bransona
Well-Known Member
Hey, HBT! I've brewed a lot (I mean A LOT) of crappy beer. Imperial this, sour that, all horrible. After a year away from brewing, I've decided to come back to the basics and really learn to brew. I'm eliminating a ton of variables with a lot of new gear (and by simplifying my recipes dramatically), and would like to master a SMaSH before I go back to making horrible beer
I need help designing a SMaSH and relearning my brew process. A basic idea is:
2.5gal BIAB AG MO/Mosaic SMaSH
~1.055 OG (not sure of efficiency since it's a new system), ~1.01 FG
???? IBU (need help here)
~5.5-6% abv
5lb MO
Mash 60 min ~152 w/ 1.5L/lb
(I can't remember how I had to mash out with BIAB)
Boil 60 min
NO IDEA FOR HOP ADDITIONS---I'm getting a pound of Mosaic and enough grain for 4 batches, so at most I would like to spare 4oz/batch. No idea if that's too much/little.
Ferment with US-05 (just because it's dry and cheap, but I'm open to other yeast; looking for moderate malt and hop character without too much yeast flavor). Don't know my temps in my new house, but I have a closet in mind that will likely be a stable 68*F, which I *think* is warm enough for US05 to not throw any weird peach flavors. If chico or some other clean workhorse would be better, I can always buy it once and harvest for a few generations.
Then I'll keg for the first time ever, which will surely be a new adventure (what PSI for a SMaSH?)
So I need to fill in all those gaps, and I need to figure out new water amounts and temps for various stages. Is there an especially good BIAB calculator? I use Brewer'sFriend, but it always seems way off on the IBU for small batches. Other than that I'm basically just using HowToBrew.
My water chemistry is fine according to other local brewers, but I'll need to get my pH in order eventually. Is that something I should worry about now or later?
Sorry for the rambling. I'm full of questions and am terribly anxious to get back to brewing. Thank you in advance for any and all help!
I need help designing a SMaSH and relearning my brew process. A basic idea is:
2.5gal BIAB AG MO/Mosaic SMaSH
~1.055 OG (not sure of efficiency since it's a new system), ~1.01 FG
???? IBU (need help here)
~5.5-6% abv
5lb MO
Mash 60 min ~152 w/ 1.5L/lb
(I can't remember how I had to mash out with BIAB)
Boil 60 min
NO IDEA FOR HOP ADDITIONS---I'm getting a pound of Mosaic and enough grain for 4 batches, so at most I would like to spare 4oz/batch. No idea if that's too much/little.
Ferment with US-05 (just because it's dry and cheap, but I'm open to other yeast; looking for moderate malt and hop character without too much yeast flavor). Don't know my temps in my new house, but I have a closet in mind that will likely be a stable 68*F, which I *think* is warm enough for US05 to not throw any weird peach flavors. If chico or some other clean workhorse would be better, I can always buy it once and harvest for a few generations.
Then I'll keg for the first time ever, which will surely be a new adventure (what PSI for a SMaSH?)
So I need to fill in all those gaps, and I need to figure out new water amounts and temps for various stages. Is there an especially good BIAB calculator? I use Brewer'sFriend, but it always seems way off on the IBU for small batches. Other than that I'm basically just using HowToBrew.
My water chemistry is fine according to other local brewers, but I'll need to get my pH in order eventually. Is that something I should worry about now or later?
Sorry for the rambling. I'm full of questions and am terribly anxious to get back to brewing. Thank you in advance for any and all help!