I wanna SMASH !!

[Tex2Ten]

I am fairly new to brewing. I've read and listened and have a lot of info but so far, only one brew under my belt.

My next brew is gonna be an IPA I've been craving for a while but after that, I intend to do an All-Grain, BIAB SMASH beer as a starting point for a few small batches that I will add or adjust one or two ingredients to see how each affects the outcome.

So here's the question...what single malt/hop combo should I start with?

I plan to take a consensus and go from there.

Thanks for any input.

*MUG*

 

[dobe12]

Steep a little bit of several base malts (2row, pale, pils, maris otter, etc) to make a tea, then see which you like best. Then use that as your malt for your SMASHes.

 

[Homercidal]

This one isn't too uncommon, but it would be a combo I'd try. I'd choose Maris Otter for the base malt, and Centennial as the hop.

The problem I see with this is that I prefer a little bit of crystal malt in my IPAs. You may feel different. But at least you will a chance to see what it is like to NOT add the 20L or 40L (insert favorite flavor of crystal malt here).

You might look into mashing on the higher side, although I think I read that mashing high doesn't actually add any real sweetness, but rather a more malty(grainy) flavor.

There are also plenty of new hop varieties that have come out recently which might make an interesting experiment. Citra is popular lately.

 

[badlee]

Maris Otter+Amarillo
Maris Otter+Citra
German Pils+Bobek
Wheat+Sorachi Ace
Vienna+Perle

 

[agrazela]

Pilsner Centennial SMaSH IPA. Good.

 

[Cyclman]

SMASH is a great way to get to know your hops.

 

[DurtyChemist]

15 lbs Golden Promise
2 oz Northern Brewer or Fuggles or Zyrhos or Centennial or Cascade or Chinook.
148-150 mash for 75 minutes in 8.25 gallons of water.
Good boil to reduce to ~6 gallons to fermentor.

 

[RonPopeil]

If you're new then SMASH with common base grains like two row, marris otter, vienna and pils. Things that will be in most beers.

 

[jtp137]

Marris Otter and Mosaic


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[TimmyWit]

You can't go wrong with Centennial. I would be cautious with Citra. There are some threads floating around advising against using that for your bittering hop. I have done the Kern River Citra DIPA clone from CYBI and it is great but it uses Nugget for the bittering addition.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/does-anyone-use-citra-bittering-hop-480377/

 

[rlmiller10]

All depends on your purpose. I looked at SMASH for a bit and decided to go with MATH (malt and two hops). My purpose was to get to know the flavor for the hops. So I didn't want any odd bittering to make a difference. I am making a series of beers where I use Maris Otter for the malt and Magnum for the bittering hop but then use a second hop for flavor and aroma. I mash a 5 gallon batch but put it in two boil pots (note: stick 120 min boil in your calculations to get the correct volumes) to make two 2.5 batches. I will be doing a Citra and Centennial batch this weekend of all goes well.

 

[Sepanik1986]

im going to be doing a pilsner+simcoe soon. just bought my ingredients for it. it the third in line to be brewed

 

[calebstringer]

You can't go wrong with Centennial. I would be cautious with Citra. There are some threads floating around advising against using that for your bittering hop. I have done the Kern River Citra DIPA clone from CYBI and it is great but it uses Nugget for the bittering addition.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/does-anyone-use-citra-bittering-hop-480377/

Zombie Dust is hopped entirely with Citra IIRC

 

[TimmyWit]

Zombie Dust is hopped entirely with Citra IIRC

I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm just saying "be cautious" because it seems that quite a few folks are unhappy with the results. It may just be a matter of personal preference or exercising restraint with the bittering addition. There are other hops that might be a safer bet for a SMaSH such as Centennial or Cascade.

 

[calebstringer]

I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm just saying "be cautious" because it seems that quite a few folks are unhappy with the results. It may just be a matter of personal preference or exercising restraint with the bittering addition. There are other hops that might be a safer bet for a SMaSH such as Centennial or Cascade.

gotcha gotcha.

 

[rwgaro]

Browse the thread below (I subscribed for when I do a SMASH), somewhere towards the last third, someone does a count of the most common combos...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=336665