SMaSH: 2 row american pale malt and crystal

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mightynintendo

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Has anyone ever done a Klagas american pale malt and crystal SMaSH? This is my first SMaSH so I'm interested to see the final results. What I can smell bubbling out of the carboy makes me giddy inside.

I also did another new thing with this brew. I used 100% reverse osmosis water with mineral additions. I didn't write down the weight of the mineral additions, but the converted weight to measured teaspoons for the mineral additions (mixed in with the dry grain) were:

0.5 tsp Baking soda
1.75 tsp Gypsum
1.5 tsp Calcium chloride
0.75 tsp Epsom salts
0.75 tsp canning salt

One thing I noticed about the reverse osmosis water was that it didn't have a slightly yellow/green cast to it when I put 5 gallons into a white bucket as my tap water does. I will probably start doing this more often if for no other reason than that.

6 gallons post boil
75% extraction efficiency
90 minute boil
Mash temp: 152*F
SRM: 3.6
IBU: 29.4
OG: 1.052
Plato: 12.92

Grain bill:
11 lbs Klagas American 2-row pale malt

Hop schedule:
1 oz. Crystal 3% AA @ 60 min.
3 oz. Crystal 3% AA @ 20 min.
1 oz. Crystal 3% AA @ 5 min.

Yeast:
Wyeast Northwest ale #1332

Fermentation/conditioning schedule:
2-3 weeks in carboy at ~ 68*F
1+ weeks in keg under carbonation at ~ 34*F

I also added what was left of my irish moss < 1 tsp. at 15 minutes.
 
I just tapped my first keg which happened to by my first SMASH. It was different though. 11lbs MO and Amarillo. It's really awesome. One of the best beers i've done. Smashes are nice because you can really taste the differences in malts and hops. I will be doing more smashes in the future.
 
I actually just racked this to a secondary today. I normally don't use secondaries but I wanted to get it out of a 6 gallon carboy and into something with less head space as I didn't have a very good seal on my airlock. It's been two weeks and a day and the fermentation is complete with a FG of 1.012 (been there for a week). I kept the fermentation between 65 and 68 the entire time and the krausen was thick and extremely persistent. I actually had to siphon under the persistent krausen. I really like the Wyeast Northwest ale yeast quite a bit. It fermented without producing many esters or other yeasty flavors at all. The beer itself is very fresh and lively in flavor. The crystal hops are absolutely delicious. They are very prevalent yet extremely mild, almost delicate, in flavor. Overall the beer is exceptionally quaffable even now in its relatively young age. I'm going to give it one or two more weeks at 68 degrees before kegging it and cooling it down to 40 for 10 to 14 days under the CO2 whereupon consumption shall begin in earnest.
 
Just kegged this one. The last little cloudy layer that was above the yeast got poured into a glass. I must say for a warm, uncarbonated, cloudy sample this is absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to try this when I pull it off the keg and it is cold, clear, and carbonated. This beer is going to kick ass! :rockin:
 
Hey, I had to modify the recipe a bit for the hops since my market didn't have Crystal, so I have Liberty (4.3%) hops instead. I downloaded the trial version of Beersmith, and it says for the style of beer the IBUs should be in the 15-33 range.

I modified the hop additions for 3/4oz for 60 min, 1.5oz for 20, and 3/4 for 5 min. This put the IBU at 25.1. Any thoughts? I also have 12# of the 2-row which I thought might help balance some of the higher hop flavors.

Oh, and I have a Safbrew American Ale yeast (I think its S-04 or -05).

Let me know if you guys have any recommendations on this, otherwise it's hitting the brew kettle soon...thanks!
 
I don't think I've ever used liberty hops but it's definitely worth a shot. Your hop schedule adjustment will lean more towards aroma than bittering which isn't a bad thing. I really liked the aroma from the crystal. You might consider keeping the 5 minute addition at 1 oz. and reducing the 20 min addition to 1.25 oz. Having a lot of aroma at 30 IBU is really nice since you get a clear picture of the character of your hops without being overwhelmed by the bitterness.
 
I've never used Liberty either, but the comparison chart at the market had it listed as a sub for Crystal. I changed the plans for the hop additions like you recommended, so I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the help.
 
Mighty - Just finished brewing this. The sheet I had from Beersmith said the OG should be 1.054 but I only got 1.034. After cooling the wort I put it in primary and had just over 4 gallons. The sheet said to top off to 6 gallons (if required/desired) so I topped it off to just over 5. I stirred the water/wort together a lot before taking the reading, so I'm wondering what could be wrong. Do you think adding the water killed my OG?

I still pitched yeast and set for fermentation, so I'm still hoping it'll turn out. Any thoughts? Recommendations (other than RDWHAHB!)?

Thanks...cheers!
 
I see. Well, I definitely agree, RDWHAHB! I must say that yes, topping off to that target volume is what lowered your OG. The best I can figure is that your extract efficiency was lower than expected. Without doing any calculations I can't say exactly what your OG would have been had you not topped off, so I can't say whether your boil-off rate was really high or if your extraction efficiency was really low but all things considered, don't worry! This may finish a bit thinner than what you wanted but experimentation is what this is all about. Really though you should have finished with a much higher volume I wonder if you mashed at a really low water/grain ratio... I mashed at 1.6 quarts/pound. I made up the rest of my volume in the sparge. I never top off, always boil the full amount and then go with what I end up with. That doesn't mean my way is the only right method, so don't feel distraught. Go with it. Remember this is an experimental brew anyway so consider your OG and what you end up with as your FG and make notes on your thoughts of the beer when it's finally done. Above all else, RDWHAHB!!! :mug:
 
I've done 2-row and Liberty, with Saflager W-34/70. My mind's Liberty descriptor is "lemongrass" while 2-row gets "milky." It tasted a lot like Scrimshaw after the hop tea faded out.
 
I'm guessing it's a combo of poor extraction efficiency as well as some boil off. Like you said - I'm sure it'll be a bit lighter than I wanted, but that's fine for an experiment. Other than the low OG the beer looked and smelled good, so hopefully it'll be ok. Having poor efficiencies also gives me a good excuse to upgrade and buy some new equipment too!
 
Thought I was doing a smash cascade today, but the freezer said crystal instead.

My recipe

18# 2 row
2# 2 row toasted for 30 minutes at 275
7 oz Crystall in hop juice

I did hop juice, so i took my first running and brought it inside and boiled it. The I added the 7 oz crystal and wort to a french coffee press. 7 oz was thicker than pea soup. Let thiis sit for a hour while sparging. Drained the liquid, about half a high ball glass of hop juice. Take the hops in the press and throw them in the boil for 60 minutes.

Threw the hop juice in a flame out, but next time i think the tormentor will be better. Skimmed off the hop juice from boil after cool down since I was afraid of not getting the juice from the trub.

1st smash and 1st hop juice. The 2R was the most boring tasting grain in the mash tun ever. It will also be my first kegging as well.
 
Just kegged this one. The last little cloudy layer that was above the yeast got poured into a glass. I must say for a warm, uncarbonated, cloudy sample this is absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to try this when I pull it off the keg and it is cold, clear, and carbonated. This beer is going to kick ass! :rockin:

So how was it?
I'm getting ready to brew a very similar beer. Two row Marris Otter pale malt, a 1056 starter and a mess of crystal. It's my umpteenth AG beer but my first SMaSH.
Just trying to finish the last of my grain bag and left over hops and searched for SMaSHes with that bill came up with your post. Glad to hear initial reports are good :)
Thanks!
 

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