SMaSH thoughts?

[TheMagnanimous]

Just did my first Single Malt - Single hop. Just curious what everyone thinks about how it will turn out in terms of flavor.

I brew with extract so I used 6 lbs of golden light DME and then 2 lbs of Victory for grain. For hops I used all Mount hood, 2 oz for 60 min and another 1 oz at 5 min and Safale 05 for yeast.

I know most people use Victory as a smaller part of the grain bill but I really like its smell/flavor so I decided to use it for my first single malt-single hop. Please let me know if you have any thoughts as far as how it will turn out - fermentation began today at about 67 F.

 

[Ølbart]

I don't think the purists (or anyone else, for that matter), will consider extract + grains a SMaSH, as it isn't single malt. But a Victory/Mt. Hood SMaSH would probably turn out revolting, since Victory has no diastatic power, so that's a good thing. Your beer should turn out fine.

 

[Yooper]

I don't think the purists (or anyone else, for that matter), will consider extract + grains a SMaSH, as it isn't single malt. But a Victory/Mt. Hood SMaSH would probably turn out revolting, since Victory has no diastatic power, so that's a good thing. Your beer should turn out fine.

I agree that it's not a SMaSH (SINGLE malt and single hop) but a probably a very good beer nonetheless.

I've never used more than aabout 10 ounces victory malt in a 5 gallon batch, so I'm a little concerned that it may be very "dry" tasting. 2 pounds sure seems like a lot.

 

[TheMagnanimous]

Thanks for the replies. I know it's not a true SMaSH but I've assumed to this point that malt extract is a neutral flavor so essentially it is still a beer with a single malt flavor (victory) and single hop flavor (mt hood). Please correct me though if Malt Extract generally adds a certain character.

I'm curious though if it will turn out more hoppy or malty? The Mount hood I used is supposed to be 4.4% AA so I figured with 2 oz for the full 60 min and another 1 oz for flavoring/aroma it should be at least moderately hoppy which is what I'm going for.

 

[passedpawn]

Not a SMaSH.

It will be great. Victory is a great biscuity grain. I just used it in a Cali Common.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the replies. I know it's not a true SMaSH but I've assumed to this point that malt extract is a neutral flavor so essentially it is still a beer with a single malt flavor (victory) and single hop flavor (mt hood). Please correct me though if Malt Extract generally adds a certain character.

I'm curious though if it will turn out more hoppy or malty? The Mount hood I used is supposed to be 4.4% AA so I figured with 2 oz for the full 60 min and another 1 oz for flavoring/aroma it should be at least moderately hoppy which is what I'm going for.

Well, a SMaSH would be a single malt. You can't make a beer with victory malt, as it's a specialty malt. That's like using two-row (for the extract) and victory malt. A true SMaSH would be only the base malt, hence the Single Malt designation. A SMaSH doesn't use specialty grains.

It won't be hoppy if you used an ounce of aroma hops, and no flavor hops. You will have some nice aroma, though.

 

[TheMagnanimous]

Thanks for the clarification - I didn't realize there were only certain grains you could do SMaSH with though because I only have experience with grains through my LHBS.

I just wanted to start learning about the ingredients better and using one grain and one hop seemed to be the best way to do it.

As far as the hops, from what I've read Mt. Hood can be used for both purposes, so i'm figuring with 2 oz boiling for the full 60 and another oz at the finish that will be enough hop flavor to balance or more?

 

[jfr1111]

Commercial breweries have a long tradition of simple recipes using only one base malt, one speciality malt and one hop type. Look at Stone's Arrogant Bastard: I believe that it was cloned by Tasty and he only used 2-row, Special B and Chinook in the clone.

Even if it isn't a true SMaSH, you have a lot to gain by brewing simple recipes since you will be able to pinpoint better wich ingredient is responsible for the taste.

 

[ghpeel]

The beer isn't a smash because golden extract is made up of several malt varieties in all likelihood. However, you will get a small sense of what the Victory is adding to the beer, and probably a good sense of what Mt Hood is bringing to the party. In that vein, you are on a great path, and this beer will definitely be good.

Next alter one of the ingredients. Use some Crystal 90 in place of the victory, for example, or use Cascade instead of Mt Hood. That will let you understand exactly what the changed ingredient did.

I wish i could repeat a lot of my earlier batches and alter the ingredients much less. It's hard to tell what you are doing right (or wrong) when you change all the ingredients for every batch.