First SMaSH and All-Grain Recipe

[Fells_Pint]

I've slowly been building the equipment to switch over to all grain brewing and now thanks to Christmas, I'm all set to brew up my first all grain batch!

I've been interested in trying an ESB recipe for awhile now, and am fascinated by the idea of SMaSH beers to help me better understand flavor profiles now that I won't be tied to malt extracts for brewing!

Even with BeerSmith, I wanted some expert opinions on how this brew should turn out. Am I using enough of everything? Too much of something?

I'm going for a very drinkable, nicely balanced ESB flavor, malty and hoppy but not overpowering one way or the other. Something the fiancée (who's not a hophead) will enjoy as well.

Thanks!

All grain ESB SMaSH
5 gal
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.015
IBUs: 37.8
Color: 5.6 SRM

10 lb Maris Otter Malt
8 oz Rice Hulls
Mash for 60 mins at 152F with 13.13 qt of water
Vorlauf and Batch sparge with 168F water to reach 6.5 gal for boiling.

First Wort Hops - .5 oz Challenger
45 min left - .5 oz Challenger
15 min left - 1 oz Challenger

Pitch White Labs WLP013 - London Ale Yeast
Ferment for 3 weeks at 67F
Bottle & condition another 3-4 weeks

 

[OscarBrau]

I would bump up the late additions - maybe something at 5 and/or flame out - so you can get a better feel for the aroma and flavor of the hops. You may even want to push the 45 addition later to 20 or so for more flavor and less bitterness.

 

[cmoewes]

I wouldn't bother with the rice hulls. Unless you have a lot of adjuncts like rye or wheat, there is typically enough husks from the grain to keep it from getting stuck.

Maris Otter is a great choice for an ESB.

 

[Fells_Pint]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[JKaranka]

I wouldn't add an addition later than 15m first time around brewing this. It can end up somewhat aggressive. Add a gentle dry hop (1 to 2oz) instead. You could consider extending your boil to 90 or 100 minutes to develop more melanoidin too.

I'm planning something fairly similar, but I was considering using the MO and Challenger to make stock ale in March (OG 1.075, ~90IBU, finished with Brett). Might follow yours first as I'm looking for something to drink in the meantime!

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I am curious if you plan to use this as a base then brew with an addition of this or that to gauge the effect of those changes? Alternatively are you using this and subsequent similar brews to refine your process?

I like the idea of a SMASH and it appeals to my simplistic approach to brewing but I always wonder about the motivation of others. not knocking this bay ANY means.

 

[JKaranka]

I rarely do SMASH beers but I am radically reducing the number of malts I stock to 3/4. No HBS around here, so I order online and mill at home. Easier and cheaper to store 50kg of MO, 10kg of Brown Malt and 5kg of Amber Malt and a limited selection of hops than to order every time you want to brew something.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I rarely do SMASH beers but I am radically reducing the number of malts I stock to 3/4. No HBS around here, so I order online and mill at home. Easier and cheaper to store 50kg of MO, 10kg of Brown Malt and 5kg of Amber Malt and a limited selection of hops than to order every time you want to brew something.

I have a similar approach most of the time. I buy base grain and two others in bulk then small quantities of specialty grains occasionally. I buy 2-3 pounds of hops at a time and use them for everything.

Have you considered some of the tutorials I have found on this site about making your own specialty grains from a base malt? This has tempted me occasionally.

 

[JKaranka]

I've not tried making specialty malts, I've seen people toasting malt but not sure if it quite replaces amber/brown malt. I can see the point of roasting unmalted barley at home but in general the saving is very low. I do, however, buy green coffee beans in bulk and roast those at home, drops the price of a 200g bag of roasted from £3 to £1 plus you get fresh stuff every time. Don't know, but seems to be that the more I brew the less I bother with exotic ingredients. I seem to be happy with a couple of pale malts and some brown for porter/stout, plus a couple of hops. The odd 'treat' hop in the spring to get the hoppier summer beers on the go. Now I'm settling in Challenger as an all-rounder. It's one of the cheapest hops here (half the price of Cascade), you can even get it in pellets at that price, plus it has a very agreeable profile.

 

[Malty_Dog]

I'm no expert but it looks like you've done your homework. I just did a MO/Amarillo SMaSH and its shaping up nicely (not bottled yet). Did it for much the same reason you did - get more familiar with individual ingredients. I got a lot of hop flavor with a FWH, 20 min, 5 min, and whirlpool steep addition (total 3 oz/42 IBUs). I might move the 45 min addition to 30 or less, but that's just me.

