SMaSH Yeast Question

[ooguyx]

I plan on making a smash, and am wondering what yeast to use. Is the point of smash to use neutral yeast to get the full effect of the malt/hop flavor? Will some yeasts impart a terrible flavor?

My plan:
10lbs of Munich 10L
1oz Goldings @60 mins

comments on the receipe also welcome!

 

[Double_D]

Nottingham

 

[cuttsjp]

Yeasts will certainly not impart a terrible flavor to your beer, so your yeast selection just depends on where you want to with it. With Munich and EKG, there are lots of options. A neutral American yeast like 1056, WLP001 or S-05 will showcase exactly what ingredients are in the beer. If you want to add a complex and spicy character, you might want to try a Belgian strain like Wyeast 3522 (Belgian Ardennes, which is a wonderful and very versatile Belgian strain). If you are set up to do lagers, a good German lager yeast would leave you with a beer that is somewhere along the lines of a Vienna/Oktoberfest lager. If you want that malty, mildly fruity, European ale character, I would recommend Wyeast 1007 (German ale) or 1338 (European ale) or WLP011.

There are a few options, but that's basically a long-winded way of saying that it's all up to you and it all depends on what character you are looking for in your beer, but the options above are all good ones. I definitely want to cook up a SMaSH beer sometime this summer, so I would love to hear how this goes

 

[McGarnigle]

I think you need more hop additions than that, but it depends on what you want to do.

A lot of people use neutral yeast to keep that out of the equation so they can get a feel for the grains and hops. Your recipe will give you an idea of what Munich malt tastes like, but not Goldings. If you want to play around with yeasts, then maybe that works: you keep hop flavor low so you can taste the yeast.

 

[FarmerJoe]

The beauty and simplicity of a SMaSH is that you can do the same recipe many times with different yeast each time, so not only are you understanding the malt and hop profile, but also tasting the difference that each yeast can add. A neutral yeast is probably good the first time so that you get the basic idea of your malt and yeast. Then you can do it again with a different yeast to see what the differences in taste are.
I'm actually doing some SMaSH recipes now. I have a Maris Otter/Glacier with white labs 005 English ale yeast going. I'm probably going to be using the yeast cake after for a stout. Then I will try the same SMaSH with maybe a California yeast or anything really. The possibilities are endless lol

 

[ooguyx]

Thanks for the info. I think that I will keep the hops low and get a yeast profile to taste.

Cheers!

 

[chipsah]

Nottingham

+1 For Nottingham.

I have a Marris Otter/Fuggle/Nottingham conditioning right now. I can't wait!!!

 

[FarmerJoe]

Fuggles have to be my favorite hop right now. Just finished drinking an amber ale that was dry hopped and hopped @20 min left in the boil with fuggles. The batch suffered from fusel alcohol because it fermented too high the first few days,but I drank it as a punishment beer, but the aroma was still great due to the fuggles!

 

[Grantman1]

funny you mention that chipsah - I'm doing a maris otter / fuggle smash this week to get a quick turn-around time on a beer while my other batches are sitting on yeast. never used maris otter or fuggles, and am looking forward to both very much.

 

[ooguyx]

funny you mention that chipsah - I'm doing a maris otter / fuggle smash this week to get a quick turn-around time on a beer while my other batches are sitting on yeast. never used maris otter or fuggles, and am looking forward to both very much.

Does a smash need less time on the yeast? I was figuring giving it 4 weeks. Too much?

 

[Grantman1]

I don't believe a Smash needs to be treated any different from any other recipe in terms of time on the yeast. Also I don't think there can really be too much time, so if you are thinking 4 weeks, go for it. I leave all of mine on the yeast for 3 weeks anyway, but I know a lot of people just do 2. When I mentioned quick turnaround time for this smash i'm brewing, that's only bc I plan on using the nottingham yeast, which rips through fermentation in only a few days.

 

[beerkrump]

Use a neutral yeast (1056, 001, US-05) if you are doing a SmaSH to familiarize yourself with the flavor of the base grain or hops.