First SMaSH

bransona · Dec 29, 2015

I jumped headlong into brewing big recipes when I started brewing. I've been successful, but I figured it was time to make a smash and start picking apart individual flavors. Today's is a 2-row/Equinox 1.5 gallon batch. 2lbs of 2-row, some cane sugar, and an ounce of hop pellets. .25oz 30 minutes, .5oz hopstand, and .25oz dry hop. Fermenting with S-33 because it's what I have on hand. How does that sound for a first time SMaSH? I'm deliberately not bittering hard, aiming for a juicy hop flavor.

Gnomebrewer · Dec 29, 2015

2row is going to give a very bland beer, which is OK if that's what you want, just be prepared for no maltiness at all. Maris otter, Golden promise, or even vienna malt would be more flavoursome alternatives.

The hop schedule looks good to me without being over the top.

Paps · Dec 29, 2015

2 row SMASHes indeed are bland boring beers....
HOWEVER if you do several of them together it will help you understand different hops better.
IMHO you would WANT to agressively hop a 2-row SMASH
not up to IPA levels but something so you don't feel like you created a `coors light` clone.

nygel74 · Dec 29, 2015

I just kegged a saison smash I did with 2row because I wanted to be able to identify the chars or saaz and of 3711. I don't think its bland at all, actually one I would do again I think.

bransona · Dec 29, 2015

I did a dipa with 2oz in the same batch, and the goal is definitely to understand the hops. 1oz should do it I think. Yeah, 2-row is just all I have. Another grain order is in order.

*ba dum tss*

Kwitty · Dec 29, 2015

I like Maris Otter for my smash beers. There's enough character in Maris Otter to make a flavorful beer. I use 13lbs of Maris with a medium mash temp (153°f to 156°f). It gets me around 7%. For yeast I use US-05 or wlp001. I then adjust my hop additions by the type of hop I have and what I want to achieve. It's a very simple and flexible way to make a SMASH. Also by sticking to the same basic recipe I've learned the difference between hop flavors more easily than if I kept changing my malt please ofile too.