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MO/Falconer's Flight SMaSH

R

rockbasementbeer

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Plan on doing a SMaSH with Maris Otter and Falconer's Flight soon, my recipe will be as follows:

12 lbs of Maris Otter

1 oz Falconer's Flight @ 60
1 oz Falconer's Flight @ 15
1 oz Falconer's Flight @ 5
1 oz Falconer's Flight (dry hop, 1 week)

Safale US-05

I plan on mashing at 152 for 60, 60 minute boil. My brewhouse efficiency is 72%

Thoughts? Any advice/opinions are appreciated!
 
That will probably be a decent beer, but it is not a SMaSH beer as you are using multiple hops. Just drop in some crystal 60L and make it a great beer instead of a SMaSH
 
TAHammerton said:
That will probably be a decent beer, but it is not a SMaSH beer as you are using multiple hops. Just drop in some crystal 60L and make it a great beer instead of a SMaSH
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I think you're understanding of what a SMaSH beer is or isn't is different than mine.  My understanding is that it is one grain variety and one hop variety in a recipe.  I've been under the impression that the number of hop additions doesn't matter, as long as they are all the same hop.  Since the OP is using only Falconer's Flight for hopping and only Maris Otter as the Malt, to me, it's a SMaSH.
 
My apologies for making a statement and failing to explain myself. Falconers Flight is an (undisclosed) blend of hops from Hop Union. I don't know what's in it but their other blend contains 7 hops.

http://hopunion.com/falconers-flight/

I am sure it is a great blend of hops but I have never used it as I prefer to know what is going in my beer. But whatever it is it is certainly not one hop.

Citra makes a really excellent single hop addition, also Mosaic should fit the bill but I have not tried a SMaSH with it yet.

I think the idea of a SMaSH is to understand the flavour profile of an individual ingredient so you get a better idea of how to use it. Using an unknown blend kind of defeats that purpose. But if you have a great base malt and a great blend of hops you are 90% of the way there - why not go all the way (why I suggested the Crystal 60L)?
 
Falconer's Flight is a blend of Citra, Simcoe, and Sorachi Ace. It is classified as an aroma hop.
 
Since I've never used Falconers Flight, I just got an education!  Thank you.  Based on what I've just learned, I agree, it's not a SMaSH technically.

 
I was with you Scott, and nice explanation TA, but I'm still leaning towards its a smash.  Even though its a blend its still an individually released hop and the idea is to get the individual flavor of A hop and A malt, even though in this case the hop is a blend.  Would you have to rule out a hop as suitable for a smash if it is cross-bred?
 
KernelCrush said:
I was with you Scott, and nice explanation TA, but I'm still leaning towards its a smash.  Even though its a blend its still an individually released hop and the idea is to get the individual flavor of A hop and A malt, even though in this case the hop is a blend.  Would you have to rule out a hop as suitable for a smash if it is cross-bred?
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I think that if his entire purpose is to try and understand what the Falconers Flight hop blend brings to the beer, then technically, he's getting the learning experience that a SMaSH brew gives.  It's just semantics at this point.
 
Personally I have never been a fan of smash beers. I have done single hop beers but anytime I do single malt beers i always end up with a very watery and very bland beer.
 
It depends on the grain and of course the yeast. I've made quite a few smash beers using MO and they've been very good. I've also used mild ale malt and dingmanns pale ale malt, both of which have made excellent smash beers with sufficient body, especially when mashed high. I do prefer my beers to have a touch of crystal though.
 
Ok I just have to make one more post on this subject. To quote John Stewart " do you realise words have actual meanings?" There is a big difference between one and many - just ask your wife or significant other ;)

Anyway I think this discussion needs more context. What is the purpose of this brew? If it is to evaluate the Falconers Flight hop blend then it is clearly not a SMaSH brew and is NOT constrained by the rules inherent. Why not evaluate the hops in a more realistic scenario as they are likely to be combined with a crystal malt in most recipes with that kind of hop profile (NW IPA) that the blend was made for. A beer made with a single base malt is just no that great so why do it unless you have a REALLY good reason to.
 
I've done several batches with Maris and it lends a nice rich complexity to the beer. It makes an awesome base malt. Pretty much anyone who's drank my Cascade SMaSH loves it unless they don't like hoppy beers. It makes a nice easy-drinking session beer that I give to the BMC and light beer drinkers in our circle. I try to always keep some on hand, though lately life has gotten in the way of brewing very much  :'( 

I usually mash it high enough to ensure it isn't too dry, otherwise it probably would turn out sort of watery and thin.

I've never used Falconer's in any brew, but I'd have no problem using it, it's never really been on my radar. Now it needs to be added to the list of hops I'm trying out  :)
 
Maris Otter is indeed a very fine base malt. But there are things it can't do. 3-5% crystal can help fill out those gaps, that's all I am saying.
 
TAHammerton said:
What is the purpose of this brew? If it is to evaluate the Falconers Flight hop blend then it is clearly not a SMaSH brew and is NOT constrained by the rules inherent. Why not evaluate the hops in a more realistic scenario as they are likely to be combined with a crystal malt in most recipes with that kind of hop profile (NW IPA) that the blend was made for. A beer made with a single base malt is just no that great so why do it unless you have a REALLY good reason to.
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Sorry, I don't get this statement at all.  (1)  How is a brew with only FF not going to evaluate the hops?  (2)  Why do you say that adding crystal is a more realistic scenario?  I do plenty of batches without crystal... how is FF tied to crystal in the 'real world'?  (3) And lastly, plenty of folks, myself included, can attest to a single base malt, specifically MO, resulting in a fantastic product. 
 
I realise now that I may be coming across as a bit of a dick by trashing someone else's recipe. That was not my intention. I was just trying to open a discussion on what a SMaSH beer is and what it's purpose is. I should probably STFU before I make myself look more stupid but...
(1) I never said it would'nt.
(2) It is just my opinion as most of my recipes have some kind of crystal in them. I could be wrong about this - it was interesting to hear in the podcast that Stone don't use a lot of crystal in their IPAs.
(3) If you like it then it's good. For me that is the whole point of Home Brewing - to brew what you like. It does not matter what a**holes like me think. Just because I like a bit of crystal does not mean that a single base malt beer is bad. I should not have gone down that road - sorry.

Thanks for calling me out on that. I am still learning.
 
TAHammerton said:
It does not matter what a**holes like me think. Just because I like a bit of crystal does not mean that a single base malt beer is bad. I should not have gone down that road - sorry.

Thanks for calling me out on that. I am still learning.
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No worries TA, we're still friends  ;D ;D ;D

Of course I'm still learning too and this is a wonderful resource filled with great people, yourself included.  Glad we could hash that one out constructively.  Cheers, on to the next brain buster!!
 
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