Centennial/MO SMaSH IPA

[bransona]

In a recent thread, I got some advice for building a SMaSH MO/Mosaic IPA to reintroduce myself to brewing and to learn my new equipment. However, for a few reasons (one being price point), I've realized I can't go with Mosaic. Instead, Centennial looks to be within budget, and I know I enjoy it (Founder's Centennial IPA, anyone?). The picture below contains a loose estimate of the recipe.

EDIT: It's 2.5gal

How does it look? My Mosaic recipe was going to be lower IBU, but I think the flavors of Centennial would benefit from ~50 IBU instead of ~40. Is that reasonable?

The dry hop time is just a placeholder. I hope to dry hop in my keg and may just leave them in there until it kicks.

Would anyone recommend anything other than US-05? I mostly chose this out of budget restrictions, but I could swap it for a liquid yeast and harvest that for a few generations. Maybe WL001/WY1056?

 

[snd1990]

Centennial hops are my fav. I grow my own, so my answer is prejudiced! Lol. Imho MO/ Centennial with s05 yeast is a great combo. Finishes clean with all the great qualities of MO, and you get that citrusy bittering and aroma from the the cent.
The problem I see is with the numbers in your recipe. 5 # of MO is only going to get you 1.037 gravity with a 3.2% abv. To hit the 1.057 gr and 6% abv you would need to use bout 8#. Also with the hop schedule you have everything 3.75 oz for aroma and dryhop and only .25 oz for bittering. Ur hop schedule would only yield @ 21.1 IBU. To increase it, I would take some from the 0 min and add it to the 60 min addition. I would also take some and add a 30 min addition. Either way I would look up MO / Centennial Smash IPA
recipes and look at several hop schedules. I would also rerun your recipe on a diff recipe builder to dbl check the numbers.
But once you get the grain bill and hop schedule dialed in, I think you'll love the combo
Good luck

 

[RPh_Guy]

@snd1990
He didn't mention it here but his batch size is 2.5 gal.

@bransona
IMHO I say stick with US-05. No need for any specific yeast qualities in an IPA.

 

[RM-MN]

For the purpose of exploring different base malts/hops you can control the costs by doing smaller batches. Your batch is mentioned by RPh_Guy as 2 1/2 gallons. Many people do a one gallon batch, perfect for experimenting although you may need to bottle that beer instead of kegging it. That shouldn't be a bit hardship with only about 6 bottles to do.

 

[bransona]

I've made plenty of 1 and 1.5gal batches. Bottled em all. I'm making the switch to a larger system and a keg.

As for the size, yes, it's 2.5gal. These numbers are accurate. And that's 4oz/2.5gal, so it's certainly within IPA ranges.

 

[PADave]

Wait. The price difference between mosaic and centennial is keeping you from using a hop, yet you are going to keg?

 

[bransona]

Wait. The price difference between mosaic and centennial is keeping you from using a hop, yet you are going to keg?

LOL. I know, I know. Here's the thing: the keg is a combo birthday/Christmas gift from the SO, and I'm getting totally refitted with a kettle, fermenter, etc., from her family (they go nuts at Christmas). HOWEVER, I don't exactly have a ton of money myself atm, thus the SMaSH as a great learning grounds for my new gear that won't break the bank. When MoreBeer ran out of mosaic/lb bags, it seemed like the responsible choice to switch for a cheaper hop, and spend the saved money on yeast and some acid to fix my mash pH. Sorry for the contradiction!

 

[PADave]

If you are looking to save, check out Yakamavalleyhops.com. I love morebeer and order all my grains and lots of equipment from them, but I get all my hops from YV. Just checking now, you can get 2016 1lb bags of centennial for $10. MB is $21.

 

[bransona]

If you are looking to save, check out Yakamavalleyhops.com. I love morebeer and order all my grains and lots of equipment from them, but I get all my hops from YV. Just checking now, you can get 2016 1lb bags of centennial for $10. MB is $21.

Wow, what a steal!!! How is shipping from them? I'm buying grain from MoreBeer and largely chose to get the hops/yeast there too for simplicity's sake (and free shipping on my small order).

 

[PADave]

You can add the stuff to your cart and go to the checkout and get a shipping price. I only make one or two big orders from them a year usually $100+ of hops at a time, so I don't know for a small order.

 

[bransona]

You can add the stuff to your cart and go to the checkout and get a shipping price. I only make one or two big orders from them a year usually $100+ of hops at a time, so I don't know for a small order.

