining my mash tun to hit my 7 gallon boil mark. i'm not sure but i did notice a crystal like surface on the top of the spent grain that i thought was sugar but my uncle said was just the dust from the grain. i wonder if my efficiency loss may be due to sparging.

I hope this helps,
bryan

and the best part of it is that if it is undrinkable the guy down the road is a distiller so at least somebody could benefit from this excursion... this was a fairly expensive batch though

How did you manage to ruin a Maris Otter/Challenger SMaSH, Grizzlybrew?

Ølbart;2538678 said:

How did you manage to ruin a Maris Otter/Challenger SMaSH, Grizzlybrew?

Click to expand...

I had read about Challenger hops being a dual-use hop in Designing Great Beers and decided to try a SMASH with them. It was early in my brewing career and instead of brewing a nice, British IPA with restrained hop usage, I went for a big American IPA and just loaded it down with late and dry hops. It ended up tasting like garlic and onions and didn't fade even after 6 months. I ended up dumping it. I read later that Challenger was to be used for bittering only. I'm not sure if they're technically dual use or not, but from my personal experience, I won't be using them for big flavors/aromas anymore.

Challenger is excellent as a late hop, certainly not bittering only. As most U.K. hops, it probably should be used with more restraint than the typical American varieties, although it works well together with some of them (eg Amarillo and Columbus). I've found it fairly fruity, with tangerine notes rather than anything garlic and onions.