What'd you think of the Simple SMaSH recipes?
First Small Batch Smash
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I figured them out because, when I got started with BIAB, I kept coming up short of my "goal" by a wide margin.
Honestly, just take detailed notes on every batch. Measure your losses in the kettle and in the fermenter. Pour out whatever stays behind into a measuring cup and make note of it. Mark your fermenter into .5gal (or smaller) increments. Write down everything that happens. After a while, you won't really have to do this anymore because it becomes second nature.
We've all gone through it. "Dialing it in" is actually part of the fun, in a way.
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Cool, I will start doing more notes. Matter of fact, I am running out to get a better notebook today for my recipes and notes so it should fall in to place soon. I will continue working on things and see where I end up.I figured them out because, when I got started with BIAB, I kept coming up short of my "goal" by a wide margin.
Honestly, just take detailed notes on every batch. Measure your losses in the kettle and in the fermenter. Pour out whatever stays behind into a measuring cup and make note of it. Mark your fermenter into .5gal (or smaller) increments. Write down everything that happens. After a while, you won't really have to do this anymore because it becomes second nature.
We've all gone through it. "Dialing it in" is actually part of the fun, in a way.
Well, I learned (figured out) something today, just by reading the referenced recipe. SMaSH. DUuuuuuuh. Single Malt and Single Hop. Gotta love Acronyms. And here I am thinking I spoke pretty good governmentese after doing some jobs for the DOD. Never dawned on me that SMaSH was an acronym despite the different cases of the letters. Time for some of those to build up stock, I say. And I like the idea of Cascade hops. @Sunfire96, have you tried that with Mosaic, and maybe SAF-33 yeast? To me, Mosaic brought more of a tropical/mango taste and slightly more bittering than Cascade. To me, Cascade was more citrusy. Your thoughts?
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@CoFlyGuy
Just another note on Losses:
Kettle losses could be ≈ 0 if you dump everything "Post Boil" into the fermenter. Many people do it his way, and if you have an easy way to transfer from kettle to fermenter (ie., a valve/spigot) then zero kettle losses is a real possibility. I don't have a valve, so I transfer with an auto-siphon, which always clogs towards the end. For me to transfer everything, I would have to pick up the kettle and aim carefully (one eye closed) into the opening of the fermenter. Yeah, no.
Just another note on Losses:
Kettle losses could be ≈ 0 if you dump everything "Post Boil" into the fermenter. Many people do it his way, and if you have an easy way to transfer from kettle to fermenter (ie., a valve/spigot) then zero kettle losses is a real possibility. I don't have a valve, so I transfer with an auto-siphon, which always clogs towards the end. For me to transfer everything, I would have to pick up the kettle and aim carefully (one eye closed
) into the opening of the fermenter. Yeah, no.
I have not tried a smash beer with Mosaic and S33. There are limitless combinations tho, plenty of opportunities for research
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Funny that, 'cause that's exactly what I do. Pick up my mash 'n boil pot and pour all into the fermenter.@CoFlyGuy
Just another note on Losses:
Kettle losses could be ≈ 0 if you dump everything "Post Boil" into the fermenter. Many people do it his way, and if you have an easy way to transfer from kettle to fermenter (ie., a valve/spigot) then zero kettle losses is a real possibility. I don't have a valve, so I transfer with an auto-siphon, which always clogs towards the end. For me to transfer everything, I would have to pick up the kettle and aim carefully (one eye closed
Small batches do work
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You are better than I. I'd have that wort all over the side of the fermenter and the floor!Funny that, 'cause that's exactly what I do. Pick up my mash 'n boil pot and pour all into the fermenter.
Small batches do work
Ah yes the hoppy goodness of Mosaic.
I don't know how people get cat piss from it
That and Simcoe and Eldorado hmmmm tropical hop goodness right there
I get mango flavor from Mosaic. No idea where the cat piss comment (and haven't seen them) come from. Citra to me is more citrus, but still tropical in flavor. I like it, but quite by accident (LHBS was out of Citra so he subbed Mosaic) I tried the Mosaic and I like it. That was a Kona Big Wave knockoff. I wouldn't use it for bittering (low AA) because most of the flavor boils off doing that. Warrior's got a pretty silent flavor, but can be grassy if you use a lot of it. It's a good bittering hop though at 16 AA. A little goes a long way. Other hops completely mask any flavor contribution from Warrior. (IMHO). Haven't tried Simcoe or Eldorado yet. Maybe that's what I do with some small SMaSH batches, just try different hops to check off some lists. I've kinda gotten a little bored with the Rapier Wit (Warrior for bittering, orange peel and corriander for flavor). Time to expand my horizons.Ah yes the hoppy goodness of Mosaic.
I don't know how people get cat piss from it
That and Simcoe and Eldorado hmmmm tropical hop goodness right there
It was a thing a few years ago. From year to year harvest to harvest hop verietys can display diffent flavours and aromas it also depends on when they are picked.
