SMaSH Stout?

[BlackVelvetBand]

I wasn't sure which forum to stick this question under, and it might be a silly question in general, but has anyone done/heard of/drank a SMaSH stout? I searched the site but didn't find any stout recipes done this way.

I was wondering about it, and I guess it's possible, but it sounds a bit odd...if anyone has tried it before, what have they had success with? And would using the same grain, but roasting only part of the bill (as opposed to the entire thing) still be considered "Single Malt"?

 

[lowlife]

10 pounds black patent sounds about right =)
Im joking.. Once the grain is roasted it is another type of grain in my opinion whatever that is worth.

 

[jmo88]

10 pounds ROASTED BARLEY sounds about right =)

Fixed that for ya. Now it's perfect!

 

[HItransplant]

Fixed that for ya. Now it's perfect!

whew... that'd be intense.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I hope you see the point.

Once you go beyond BASE MALT (pale 2 row, 6 row, pilsen, etc) you could not have a stout without another type of grain.

An extract brew, with all dark DME and 1 kind of hops doesn't count as a SMASH because there are certainly at least base malts and chocolate malt in the dark DME.

 

[BlackVelvetBand]

Going on the point lowlife made, a partially non-roasted + partially roasted bill - even if the same grain - would not be a SMaSH, that pretty much rules it out, I guess.

Typically, the roasted grains don't have much in the way of fermentable sugars, right? So you'd either have to use way more grain than normal or settle for a low-attenuated result?

That said, it doesn't have to be the darkest stout ever, so couldn't you take some dark-ish grains like Crystal or roast some other malted grain (eg - Munich) yourself? And I guess if you're ending up with a lot of unfermentable sugars, still, you'd have to up your Single Hops as well...

It might seem like a stretch (or not particularly appealing), but I was just wondering if anyone had heard of/tried it before.

Edit: Actually, turns out some folks over on Northern Brewer had an idea for an all-Munich stout, so I guess it has been done. Also, there's quite a few nice-sounding Munich SMaSH recipes here; maybe roasting the Munich for a bit could work....

 

[klyph]

The point of a SMASH is to train your palette to know how certain base malts and hop strains taste by themselves.

A style of beer (such as stout) is derived from a mixture of variable ingredients to form a complex medley of flavor and aroma.

I don't understand what you're trying to do here.

 

[BlackVelvetBand]

Fair enough point.

I guess the point of it all would be trying to see the line between what distinguishes a stout from just an ordinary SMaSH recipe made with any-other darkened grain; that is, if a single-grain "stout" would even taste like a stout at all, or if would come out as a slightly-burned pale ale gone wrong...

 

[NCBeernut]

There is a way you could get something stoutish by doing a smash...

100% munich, boil down some first runnings until it gets black, add it to the boil. It might taste like burnt sugar, but hey, it might work. Not sure why you would do it this way though.

 

[whatsleftofyou]

My only thought is, what about brown malt? I've never used it so I don't know how it would work as a "base malt", and would be more of a porter anyway...just a thought.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Interesting thought....sounds like a bad idea any way you cut it though.

 

[Frodo]

I don't believe brown malt has any diastatic power. i.e. you won't get any of the starches to convert without a base malt.

 

[bkov]

i think brown palt use to be a basemalt in the old days. but even if it doesnt, you can use amalyse enzyme and still have it be a smash

 

[NCBeernut]

i think brown palt use to be a basemalt in the old days. but even if it doesnt, you can use amalyse enzyme and still have it be a smash

Brown malt from those days was much different.

 

[passedpawn]

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say can't be done.

 

[HItransplant]

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say can't be done.

I agree.. also, the question that beggs to be asked.. why would you want to? As mentioned earlier, SMaSH is to experiment with flavor profile differences.

if you want to brew a stout.. just keep it a simple stout. base and one specialty, then screw around with your hops.. same idea as a SMaSH.

 

[Ølbart]

Castle Malting has a diastatic aromatic malt at 38L, which should be just about dark enough to make something stout-like in colour, at 1.060 and up. Someone should try brewing a Cascadian dark/black IPA/whatever SMaSH with it.

 

[BlackVelvetBand]

if you want to brew a stout.. just keep it a simple stout. base and one specialty, then screw around with your hops.. same idea as a SMaSH.

Yeah, that makes sense. I might've been overthinking the SMaSH concept a bit too much. It'd be interesting to try - if only for the novelty - if I were one to roast my own malts, but given that I've never done that, your suggestion seems a more logical (and easier) one...