A Better Malt Backbone for High AA SMaSH Brews?

I've been SMaSHing it up lately and have, at this point, tried all of the "aroma", low AA hops I was interested in.

Now, I've gotten my hands on a few higher AA hops (specifically Green Bullet, Nelson Sauvin, Target and Horizon).

I've made one high AA SMaSH - a Sorachi Ace/MO. It tastes OK, but is lacking a good malt backbone - the beer seems a little out of balance, IMO.

That said, what's the best malt for these high AA brews? Or should I be doing something with the recipe (mash, grain total, batch size, etc.) to balance out the hops?

The standard recipe I've been using is below. Thanks!

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5 gallon batch

10# Marris Otter - mashed at 156 (batch sparge w/mash out)
*shooting for an OG of about 1.055

~5-6 AAU @ 60 min
~4-5 AAU @ 15 min and 5 min
*shooting for around 35 IBU

WLP001 (with starter)
Whirlfloc

Ferment in primary @ 68* for 3 weeks then bottle

Why not just give some other yeast a chance? Cal Ale is notoriously attenuative and hop-forward. An obvious choice is 002/1968.

You could try a mash schedule favoring dextrins (higher temp, shorter duration), but that will get you more "body" rather than "maltiness."

I have some washed 002. I'll try that with the Target this weekend.

I've been so caught up in the hops/grain aspect, I never really thought of a SMaSH as a way to evaluate yeast as well. Sort of a SMaSHY...

My 002 smelled like a mason jar full of corpses, so I used some S-04 instead. Took a hydro sample last night, and the taste was exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks for the advice!

I LIKE TURTLES.

I mean, S-04!

Why don't ya try pulling some of the mash out and boiling it down to caramelize it some like a pseudo quick decoction? Other yeasts also obviously might do ya too.

I have found that in my hoppy ales, if I mash too low, the beer get's to thin and lacks the malt backbone you are speaking of. I like 154 for my IPA's, if you pitch enough yeast you will still get decent attenuation. That is my advice, mash a little higher. You may also want to try a yeast strain that compliments malt a little more, maybe WLP029....I am using it for a pale ale right now and can let you know in about 4 weeks how it turns out.

Go for a 1.080-1.110 OG SMASH and you'll have all the backbone you need.

Funny thing is, I'll be trying that. Accidentally.

I made a half batch of DeathBrewer's vienna/northern brewer SMaSH Monday and forgot to recalculate my equipment in Beersmith to get the proper sparge amount with the half batch. So instead of 2.5 gallons at 1.055, I ended up with 1.75 gallons at 1.082.

My first SMaSH IIPA!

Sounds great! Love SMaSH Brewing not only do you get a great beer you get to learn the flavors so well. APA, IPA, IIPA, Bitters, Milds etc... all fit well in SMaSH.

Let us know how it turns. Sound awesome.. Drooooooool......