SMaSH Beer Series?

I know a few breweries have done this, but have any homebrewers gone above and beyond?

I want to make a series of SMaSH brews so I can increase my familiarity with the flavor contributions of every hop variety I can get my hands on. I know that this will take forever, but hey, I don't plan on stopping this hobby any time soon!

My plan is to use the same malt bill and same hopping schedule for each batch so I can take notes on the bittering, flavor, and aroma of each hop. I'll do two at a time, splitting each batch into two boil kettles.

I'm thinking a basic 2 row grist with 5% CaraPils and a hopping schedule of a 1/2 oz at 60, 30, 15, and 5 minutes.

If anyone has done something like this, share your results, comments, etc. I want to make sure that my efforts will be worth the while.

I haven't yet, but have been planning on it for a while. unfortunately, when i make my way to the LHBS i lose all self control and buy ingredients for other stuff that sounds cool. i was going to go country by country, as in pilsner malt with saaz and one with tett, and a batch of marris otter with fuggles and a batch with EKG. from what i've read, these usually turn out really good

zgardener said:

I'm thinking a basic 2 row grist with 5% CaraPils and a hopping schedule of a 1/2 oz at 60, 30, 15, and 5 minutes.

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I'd ditch the idea of using weight as the common measurement except for the final aroma addition. You're better off using the same IBU contribution per addition.

I have done a few of them - I would suggest doing 1-gallon batches. They usually taste pretty one-dimensional (obviously). Using a character basemalt like MO, GP or Vienna helps, but I got tired of 5-gallon SMaSH recipes really fast.

techinically it wouldn't be a SMaSH if you added 2-row and Carapils

you could try using a maltier base malt like MO, Vienna etc instead

I just did my 1st SMaSH with Golden Promise and Amarillo

i also agree above about matching IBU's more than weight aside from late additions.

maybe dry hop as well

jmo88 said:

I'd ditch the idea of using weight as the common measurement except for the final aroma addition. You're better off using the same IBU contribution per addition.

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I figured that the weight may be good (taking note of the AA% of course) so I could quickly and easily measure out the hops, but mainly so I wouldn't have partial bags of a million different hops chilling in my freezer. Plus, the bittering potential would be better displayed when hopping by weight, which is one variable that I'm looking for, but that's just my thought process...

ArcaneXor said:

I have done a few of them - I would suggest doing 1-gallon batches. They usually taste pretty one-dimensional (obviously). Using a character basemalt like MO, GP or Vienna helps, but I got tired of 5-gallon SMaSH recipes really fast.

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Yeah, I imagine I would, i'll split a normal 5 gallon batch and make two 2.5 gallon batches and just bottle them so I can share a few with friends and have some for evaluations and to age to see how characteristics change over time.

So far i have done citra, cascade, and columbus. Columbus was byfar my favorite out of the three. I also plan to a lot more with fuggles, ekg, magnum, and centennial.

terrapinj said:

techinically it wouldn't be a SMaSH if you added 2-row and Carapils

you could try using a maltier base malt like MO, Vienna etc instead

I just did my 1st SMaSH with Golden Promise and Amarillo

i also agree above about matching IBU's more than weight aside from late additions.

maybe dry hop as well

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True, not a REALLY a SMaSH, but sounds like they are more interested in the hops.

I'd keep the hopping more simple with three additions - 60 min, 15-10min and a flameout. Basic Bitter, Flavor, Aroma.

I have done Sorachi Ace, Cascade, Pride of Ringwood and will soon be doing Nugget.Will be more than happy to share.The thing is that they are not the same size batches OR grain bills.
You are spot on though. It's a great way to get to know the hop's profile.

If you are more focused on the hops why not use a simple APA grain bill. Something like 2-row and 5-7% C60. At least this way the malt won't be as one dimensional.

that might be a good call too. also, what yeast are you planning on using? I would think something like white labs east coast ale (WL008) would be good for this. probably my favorite yeast when i'm trying to accentuate the hop character in a beer

I have done a dozen or so SMaSH brews and have never found them to be wanting for interestingness. "Dimension" can be promoted through process, like decoction and kettle caramelization, if you want to adhere to the academic purity of the concept.