It seems Mosaic a few years back had a catty aroma or cat piss urine type thing.
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That's what I called it when I added another hop to a SMaSH recipe.
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Sounds so delicious when you describe it like that. Nicely put Ben!
I do get catty (or cat piss urine type thing if you prefer) from Mosaic. To some people it's "piney" and to others, like me, its catty. I don't mind it as long as it comes from the hops and not from the litter box.
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Solid recipe. Should be good.... FYI, Homebrew Club at the Brew Hut is Sunday, 6:30.
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I plan on making it if all goes well with the family. And my beer/tea will have complete carbonation by Saturday. Looking forward to making it.
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Check this thread on loss...
https://www.brewersfriend.com/forum/threads/how-to-deal-with-boil-off-to-get-the-target-yield.10017/
I do have a tap and valve on my kettle, and just what @Megary says, my kettle losses are next to nothing except for the sludge from the hops pellets or whatever other solids escape the grains. Some of the chunky bits will help with the final product, some will not. Separating them after boil is probably not doable, so I tend to let the kettle settle a bit after chilling, then dump to the fermenter. I doubt I lose more than a teacup full of wort this way. I lose a full quart in the collection ball on bottling day when I remove it to reclaim the yeast or just throw it away. If I keep the yeast, it really isn't a loss because the beer on top of the yeast seems to be a really good way of keeping it. Regardless, I lose one more quart before the bottling process. If I get some 'stuff' from the transfer to the bottling bucket, I may lose a bit more by not completely draining the bottling bucket so that I don't put a bunch of sludge in a bottle. Most times, the sediment doesn't hurt anything other than appearance. One has to remember; it's already been under the beer 2-3 weeks. If it was going to do anything to the beer, it's already done. I just live with a little sediment in the bottles and pour the beer to a glass to enjoy it.@CoFlyGuy
Just another note on Losses:
Kettle losses could be ≈ 0 if you dump everything "Post Boil" into the fermenter. Many people do it his way, and if you have an easy way to transfer from kettle to fermenter (ie., a valve/spigot) then zero kettle losses is a real possibility. I don't have a valve, so I transfer with an auto-siphon, which always clogs towards the end. For me to transfer everything, I would have to pick up the kettle and aim carefully (one eye closed
SMaTH works for me. If I want something 'more' bitter, then the fancy hops which are so expensive seems to be a waste when all I want is the bitterness from them. MAYBE, if Mosaic isn't combined with something else it might give the 'catty' flavor? If there's one thing I'm extremely sensitive to, it would be that odor. My ex had cats and didn't look after them as well as she should have. If that odor can cause a divorce, you might imagine I wouldn't drink something that had the same odor.
Most of the aroma and flavor of the hop will cook out during boil leaving behind the alpha acids for bittering. So, I've sorta followed advice from my LHBS and used Warrior for bittering, and then the fancy stuff for aroma/flavoring. Warrior by itself really doesn't do much other than bitter, unless you use enough of it to get the grassy taste to be strong enough to get past the bitter. It really doesn't even have much smell to it (that I can smell anyway). I'm not a cow and don't particularly like grass, so this will not likely be a target for me. I probably couldn't drink anything with that much Warrior in it at 16AA.
I'm at that point with home brewing now where I'm adventuring with bittering, malt flavors, and yeast contributions to find out if I am indeed missing some good beers because I'm avoiding high IBU stuff. I swore off IPAs thinking they all tasted horrible because I don't like really bitter beer. I may have been rash in that decision. I think SMaSH and SMaTH brews might be a great idea to discover more about what I like by not having all the other goings-on happening to confuse my tastebuds. Strangely, I've found that a really high IBU isn't necessarily ear-wax flavored if it comes from a combination of things including other flavors and aromas. I tried one that was 50+ IBU not long ago that was delicious. Just wish I could remember what it was and where I got it. It was on a beer crawl to some local micros, so maybe that's why I don't remember? IIRC, it was called Buck Creek Brown. Might sneak back up there to Oversoul brewing and see if they have it on tap again.
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Bad bittering is not pleasant. I don't like beers that punch you in the face with bitterness. There are so many reasons why bitterness in beer is harsh. It can be intentional, it can be hop selection, it can be driven by the type yeast. The biggest thing I have done to get the bitterness more pleasant on IPA's, PA's and lighter beers in general was to use only RO water and select higher acid producing yeasts. The reason for this is the final pH of the beer plays a huge role in the drinkability of the beer. I found that beers with a finish pH of +4.5 were harsher than beers with a finish pH of 4.3 or so. The alkalinity of the water a direct impact on finish the pH of the beer, the more bicarbonates in the water the harsher the finish, with darker beers being the exception. The other is yeast. Each yeast is prone to a range of finish pH. Some can be as low as 3.9, others can be as high as 4.6.
Just a thought, but I'm with you on harsh bittering. I have had beers that were @45 IBU's and they were rough. Other beers at the same IBU's and they were great. So the IBU measure isn't perfect and more subjective than one would like.
