SMaSHed Cascade IPA

[Doog_Si_Reeb]

I'm going to do my first SMaSH in about a month. Our homebrew club is coordinating a bunch of different beers all brewed with locally grown Cascade hops. Based on a few people's experience with these hops (including my experience on a Pale Ale) they are somewhere around 4-4.5% AA. I'm going to use Marris Otter for the base malt and I plan to toast ~2 lbs to give the beer some extra character. I may soak the grain before toasting it to give it more of a caramel flavor. Here's the rundown on the recipe:

Note: I get 65% efficiency.
Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons
Boil Time: 90 minutes
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.011 (Depending on yeast used)
SRM: 10
IBU: 48
ABV: 5.9%

11 lbs. Marris Otter
2 lbs. Toasted Marris Otter
1 oz. Cascade Pellets First Wort Hop
2 oz. Cascade Pellets 90
1 oz. Cascade Pellets 10
1 oz. Cascade Pellets 5
1 oz. Cascade Pellets Dry Hop

I'm tempted to use US-05 for the yeast, but I'm also tossing around the idea of Windsor or something to give it a little more character. The main intent is to get a good feel for how the local hops smell and taste. I also want this to be an easy drinking IPA with great flavor and balanced bitterness.

What do you think?

 

[Bob]

I think you're on to a great beer.

It's worth noting that historical IPAs were usually SMaSH beers. Pale malt and whatever hops the brewery got. Loftus, in "The Brewer" (ca. 1863) noted:

The malt employed should be of first-rate quality, of the lightest possible colour, and thoroughly dried. The hops of the palest growth; those known as Farnham's, Golding's, or the very best East Kents [note "Goldings" and "East Kent" are not yet synonymous], are to be preferred; about 18 lbs. per quarter of malt are needed for the home, and 23 lbs. for the foreign market. Mash as for other ales, drawing a [brew] length of about three barrels per quarter [of malt].

1 quarter malt = 336 pounds of malt
1 UK barrel = 36 Imperial Gallons = 43.25 US gallons

THUS: 2.6 pounds of malt and 2.2 ounces hops per US gallon.

Note that FWH was widely practiced in England and America during the 19th century, for all the same reasons we practice it today. Plus it was believed that FWH prevented loss of wort in the hops at knockout. (Also note that Loftus advocates saving the hops used in IPA brewing for Porter brewing next day.)

Fermentation was also described by Loftus:

The fermentation should be slow and gradual; and to secure this, the gyle must be pitched at a low heat - say, when the brewing waters are soft, at from 55 to 62F; when hard, some degrees higher[.] The heat of the gyle should not be suffered to increase more the 3 or 4 degrees during the first fifty hours[.]

More:

If racked into store casks, 2 lbs. of the best and fullest flavoured hops per barrel should be added, and the casks rolled over every day, that the liquor may impregnate the hops, and extract their flavour.

These are in addition to the kettle hops, of course.

I've brewed IPA using these instructions, and it's freaking delicious. Try it! I used S-04. It results in a very clear, pale beer with awesome bitterness and hops flavor; a less-attenuative yeast than Nottingham or S-05 gives some residual extract that better balances the piles of hops. To be most traditional, I also used whole hops.

Good luck,

Bob

 

[Doog_Si_Reeb]

Bob, thanks for the great info! I think I will pick up S-04 tomorrow for this brew. I like the idea of something slightly less attenuative than S-05. I was planning to mash higher with S-05, but maybe I'll shoot for something closer to 152 and use S-04.

The one caveat is that I will be using pellets, since that is what the farmer is providing to the club. I was also tossing around the idea of using 2-row that is grown and malted in southern Colorado, but I may save that for a later SMaSH.

I'm looking forward to this as it will be my simplest AG recipe yet.