SMaSH recipes

I have been looking for a thread for SMaSH recipes. Does it exist? Is there a sticky or something? Thanks!

I don't think there's a sticky... there are a lot of threads on the topic. What, specifically, are you looking for?

There are only so many base malts and more than a few hops. The idea of a SMaSH is to isolate the character of one or the other, to learn about your ingredients. Are you looking for a relatively neutral recipe to experiment with yeast? Are you looking for a limited ingredient pale ale? Are you looking for a SMaSH barleywine? Do you want to experiment with toasting a percentage of your malt?

A lot depends on what you want to do.

I didn't see any stickies specific to the SMaSH recipe/style. BUT, there are tons of results from a quick search of the boards. Start looking through those to get an idea of how to formulate a SMaSH recipe. It really is a rather simple recipe. Just pick a base malt, then single hop. Figure out how much of each to use to get your OG and IBU levels desired and go to it.

IMO SMaSH brews are designed to be ingredient/process simple, to showcase both the malt and hop selected. IF you wanted to be a bit creative, you could select to use Maris Otter malt. With that selection, you could also use some Crystal Maris Otter in the batch, and still be able to call it a SMaSH brew. Or, you could toast some of the base malt yourself if you wanted, altering the flavor profile from the grain.

Don't forget the importance of yeast. The SMaSH name only denotes a focus on a grain and hop, but the fermentation is where beer happens. This is why I note the strain of yeast in the beers in my sig.

944play said:

Don't forget the importance of yeast. The SMaSH name only denotes a focus on a grain and hop, but the fermentation is where beer happens. This is why I note the strain of yeast in the beers in my sig.

Click to expand...

Proper yeast selection should be important, if not critical to every batch you brew. SMaSH being no different, IMO...

I don't bother to note the yeast in my sig brews. I have the yeast selection noted in every recipe within BeerSmith, as well as my brew-log. I also review the information on the yeasts I'm thinking of using for a batch, before making the selection. I like to have a couple of choices in mind for when I visit the LHBS, so that if they don't have the primary selection, I have at least one choice in the wings.

Knowing what a yeast will give to a brew is important too. Doubly so with what a strain will do at the temperature it will be fermenting at. More than a few strains give different flavors/characteristics in different parts of their temperature range.