I also like the idea of a longer boil someone mentioned at some point, but for your first SMaSH seems to me you may want to hold off (I could be wrong!).

Either way, you've chosen the right ingredients (agree no need for rice hulls), and are going to make a nice beer.

PS. Love your username (I'm a little to the North) and great game Saturday huh?

 

[Fells_Pint]

I am curious if you plan to use this as a base then brew with an addition of this or that to gauge the effect of those changes? Alternatively are you using this and subsequent similar brews to refine your process?

I like the idea of a SMASH and it appeals to my simplistic approach to brewing but I always wonder about the motivation of others. not knocking this bay ANY means.

I think a few things led to me going for a SMASH -
1) It's pretty simplistic and thus seemed like an ideal way to ease into all grain brewing.

2) Baltimore Beer Week was back in October and my LHBS had 2 special events - a yeast tasting & a hops tasting to see how they influence different flavors. They really opened my eyes to how changing one ingredient can give you a drastically different beer style or flavor. Doing a SMASH seemed like an good way for me to get a taste for how MO and Challenger hops taste so I can have a better idea of how to use them in future brews with more ingredients.

 

[Fells_Pint]

I'm no expert but it looks like you've done your homework. I just did a MO/Amarillo SMaSH and its shaping up nicely (not bottled yet). Did it for much the same reason you did - get more familiar with individual ingredients. I got a lot of hop flavor with a FWH, 20 min, 5 min, and whirlpool steep addition (total 3 oz/42 IBUs). I might move the 45 min addition to 30 or less, but that's just me.

I also like the idea of a longer boil someone mentioned at some point, but for your first SMaSH seems to me you may want to hold off (I could be wrong!).

Either way, you've chosen the right ingredients (agree no need for rice hulls), and are going to make a nice beer.

PS. Love your username (I'm a little to the North) and great game Saturday huh?

Thanks Malty! Fantastic game on Saturday! Here's hoping for a win this week too, but even a win now isn't as good as a playoff win against the Steelers

 

[phyllobeddo]

I brewed my first SMaSH on 11/29. I had some Maris Otter left over and wanted to do something with it so I came up with the following.

2.5 gallon batch / BIAB

5lb Maris Otter
28g Fuggles (20g @ 60 min 8g @ 10 min)
US-04 Safale (5.5g)
4 gallons 25 oz water

OG - 1051
FG - 1010
ABV - 5.3%
Yeast - US-04

Mashed @ 153 for 75 minutes

I usually keg, but they were all full and this was only a 2.5 gallon batch, so I bottled this time. I cracked the first one on 1/3, and it tasted really good. So good that I may very well brew it again. Not very hoppy, but I wasn't going for that, really. It could use some more hoppiness, but I'm not a hophead by any means. Some say not to use Fuggles for bittering hops, but I wanted to try them and they were in the freezer. I'll be chilling a few more this weekend for further testing and analysis. Looks like a pretty good on your first SMaSH. Just thought I would share my first SMaSH.

 

[mpmccann]

I just brewed my first SMaSH too...

Vienna/Citra SMaSH

Style: American Pale Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.24 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 4.3 %
11 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 95.7 %
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 3 -
0.75 oz Citra [14.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 4 13.3 IBUs
1.25 oz Citra [14.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 40.0 min Hop 5 26.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (US-05) [50.28 ml]

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash In Add 16.38 qt of water at 169.8 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (2.52 gal) of 168.0 F water for 10 min. each step

Fermentation: 3 stage, 10 days primary, 5 days secondary, Cold crash 2 days
Keg force carbonate and ENJOY!!!

I was going for cheap and simple on this one and it turned out better than I thought it would.
The next time I will add more hops. At least add dry hops to the mix but I tend to lean towards more hoppy styles.
I always use some rice hulls because I incorporate a RIMS system and it helps with flow in my particular setup.

 

[m00ps]

I like to toast 1lb of my malt for SMaSH recipes. Some call it cheating though

I also usually only do a 60min and 0min addition with a gigantic hopstand. Its like 1oz in at 60 and 4 or 5 oz at flameout and just let it sit. Really gets everything the hop has to offer in a slap to the face