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Moving to All-Grain with an M/O SMASH

philm63

Grandmaster Brewer
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Welp, I'm a solid 3 months and 5 brews into this hobby and I said to myself; it's time! So I picked up a sack of grains and some hops and am heading into my first All-Grain brew this weekend. (This is in addition to my partial-mash Pumpkin Ale I also plan on brewing this weekend...)

Doing a 4-Gallon SMASH with 6 Lbs of Maris Otter and an ounce of Challenger spread out over 3 additions - 50% FWH, 25% at 60 minutes and the other 25% at 30 minutes. Got some WLP007 on the stir plate with the intent on pitching at high krausen tomorrow and fermenting at 65F.

I'm jumping in! Any last words? It looks real light (just under 4 SRM...) but it's a 1.039 with 34 IBUs (0.863 BU/GU) What do you think I can expect out of this one?
 
IMHO, I like SMaSH beers that are hop burst beers---all hopped within the last 15-10 minutes of the boil.  It accentuates the unique character of the single hop.  But, you have to increase the hops by 2-3x to compensate.  3-4 oz with 10 minutes makes a nice beer that is clearly defines the character of that hop.
 
Agreed, and here's why:

It's been in the keg a few days now and is fully carbed, so I took a taste today and the hops are so light, but so is the malt (it's only a 1.040) and I'll be damned if it doesn't taste just like one of those big-named American Lagers (starts with a B, M, or C...).

Hmm, well, I do have a friend that likes light beers, so I guess I've got a keeper. It's clean, I'll give it that, so if nothing else, I've learned what Maris Otter tastes like (I like it), and I've also learned All-Grain's a blast - can't wait to get new equipment now...
 
Yep.  I'm pretty partial to Marris otter for SMaSH beers.  A few years ago I did a study in Hops using Marris Otter, and 5 different varieties of hops...one or two of each of the major classes.  I did it the hard way, by making 10 gallons of wort from AG.  then I boiled the wort without hops until I was within 10 minutes of target gravity.  Then I split the boil into 5 pots and added 2 ounces of each hop type to one of each boil pot.  I ended up with 2 gallons of each SMaSH for side-by-side comparison. 

Last year, I did a similar thing with some malts. 

I used every heat source in the house to boil them all.  Its a lot of bother running around to all the different boils.  Even with the wife's help!

Next time, I'll do the batches as extract batches.  Makes it easier to do consistent batches on different days. 


 
Maris Otter makes a really delicious ESB, with little else needed.  I highly recommend the malt, so much so that I just bought a sack.
 
tom_hampton said:
IMHO, I like SMaSH beers that are hop burst beers---all hopped within the last 15-10 minutes of the boil.  It accentuates the unique character of the single hop.  But, you have to increase the hops by 2-3x to compensate.  3-4 oz with 10 minutes makes a nice beer that is clearly defines the character of that hop.

I agree . I think them late additions just kind of go away since the hops are left in the trub when you transfer to the fermenter .  I have not tried adding in 3 times more but am going to take your advice next time a round .
 
My first AG beer was a maris otter/willamette smash, and I wound up wishing I had used more hops, especially late, and especially since I used willamette.  It was good and drinkable, but primarily showcased maris otter and left little willamette character. 
 
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