Help me choose my SMaSH..

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HoppyDaze

HoppyDaze

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So I am really just looking for a good starting point. This will be my first all grain and I really have no clue about malts. I don't know which ones taste like what, so Im going to start figuring it all out and refining my processes at the same time.

I am looking for a beer with an OG of 1.055. My preference as far as beer is concerned are: IPAs, APAs, ESBs, Goldens, blondes, hefes. I rarely go any darker than an IPA or ESB.

I was thinking it could be as simple as 10lbs of two-row and 2 oz of cascade (5 gallon). But, I want it to taste good too.

Please provide any and all suggestions on hops and gain to use. I have only used cascade, willamette and hallertau hops to this point. It may be nice experimenting with something new.
 
I just did one that was MO and willamette. Other people like MO and EKG's. For my next one I'm going to try munich and either hallertau or saaz.
 
I like the idea of Maris Otter but I am really liking glacier hops, which are really cheap right now. They're derived from Willamette.
 
What kind of yeast were you thinking of using? The yeast is just as important as hops and grain.

Two SMaSHes I have done that turned out great were US Pale Ale/Cascade/WLP001 and Munich/Tettnang/WLP830. AnOldUR's Maris Otter/Centennial/WY1272 was fantastic.
 
go marris otter, pure 2row is rather bland. Then decoct it to get some more flavor in there.
 
Based on a 75% efficiency:

8.5# Marris Otter
2.0# Marris Otter Toasted for 40 minutes at 350 (adds some complexity)

1.0 ounce Cascade for 60 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 15 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 5 minutes

Mash at 155 for 50 minutes to retain some malt profile.

This will get you to 1.054 and about 35 IBU’s.

Should be a very drinkable APA and the toasted malt will give you some color and richer flavor.
 
I forgot to mention that my WillyMo used notty. It was a notty WillyMo. I will agree with not using plain 2-row. Maybe just once as an experiment, but this one has a very light (but good) flavor and I wouldn't want less.
 
First off: thanks to everyone! Im already learning some stuff...

and the quote below; I take it you have to have beersmith to come up with all that? And, if I dont want to toast grains?

BierMuncher said:
Based on a 75% efficiency:

8.5# Marris Otter
2.0# Marris Otter Toasted for 40 minutes at 350 (adds some complexity)

1.0 ounce Cascade for 60 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 15 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 5 minutes

Mash at 155 for 50 minutes to retain some malt profile.

This will get you to 1.054 and about 35 IBU’s.

Should be a very drinkable APA and the toasted malt will give you some color and richer flavor.
Click to expand...

f
 
CPAle said:
...And, if I dont want to toast grains?f
Click to expand...

Just go with 10.5# of Marris Otter.

But I think your beer will be a little shallow.

I've done SMaSH beers before...but probably won't again.

There's a reason the best selling (and best tasting) craft beers include specialty grains for color and flavor depth.

If you're not married to a smash...go with:
8.5# of Marris
1# of Crystal #40
.5# of carapils
.5# of honey malt.

Now you have an APA much closer to style and down right competition worthy.
 
ive never tried a smash, mostly because they are only practical for various forms of pale ales, beers im currently falling out of love with

american 2-row has about as much character as cane sugar- use it only as a base for beers where you need good conversion, attenuation, and LOW malt character-its cheaper that Maris Otter, too, which can be a plus

if i were you, i would take some guy from my forum's advice and get BREWING CLASSIC STYLES by zainasheff/palmer and do all-grain recipes from that

some of them are a little advanced, but he tells you which ones are easy, and the american and english styles are covered really well- he gives you multiple recipes for american pale ales, which differ in specialty malt additions and are fun to play with
 
touche- i don't have lager-brewing capabilities, so lagers tend to slip my mind

also, toasting/roasting your own grain DOESNT COUNT! NOT A SMASH
 
BierMuncher said:
Based on a 75% efficiency:

8.5# Marris Otter
2.0# Marris Otter Toasted for 40 minutes at 350 (adds some complexity)

1.0 ounce Cascade for 60 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 15 minutes
.5 ounce of Cascade for 5 minutes

Mash at 155 for 50 minutes to retain some malt profile.

This will get you to 1.054 and about 35 IBU’s.

Should be a very drinkable APA and the toasted malt will give you some color and richer flavor.
Click to expand...

That sounds very tasty. I think I will add this to the list. Even if it isn't a true SmaSH.
 
And the allure is...that you get to know the ingredients? Or...simplicity? Or...getting complex flavors out of simple ingredients? Or...

(sorry if I'm hijacking the thread.)
 
When I first was making SMaSH recipes, I made one for just about every style. For instance:

10 lbs Pilsner + Saaz = Pilsner Lager
10 lbs Vienna + Cascade = APA
10 lbs Munich + Fuggle = English Ale

You can make tons of styles with a SMaSH.

My personal favorite:

10 lbs Vienna Malt
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 60 min
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 20 min
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 5 min
Nottingham yeast

Best beer I've ever brewed.
 
