Help with a Series of SMaSH's

[woodmansee]

I'm looking for some advice on doing a series of SMaSH recipes to help me hone in on hops that I really like. My ultimate goal with all this is to really understand the flavor imparted by different hop varieties, so I can develop my own perfect (for me) house IPA. My plan is to do 2-Row to an OG of ~1.07. So my question is this: If I really wanted to understand the flavors that I get from each hop, should I pick an IBU level and brew each batch to that same IBU (keeping the same hopping schedule, but adjusting the amount of hops at each addition to achieve the same IBU), or would I get a better idea by just picking an amount of hops and a hopping schedule and letting the IBU end up wherever it lands?

I'm leaning towards maintaining the same IBU across all the beers, because this would essentially mean that I am brewing the exact same beer each time and only changing the hop used, but I would like to hear your opinions.

Thanks!

 

[chickypad]

I would keep all the late additions the same oz for oz and then adjust a 60 min addition to keep the IBU's the same across batches. I've done single hop series like these using the same simple grainbill and I think it works nicely for comparing between different hops.

 

[chisena]

I like this idea. Chickypad's suggestion is what I would recommend as well. How many different hops are you planning to use? Are you doing 1G of each or more?

 

[woodmansee]

Ok, I like that idea. I'm doing these as 1G BIAB batches. It's super quick and easy to do that way. My first round is going to be 3 or 4 different hops, but I will probably do at least 1 more round of 3-4 hops. This group is going to be Cascade, Centennial, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe. Couldn't get Citra or Galaxy at the LHBS, which I specifically want to do. Also open to ideas for other good varieties!

Hop schedule I think will be:
60min
20min
5min
Flame-out
Dry-hop

So maybe keep all but the 60min additions at just a set amount and tweak the 60min to get to my desired IBU

 

[woodmansee]

Also, forgot to mention all will be fermented using WLP001

 

[chickypad]

Looks like good choices to start, Amarillo also makes a nice single hop beer though I haven't been able to get any yet this year. What base grain are you using?

 

[brettwasbtd]

Ok, I like that idea. I'm doing these as 1G BIAB batches. It's super quick and easy to do that way. My first round is going to be 3 or 4 different hops, but I will probably do at least 1 more round of 3-4 hops. This group is going to be Cascade, Centennial, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe. Couldn't get Citra or Galaxy at the LHBS, which I specifically want to do. Also open to ideas for other good varieties!

Hop schedule I think will be:
60min
20min
5min
Flame-out
Dry-hop

So maybe keep all but the 60min additions at just a set amount and tweak the 60min to get to my desired IBU

I would probably skip the 5 min addition and just do the 60, 20, flame/whirlpool and dry hop. Also if you are just using standard American 2-row I would consider adding like 10% munich or something. Straight 2-row beers often just seem to be lacking. As long as you keep the base grain bill the same you should be able to get a good idea of the hops.

 

[slym2none]

Looks like good choices to start, Amarillo also makes a nice single hop beer though I haven't been able to get any yet this year. What base grain are you using?

Amarillo is fast becoming a fave of mine!

I think the OP said he is using 2-row to get an OG of 1.070

 

[BigMack]

I would personally keep the OG a little lower than that if you're making a SMaSH to really have the hops shine through. Just my $0.02.

 

[chickypad]

I think the OP said he is using 2-row to get an OG of 1.070

sorry OP, that whole reading comprehension thing is getting me down

 

[woodmansee]

Ok so I've been lazy and brewed something separate that I just wanted (Stone Ruination Clone ) but I'm brewing the first in this series tomorrow morning. Because of what I have on hand combined with a Beersmith podcast I watched with Mitch Steele from Stone I'm going 10% Vienna (which I will keep throughout the series for consistency) and I'm going to equal out the IBU's and gravity to the best of my ability but do just bittering/whirlpool/dry hop additions (according to Mitch they get the flavor and bittering they like just from these additions, but we will see). I feel like I've read that Beersmith misjudges the bittering contributed by the whirpool, does anyone have an opinion on this? Otherwise I will update on brewday tomorrow (doing Nelson first).

Thanks everyone!

 

[chickypad]

I feel like I've read that Beersmith misjudges the bittering contributed by the whirpool, does anyone have an opinion on this? Otherwise I will update on brewday tomorrow (doing Nelson first).

I'm not sure if it's that the actual calculations are off, or that the bitterness you get from whirlpool is smoother so the perception of that bitterness is less. They may also assume that you are holding the beer near 212, but for smaller batches and long hopstands it cools off more than that.

I'm more interested in aroma/flavor than bitterness from the whirlpool/hopstand so I've started cooling to 160-170* before adding the hops, which should not contribute IBU's.

 

[m00ps]

I would use the exact same hop bill for each so you get a better idea of how assertive each hop is. Belma, for instance is one of my favorites to use in fruity hop forward beers. However, it can easily be overpowered by something like citra, even at a 2:1 ratio

 

[woodmansee]

I would use the exact same hop bill for each so you get a better idea of how assertive each hop is.

Hence my question on the Beersmith calculations. I want to do the same hop bill for everything except the bittering additions, but when I plug the values into beersmith for my recipe the hopstand addition ends up throwing the IBU calculations all over the place. I don't plan to hold the wort near 212 during the stand, just to toss them in at flame out and let it idly cool for 30 mins before moving to active cooling. I've had success with this method before, so I guess I should just stop fretting over what these additions do to the IBUs. As long as the boil addition brings the same amount of bitterness across all the batches I should get the information I'm looking for.

Thanks everyone! Bout to start brewing so I will keep you posted!

 

[woodmansee]

Well this brew is in the fermenter now! Based on my last run on the 1G BIAB system I'm using, I went with 72% efficiency. Last run, I also ended up with about 1.2G after the 60min boil. So today I used the recipe below and decided to extend the boil to 90 mins. I kept the first hop addition as a 60min addition, so the bitterness should all work out the same, just needed less volume. I ended up getting just slightly under 1G in the end, and OG was 1.089! So this time around I got ~86% eff.! This is with grain that has been stored in a plastic bag w/ a bread tie (already milled) for over a year! So I think I'm going to estimate my efficiency for future batches at about 80% and boil for around 1:15. If I end up with a little extra wort who cares.

But for now I guess my first batch of this is going to end up being more of an Imperial IPA, but I'm cool with that. I used the yeast cake from the Ruination clone I mentioned earlier so there should be more than enough yeast to ferment this out. I'm going to check gravity in a week, and probably transfer to secondary to dry-hop. Plan to use the cake again for my next batch, which I think will be the Cascade version. Let me know if you guys have any further suggestions. I'll keep logging my efforts on this thread and as soon as I get the chance to drink some of these I'll put up tasting notes as well!

Nelson Sauvin SMaSH(ish)
American IPA (14 B)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 1.00 gal
Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 9.6 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 91.2 %
4.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 8.8 %
0.30 oz Nelson Sauvin [11.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min 65.1 IBUs
0.40 oz Nelson Sauvin [11.30 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 min 33.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml]
0.20 oz Nelson Sauvin [11.30 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs