MO/MO SMaSH Recipe Ideas

[jllama]

Hey guys,

My friends and I are doing a small homebrew competition at our annual Fall camping trip... the rules are simple: only Maris Otter grain and only one type of hop. My friends are both doing crazy stuff... high alcohol, pecans, fruit, etc... so I thought I'd try to just do a simple, sessionable beer with low bitterness and lots of hop flavor.

Here's where I'm at (5 gallon batch):

Grain:
12 lbs Maris Otter (UK)

Hops:

.25oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60min
.75oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 15min
1.0oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 0min (whirlpool/hopstand for 20min before chilling)
2.0oz Mosaic (12.7%) - Dry Hop

Yeast:

The Yeast Bay: Vermont Ale

OG 1.058
FG 1.012
IBU 36
ABV 6%

I had originally planned to do 10 lbs of grain, but my last couple of brews seemed to have really low efficiency and I don't want it TOO sessionable. My original plan was to just use US-05, but after reading about these newfangled NE IPA's I thought it might be worth trying out the Vermont Ale yeast and see if it will get some cool flavors out of the Mosiac.

Questions/Opinions:
- Do I need more hops? Should I do 2 oz in the hopstand? I don't want it to add too much perceived bitterness...
- Should I split the dry hop into a 1 oz dry hop in the ferm and a 1 oz dry hop in the keg?
- I'm thinking of adding the dry hop earlier that I usually do... maybe after just a couple days in the fermenter. Good idea?
- I should probably do a starter, huh? I've done them before and it worked out okay, but it always kind of makes me nervous... more chances to screw something up.
- I usually use about half bought distilled water and half tap water for my brews and haven't paid much attention to the chemistry. It sounds like that's kind of a big deal for the "NE" style, though. Should I go with all distilled and add some CaCl and Gypsum?
- My goal is to brew at the last possible time so the beer is super fresh... something like two weeks in the fermenter and one week in the keg. Is grain to glass in three weeks cutting it too close?
- Any other thoughts or ideas that would help me win this thing?

Thanks!

 

[Ghosteh]

I really liked Nottingham fermented cool with Mosaic and Maris in a blonde format. It's one of my favorite malts and beers, and I've just finished up a few # of Mosaic and 55# sack of Maris. I found that S04 could be nice with it, but Nottingham and S05 seemed to do me the best (I used to be big on the English yeasts) recently. The combination of the Maris and the fruitiness of the Mosaic are wonderful together. Sometimes I like to add a small bit (4-6%) of torrified or white wheat to the grain bill. Seems to work nicely 152/154F mash range, but that's just for my taste. Be interested to see what you find with it!

Are you wanting like a sessionable IPA? If so, maybe bump the hops to something like... .5 @ 60 / 1 @ 10 / 1.5 @ 5 / 2 @ 0 / 2 @ DH. I'll throw it in Beersmith. Also, have some mostly Mosaic and Maris SMASHes on there.

http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/1052807/broken-mosaic

There's one I'd done with White Labs East Coast yeast, but ended up using RVA Hop Topper (Heady Topper) and it turned out alright. The yeast was a little strong for the beer though. I think this one turned out on the not so bitter side, and ended up adding a good bit in the later additions. Good, bright beer.

Ended up doing 10#.

.75 @ 35, .75 @ 15, 1 @ 5, 1.5 @ 0 (steeped for 15m @ 140F-180F), 2 for DH @ 5 days. Can also do another 2 for 5 more days or just serve, or not even DH.

 

[unviewtiful]

I make a very similar recipe, and it's definitely a crowd favorite. It's hard to go wrong with the MO/Mosaic combo to be honest.

-Definitely increase you 0 min addition to 2 oz. You could always cool the wort to under 180 F to reduce isomerization of your hops to keep IBUs low.
-No comment on the dry hops, I've never done keg hops personally
-Depends on your system, but maybe like 5 days in to fermentation. Let the hops sit 5-7 days, then cold crash for 1-2 days.
-A big part of the mouthfeel in NE IPAs is from the oats and wheat typical of the style. Water chemistry will get you part of the way there, but don't think of it as a wonder cure. I like around 100 ppm of both sulfate and chloride in a beer like this (if using Conan yeast, otherwise I'd go something like 150/75 sulfate to chloride). And don't ignore mash pH either. Plug the recipe into Bru'n water and add acid to get you in the 5.2-5.3 range.
-You schedule sounds good, it should not be a problem at all.

Another note about Conan yeast: you might want to purposely underpitch a bit to emphasize the yeast character. Definitely make a starter, but don't go balls out with pitch rate.

 

[JKaranka]

I'd consider invert sugar syrup (around 10%) of the total if you want something that will taste like normal beer yet have a bit more character. Invert #2/3 would be great and would add some colour too.

 

[rhys333]

Hey guys,

My friends and I are doing a small homebrew competition at our annual Fall camping trip... the rules are simple: only Maris Otter grain and only one type of hop. My friends are both doing crazy stuff... high alcohol, pecans, fruit, etc... so I thought I'd try to just do a simple, sessionable beer with low bitterness and lots of hop flavor.

Here's where I'm at (5 gallon batch):

Grain:
12 lbs Maris Otter (UK)

Hops:

.25oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60min
.75oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 15min
1.0oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 0min (whirlpool/hopstand for 20min before chilling)
2.0oz Mosaic (12.7%) - Dry Hop

Yeast:

The Yeast Bay: Vermont Ale

OG 1.058
FG 1.012
IBU 36
ABV 6%

I had originally planned to do 10 lbs of grain, but my last couple of brews seemed to have really low efficiency and I don't want it TOO sessionable. My original plan was to just use US-05, but after reading about these newfangled NE IPA's I thought it might be worth trying out the Vermont Ale yeast and see if it will get some cool flavors out of the Mosiac.

Questions/Opinions:
- Do I need more hops? Should I do 2 oz in the hopstand? I don't want it to add too much perceived bitterness...
- Should I split the dry hop into a 1 oz dry hop in the ferm and a 1 oz dry hop in the keg?
- I'm thinking of adding the dry hop earlier that I usually do... maybe after just a couple days in the fermenter. Good idea?
- I should probably do a starter, huh? I've done them before and it worked out okay, but it always kind of makes me nervous... more chances to screw something up.
- I usually use about half bought distilled water and half tap water for my brews and haven't paid much attention to the chemistry. It sounds like that's kind of a big deal for the "NE" style, though. Should I go with all distilled and add some CaCl and Gypsum?
- My goal is to brew at the last possible time so the beer is super fresh... something like two weeks in the fermenter and one week in the keg. Is grain to glass in three weeks cutting it too close?
- Any other thoughts or ideas that would help me win this thing?

Thanks!

First off, MO and Mosaic are a great combination and you should end up with an awesome beer.

I'd be tempted to add more hops and move your 15 minute addition to 10. Maybe 2oz @ 10 and 0, then adjust your bittering accordingly. I find Mosaic beers are super pungent and don't need to be dry-hopped, but go ahead and do another 1-2 oz after primary fermentation if you like (do wait until its finished fermenting btw). Do a starter, you want plenty of healthy yeast. Just make a 1 to 1.5 L starter with 1:10 ratio DME to water. No need for stir plates or intermittent shaking... just make a day ahead and add at high krausen. It should take off in 8-24 hours no problem. As for water, I would use 100% RO/distilled with CaCl2 and gypsum (plus acid as needed) for maximum control. Do include a little yeast nutrient too (the wyeast stuff is awesome).

EDIT: One more thing about hopping rate I might add to clarify my above comment... I like to get enough hops in a SMaSH to produce juicy taste and aroma, but still allow a little of the malt character to show through. YMMV!

 

[jllama]

Hope it's okay to revive this old thread... I wanted to post my final recipe and give you all an update on the brew day...

Here's what I ended up going with:

Grain:

12 lbs Maris Otter (UK)

Hops/Additions:

0.25oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60min
Wyeast yeast nutrient, chiller @ 15min
0.75 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 10min
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%), whirfloc tablet @ 5min
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 0min (cool to 170, hopstand/whirlpool for 20min)
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%) - Dry Hop (after 5 days of ferm, leave for 5-7 days)

Yeast:

Wyeast 1318 London Ale III (1L starter)

My online order for the Vermont Ale yeast got messed up but I was able to find some 1318 locally. I still want to try this Conan stuff eventually but I couldn't hold up the brew day any longer.

Process:

I made a yeast starter the night before with 1 can of Fast Pitch and put it on the stir plate for about 20 hours. When I started brewing I put the starter in the beer fridge (about 42 degrees) for about 2 hours and then I poured off just a little of the liquid before leaving it out to warm up to room temp. This was my first time using a stir plate and it really seemed to make a difference... plus it was fun.

I added 7 grams of calcium chloride to 9 gallons of RO water and mixed well. I know you guys suggested a lot more detailed water adjustments, but this is the first time I've ever done any kind of water treatment so I thought I would start small. Maybe I started too small?

I moved 4 gallons to the kettle and heated it to 165 degrees. I moved that to the MT and mashed in, resting for 60 minutes. I heated the remaining 5 gallons of water to 170 degrees and moved it to the HTL. I used that to do two batch sparges of 2.5 gallons each and ended up collecting 7 gallons of wort. After the boil and the hopstand I cooled the wort down to 65 degrees and filtered it through a strainer on the way to the fermenter. I ended up with just under 5 gallons and an OG of 1.060.

I sealed the fermenter in my cool brewing bag with three frozen water bottles. I've been trying to keep them all changed out, but realistically I think the temperature has been running between 65 and 72 degrees. The yeast took off quickly and has now been bubbling away nicely for two days. I plan on adding the dry hop on Saturday, which will be five days into fermentation. I'll probably leave the dry hops in for a week and then keg it.

This has been the best smelling fermentation ever... the normal yeast smells have been mixed with the gloriously fruity smells of mosiac. Hopefully that will carry over to the final beer.

I'll post an update in a couple weeks with some pictures of the finished beer and some tasting notes. Thanks again to everybody who offered up suggestions and tips!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Hope it's okay to revive this old thread... I wanted to post my final recipe and give you all an update on the brew day...

Here's what I ended up going with:

Grain:

12 lbs Maris Otter (UK)

Hops/Additions:

0.25oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 60min
Wyeast yeast nutrient, chiller @ 15min
0.75 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 10min
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%), whirfloc tablet @ 5min
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%) @ 0min (cool to 170, hopstand/whirlpool for 20min)
2 oz Mosaic (12.7%) - Dry Hop (after 5 days of ferm, leave for 5-7 days)

Yeast:

Wyeast 1318 London Ale III (1L starter)

My online order for the Vermont Ale yeast got messed up but I was able to find some 1318 locally. I still want to try this Conan stuff eventually but I couldn't hold up the brew day any longer.

Process:

I made a yeast starter the night before with 1 can of Fast Pitch and put it on the stir plate for about 20 hours. When I started brewing I put the starter in the beer fridge (about 42 degrees) for about 2 hours and then I poured off just a little of the liquid before leaving it out to warm up to room temp. This was my first time using a stir plate and it really seemed to make a difference... plus it was fun.

I added 7 grams of calcium chloride to 9 gallons of RO water and mixed well. I know you guys suggested a lot more detailed water adjustments, but this is the first time I've ever done any kind of water treatment so I thought I would start small. Maybe I started too small?

I moved 4 gallons to the kettle and heated it to 165 degrees. I moved that to the MT and mashed in, resting for 60 minutes. I heated the remaining 5 gallons of water to 170 degrees and moved it to the HTL. I used that to do two batch sparges of 2.5 gallons each and ended up collecting 7 gallons of wort. After the boil and the hopstand I cooled the wort down to 65 degrees and filtered it through a strainer on the way to the fermenter. I ended up with just under 5 gallons and an OG of 1.060.

I sealed the fermenter in my cool brewing bag with three frozen water bottles. I've been trying to keep them all changed out, but realistically I think the temperature has been running between 65 and 72 degrees. The yeast took off quickly and has now been bubbling away nicely for two days. I plan on adding the dry hop on Saturday, which will be five days into fermentation. I'll probably leave the dry hops in for a week and then keg it.

This has been the best smelling fermentation ever... the normal yeast smells have been mixed with the gloriously fruity smells of mosiac. Hopefully that will carry over to the final beer.

I'll post an update in a couple weeks with some pictures of the finished beer and some tasting notes. Thanks again to everybody who offered up suggestions and tips!

Looks good! looking forward to see how it turns out.

 

[kh54s10]

Was this just a contest among friends? If not did the competition set any rules. The addition of fruit, sugars or nuts - to me is no longer a SMaSH.

The Maris Otter/Mosaic sounds best to me. And the others should be disqualified.

 

[jllama]

Yeah, it's just for fun between friends. I did complain when they said I couldn't add oats or wheat and yet they are adding pecans and hibiscus. I also have the disadvantage of doing a 5 gallon batch while they are both brewing 1 gallon batches. I have to make something I'll actually drink... I can't imagine trying to finish a keg of hibiscus beer.

 

[mongoose33]

I just cracked a keg of Maris Otter and Styrian Celeia last night; OMIGOD. Four weeks after brewing. Crisp and clean like a lager, nice flavor. Celeia is one of my favorite hops.

 

[Johow]

I have one on tap right now, very tasty! My wife wants it all for herself.
10 lbs Marris Otter
1 oz first wort hop
1 oz @ 10 minutes
1 oz @ 5 minutes
2 oz @ whirlpool or hopstand for 20 minutes
After chill pitch us05
2 oz dry hop for 5 days

To deviate from Smash, sub 1 oz of warrior as FWH. This is my second Morris Otter - Mosaic brew and I'm sure there will be more.
I also have in my keggerator a CitMo IPA.....

 

[jllama]

My Mo/MO SMaSH has been in the keg now for a week and has carbonated nicely.

It ended up at 1.010, which was better than I expected. Yeast are awesome! That puts it around 6.5% which is right were I wanted it.

When I first tasted it I thought it was too bitter... I was worried that it had picked up more IBU's from the whirlpool than I was expecting. But as it carbonated it has mellowed out a lot and I think the bitterness is just right.

It smells fantastic... I can definitely pick up peach notes. I hope the aroma will stick around for at least the couple of weeks before the camping trip.

I really like the taste, too... very "juicy" and fruity while still tasting like an IPA. I think I can taste the "smoothness" from the calcium addition, but maybe that's just my imagination. I'm looking forward to having my friends taste it and see what they think.

Overall I'm very happy with this one and I shouldn't have any trouble going through five gallons!