Now Im all confused...Is there really any point in doing a smash? I mean do they taste good?
 
DeathBrewer said:
My personal favorite:

10 lbs Vienna Malt
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 60 min
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 20 min
1 oz Northern Brewer (8.8%AA) @ 5 min
Nottingham yeast

Best beer I've ever brewed.
Click to expand...


This sounds interesting. How would I go about brewing this? I would like to put this into BeerSmith and first thing is "Style" Do I need to know a Style? BeerSmith also lists several Notty Yeast's, Dry, or Liquid? I'm thinking about giving this one a try, but would like a bit more info.


Thanks,
Ron
 
It's an american pale ale, but more of a woody, spicy hop character (think anchor steam) as appose to the traditional citrusy camerican hops.

Mash at 150°F

I use one packet of Danstar Nottingham dry yeast.
 
I did a Smash with Maris Otter and Amarillo. That was a super tasty beer, and I miss it now that it's gone.
 
CPAle said:
Now Im all confused...Is there really any point in doing a smash? I mean do they taste good?
Click to expand...

No, there's no point. They all taste the same, and they never taste good.:mug:

Now excuse me while I drool over the thought of MO+Amarillo.:cross:
 
RonRock said:
This sounds interesting. How would I go about brewing this? I would like to put this into BeerSmith and first thing is "Style" Do I need to know a Style? BeerSmith also lists several Notty Yeast's, Dry, or Liquid? I'm thinking about giving this one a try, but would like a bit more info.


Thanks,
Ron
Click to expand...

Deathbrewer, I did Your SMaSH. In Primary 1 week today. FG 1.013 adjusted to 70* F. So do you secondary this, or leave it in Primary for a couple weeks to clear? As expected it is pretty cloudy at this time. I planned on 2 week secondary. But the pipeline is drying up quickly and I'd hate to waste time. :D
 
Well, I decided to try Deathbrewer's SMaSH as well. Everything went smooth all the way up until it was time to tranfer the wort to the fermenter...siphon wouldnt work very good becasue the loose hops were clogging it....I will use hop bags from now on! I lost a plastic piece that I use to aerate in the wort and it is floating on top in the fermenter right now laughing at me. Oh well...this was my first AG and my efficeincy was garbage but live and learn.

By the way...the color is much lighter than I thought. It looks a lot like a wheat beer. Does this sound right? It smells so good!

Thanks everyone. Thinking of doing another this weekend!
 
SMaSHing a 1.050 MO with 40 IBU of Perle is my favorite. Amarillo is also an outstanding SMaSH hop.
 
just finished a keg of sterling/mo/nottingham SMASH ipa that was fantastic. very dry and much like what i'd envision a historical ipa to be. high alcohol volume, low residual sweetness.

i've also got a tettnang/pilsner/WLP500 tripel that's been going for a month and it's all i can do to let it keep aging, the sample tasted awesome.

smashes they needn't be bland, you just need to draw bold flavors out of fewer ingredients. they're especially great for training your palate to detect the difference between hop varieties, base malts, etc.

EDIT: i actually added sugar to the tripel, so i guess a purist wouldn't call it a smash. but it is an example of drawing big flavors from few ingredients. which for me is a big part of the point.
 
I am thinking to doing this smash, what do you think? Nice easy drinking APA.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - BeerSmith Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Wiki and Discussion Forum
Recipe: Vienna/Cascade SMASH
Brewer: Matt
Asst Brewer:
Style: Altbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.92 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
1.00 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 24.3 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) or harvested Pacman if I can culture some

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 8.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 161.7 F 152.0 F


Ferment at 60 if I can get some pacman.
 
My wife had the fun experience of kicking the keg last night. Sadly, it was on the Vienna/Columbus SMaSH.

I'll be doing more of the SMaSH for sure. Can go low or hi abv and really get some awesome flavors going.
 
So I bottled this beer last night, it was my first all grain, and WOW! It is so damn good that I don't even need to carbonate it. It tastes to me like a better tasting Deschutes Golden Ale. The Vienna/Northern Brewer/Nottingham mix is brilliant! Thanks again Death...
 
StillBrew said:
So I bottled this beer last night, it was my first all grain, and WOW! It is so damn good that I don't even need to carbonate it. It tastes to me like a better tasting Deschutes Golden Ale. The Vienna/Northern Brewer/Nottingham mix is brilliant! Thanks again Death...
Click to expand...

Ok Deathbrewer, you have me intrigued. I have 8 lbs of Vienna that I am going to do a Smash with, but had planned on using Cascade as the hop but I see so much talk about using Northern Brewer.

What style does this come out closest too? IPA? The northern brewer hop is going to give a little more bitterness given the same amount compared to the Cascade and just wonder if the Citrisy taste of the cascade will not pair well with Vienna?

What do you think?

As far as yeast I am leaning toward Pacman or WLP001, but I do have some Nottingham around too.
 

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