Just checked em out---what an awesome site! I'll definitely be shopping with them soon. Unfortunately, for this small order, the shipping costs mean I would need to buy double the ingredients in order to save money in the long run. Frankly, I have no idea how much I'll like this recipe, or how many times I'll want to brew it. It might be fantastic, it might get tweaked 10 times, or it may be good enough after a batch or two to move on and start changing it more drastically. 4 batches of ingredients altogether with free shipping ends up running about $15/2.5gal, so it's doable for this experimentation and learning period.

 

[VTX1300]

Definitely use the WLP001 yeast. It's the perfect yeast in a SMaSh where you don't want to have the yeast to influence the flavor. It's all I use for my IPA's and pale ales. To save some money I grow a 2 liter starter then split that starter in half pint Mason jars and refrigerate until in need it.. Then build my brew day starters from those. It's a much cleaner method than harvesting IMHO.

 

[bransona]

Definitely use the WLP001 yeast. It's the perfect yeast in a SMaSh where you don't want to have the yeast to influence the flavor. It's all I use for my IPA's and pale ales. To save some money I grow a 2 liter starter then split that starter in half pint Mason jars and refrigerate until in need it.. Then build my brew day starters from those. It's a much cleaner method than harvesting IMHO.

That's a solid idea. I haven't checked my needed pitch rates, but I imagine I could build a starter twice the size I need and save half, repeat? You're surely right about it being a more optimal method than harvesting.

 

[PADave]

US-05 is pretty much the same thing. No need for a starter, half the price, clean fermenting.

 

[bransona]

US-05 is pretty much the same thing. No need for a starter, half the price, clean fermenting.

Since I need it repeatedly, is it wise to just harvest from the fermenter each time? Or should I build a big first generation starter from liquid and store it?

 

[PADave]

Starters are no good, not recommended for dry yeast. At less than $4 a packet, IMO that's well worth not having the PITA of harvesting and storing yeast or worrying about any contamination. That way get to start fresh every brew. But no reason you couldn't harvest it.

 

[bransona]

Starters are no good, not recommended for dry yeast. At less than $4 a packet, IMO that's well worth not having the PITA of harvesting and storing yeast or worrying about any contamination. That way get to start fresh every brew. But no reason you couldn't harvest it.

I would build from liquid* if I did make a starter. But harvesting is even more economically sound than that. Mostly I don't know if I would need to be concerned about 3rd or 4th generation US-05 getting any weird mutations going on. Tbh, you're right about the hassle though. I've stored yeast before, but it's a chore.

 

[PADave]

I thought about getting into using liquid yeasts, but for what I brew, mostly IPAs or pale ales, us-05 or S-04 works fine. US-05 is essentially the same thing as 001 or 1056. Once you start talking starters then there are stir plates, flasks, DME, getting the starter going a couple days before brew day, etc. Factor in all that and there are no savings, just additional cost and time. All that to save $4? No thanks. I spend more than that per brew on ice, lol.

 

[kh54s10]

US05 is cheap so I wouldn't store saved yeast for long but if you are going to pitch a new batch within a couple of days of finishing the previous batch, why not use the yeast cake and get 2 batches for the same $4.

 

[snd1990]

@snd1990
He didn't mention it here but his batch size is 2.5 gal.

@bransona
IMHO I say stick with US-05. No need for any specific yeast qualities in an IPA.

Well there I go trying to help out and end up putting my foot in my mouth. Lol I guess I should have asked for batch size before I went throwing my opinion around. But for myself I would still adjust the schedule to add some more hops to bittering (full boil.) For my taste when I'm doing IPAs I usually go 1/3 bittering(full boil), 1/3 for aroma (toward the end of boil), and 1/3 for dry hop.

 

[PADave]

I forgot all about the 2.5 gallon batch. Heck, in that case you could get 2 batches out of a packet of yeast if you wanted to.

 

[VTX1300]

As with almost anything in brewing, there are a dozen ways to get the results you want. It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with. I haven't bought an ale yeast in almost a year. Just some DME and that is relatively cheap. I actually enjoy the process of making starters and growing my own yeast. I have never used dry yeast but it is cheap and easy to work with. It's all up to you and how Involved in the process you want to be.

 

[RM-MN]

I forgot all about the 2.5 gallon batch. Heck, in that case you could get 2 batches out of a packet of yeast if you wanted to.

I've been doing that. Half the packet +/- for this batch, the other half for a later batch. Fold the packet closed and hold it there with a clothespin or paper clip and back into the refrigerator it goes. I've kept them that way for a few months and they seem to work just the same as fresh.