What do you think the best SMaSH combo is?

[944play]

Do you guys really like the way some of them taste, or mainly do it to get a feel for MO vs 2row, different hops?

They usually taste great. When they don't (or do, for that matter), they provide a great learning experience.

Pick a base malt with the name of a European city in it, a noble or noble-ish hop, and your house lager yeast. Brew it to a reasonable gravity and bitterness with scrupulous technique, and you're going to get a great beer that's a crowd pleaser. I really like Briess Pils, whole German Spalt Select, and Wyeast 2308 right now, but another good one is Munich/Tettnang/2308.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Do you guys really like the way some of them taste, or mainly do it to get a feel for MO vs 2row, different hops?

Both. I personally think that 2-row SmaSHs are insipid and one-dimensional, but the other base malts can produce some very nice beers. They're obviously never going to win awards for complexity.

 

[MickeyD]

Vienna/Cascade turned out really nice. I was using wet cascades though...

 

[gregkeller]

Did a SMaSH as my fist all-grain brew to keep things simple, and work on my process.

11 lbs Maris Otter
.75 oz EKG @60
1 oz EKG @ 20
1.25 oz EKG @ 10

S-04 @ 61-62 deg.

O.G. 1.062
F.G. 1.015

Awesome brew. I was really pleased with the process, and the beer came out great. It's got a little bit of depth to it considering it's only base malt. There is good hop flavor. Maybe could use a little more in the bittering addition, but otherwise I don't think i'd change a thing. I brewed it on Jan 9th, and it's really coming into its own now. I actually got a lot better efficiency than I thought, so it's a little higher in ABV than I had wanted, but it's all good. I don't know if i'm going to keep doing SMaSH's because there is so much other great stuff to brew, but i think i got a decent idea of what M.O. could add to a brew using it in place of domestic two row. Could it have been made better with the addition of specialty malts, probably, but am I gonna have a tough time finishing off this keg? Not a chance.

 

[Skelator]

My favorite (so far, i have a LDME/Chinook ipa in secondary right now) is Muntons Light DME and Citra. You can easily replace the dme with 2-row. I used dextrose too, so i guess its not a 'real' smash, but whatever.

This is for a 2.8 gallon batch and 3.5 gallon boil, so adjust accordingly if you want.

5.0# Light DME
.25# Dextrose (corn sugar)

1.0oz Citra @ 60
0.5oz Citra @ 20
1.0oz Citra @ 5
1.0oz Citra DH 14 days prior to bottling.

You should end up between 7.5-8% abv and close to 100 ibu's. It has a pronounced mango/orange aroma and flavor. Its not harshly bitter on the back end, pretty well balanced.

 

[cladinshadows]

Vienna/Glacier/WLP001 was excellent. (In fact, it took 2nd place for Class 3 at the 2012 Mayfaire!)
14 lbs. Vienna
1 oz. Glacier (5.5%) at FWH, 60, 10, 0 min. for about 35 IBUs.

Just tapped my Maris Otter/Willamette/WLP007 (similar recipe) and it's nice and english-y.

Next up is the one I've had on my mind for a long time: Munich/Chinook/WLP001.

 

[BertusBrew]

only SMaSH I have done is a Maris Otter/Citra IPA and it was one of my favorites