1st BIAB / Smash recipe. Does this look right?

[Tetsuo1981]

Hi all

Looking to the future and want to give all grain / BIAB a go. Thought a smash wod be a good place to start. Found this recipe Single-Malt, Single-Hop IPA (For Beginning Homebrewers) Recipe
and have plumbed it into a calculator I found on the playstore which gave me this (pdf file) or this screenshot

Does this look right to those in the know?

 

[Tetsuo1981]

Scratch that, been rereading the recipe and sure the timings are off. Think it should be first hops at 60 mins to go, 2nd hops and whilfloc at 15 mins to go, yeast nutrient at 10 mins to go then last hops at 'flame out' then yeast and dry hop. At least that's my understanding, any thoughts or corrections would be welcome

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

Scratch that, been rereading the recipe and sure the timings are off. Think it should be first hops at 60 mins to go, 2nd hops and whilfloc at 15 mins to go, yeast nutrient at 10 mins to go then last hops at 'flame out' then yeast and dry hop. At least that's my understanding, any thoughts or corrections would be welcome

Yes spot on. Though I would look to tweak the recipe. Do you really want to brew a smash as your first? I agree, start simple and I love Maris as a base malt for sure but why not look at doing - 20litres-
4.4 Kg Vienna malt
400g Wheat malt
400g Light Munich
Maybe try Bavarian Mandarina hops for aroma, they have a real Juicy citrus flavour.
Ferment with a Kviek yeast, unless you have someplace that you can control the fermentation temperature.
I would recommend ‘Get er brewed’- Search results - Homebrew Shop | Beer & Wine Kits | Microbrewery Equipment to purchase all your brew supplies from. Very good value and great service
Good luck, whatever you decide to brew

 

[Oneflewover]

A SMASH with Maris otter and mosaic, fermented with a neutral yeast - what's not to like?
That recipe is going to result in a VERY bitter beer though, and there are far too many hops in the boil for my taste at that ABV.
Also wondering whether you'd want to use a dried yeast (such as safale us05) at this point?
Cheers

 

[Tetsuo1981]

@Fireside Ales Homebrewery @Oneflewover

Cheers for the reply guys I really appreciate it

Do you really want to brew a smash as your first?

My thinking was 'keep it simple stupid' for the first run, mostly cos I am a bit daft and to try and build up in my head what different ingredients taste like, so I can work off of that. I like and drink beer but have never really paid much attention as to what's in them so yeah I like a nice stout or an ipa or a type ot lager but that's where It kind of ends. I'm hoping to build up my knowledge slowly over time. But I will definitely give your recipe a go at some point

A SMASH with Maris otter and mosaic, fermented with a neutral yeast - what's not to like?
That recipe is going to result in a VERY bitter beer though, and there are far too many hops in the boil for my taste at that ABV.
Also wondering whether you'd want to use a dried yeast (such as safale us05) at this point?
Cheers

The original recipe asked for Golden promise malt but the calculator I used didn't have that as an option and a quick Google offered the Maris otter as a substitute so that's my bad. I might have buggered up the hop addition weights up converting them from oz to grams which might explain the over the top boil hops. As for the yeast I'm used to using dried yeasts and am not adverse to using them for this, was just going by the recipe I found. What would you say the pros and cons for both types of yeast for something like this?

This is uncharted territory for me at this point so appreciate the help and any pointers

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

@Fireside Ales Homebrewery @Oneflewover

Cheers for the reply guys I really appreciate it

My thinking was 'keep it simple stupid' for the first run, mostly cos I am a bit daft and to try and build up in my head what different ingredients taste like, so I can work off of that. I like and drink beer but have never really paid much attention as to what's in them so yeah I like a nice stout or an ipa or a type ot lager but that's where It kind of ends. I'm hoping to build up my knowledge slowly over time. But I will definitely give your recipe a go at some point



The original recipe asked for Golden promise malt but the calculator I used didn't have that as an option and a quick Google offered the Maris otter as a substitute so that's my bad. I might have buggered up the hop addition weights up converting them from oz to grams which might explain the over the top boil hops. As for the yeast I'm used to using dried yeasts and am not adverse to using them for this, was just going by the recipe I found. What would you say the pros and cons for both types of yeast for something like this?

This is uncharted territory for me at this point so appreciate the help and any pointers

Home Brew is a big old journey mate. Start small, nail the basics and you should be brewing great beer in no time.
I’ll weigh in on the yeast question- So firstly kviek yeast is the Norwegian name, given to a blend of old strains from this region. You can buy it in dry and liquid from ‘get er brewed’. The benefit of Kviek for you right now is that it has such a broad fermentation temp range, that it is recommended for brewers that don’t have the ability to control fermentation temperatures. Have a little look into fermentation temp control and you will see that this is quite a key element in the brewing of great beer.
The benefits of dry yeast over liquid yeast. Well I have found that you can brew great beer with both, so It comes down to preference. I think you can achieve a greater range of flavours with liquid yeast. Dry is super easy to use. I would always recommend making a yeast starter and using a nutrient like servomyces . This will really help your yeasties get on and ferment well. If I was you and I wanted to try a liquid yeast, I would go for a strain that comes in a smack pack. These are easy to use, take the pack out of the fridge before you start brewing and break the inner pack of nutrient. Put the yeast in a warm place and watch the pack blow up like a balloon. Pitch and go.
I’ll Dm you my typical brew day and set up. I put this together for another beginner brewer and he found it to be useful.
Good luck with it all.

 

[Tetsuo1981]

Home Brew is a big old journey mate. Start small, nail the basics and you should be brewing great beer in no time.
I’ll weigh in on the yeast question- So firstly kviek yeast is the Norwegian name, given to a blend of old strains from this region. You can buy it in dry and liquid from ‘get er brewed’. The benefit of Kviek for you right now is that it has such a broad fermentation temp range, that it is recommended for brewers that don’t have the ability to control fermentation temperatures. Have a little look into fermentation temp control and you will see that this is quite a key element in the brewing of great beer.
The benefits of dry yeast over liquid yeast. Well I have found that you can brew great beer with both, so It comes down to preference. I think you can achieve a greater range of flavours with liquid yeast. Dry is super easy to use. I would always recommend making a yeast starter and using a nutrient like servomyces . This will really help your yeasties get on and ferment well. If I was you and I wanted to try a liquid yeast, I would go for a strain that comes in a smack pack. These are easy to use, take the pack out of the fridge before you start brewing and break the inner pack of nutrient. Put the yeast in a warm place and watch the pack blow up like a balloon. Pitch and go.
I’ll Dm you my typical brew day and set up. I put this together for another beginner brewer and he found it to be useful.
Good luck with it all.

Cheers for that, I really appreciate it. I've had a go at making a starter once and it seemed to have worked (still lagering the brew I used it for so hopefully it'll come right.) and am lucky enough to have a fermenting fridge with an inkbird setup and just need a chiller and a mashing bag for my brew kettle then I'll be set. My biggest worry was the timings for the additions, some recipes I've looked at have it really clearly written but the one in my first post confused me a bit. That and sussing what the actual ingredients taste like are my next steps, hence the really simple recipe. I'm tempted to get some different hops and make little teas out of them to try them and see what they taste like. Like a little hop tea party!!

 

[JohnB]

@Tetsuo1981 I am with @Oneflewover on this. Too many hops, for a 5 gallon (imperial) SMaSH, I'd just go with 4 ounces at most - 3 oz bittering (60 mins), 1 oz at just 5 minutes of boil. I'd also use my fave yeast which is Nottingham. And to be honest as Oneflewover says: "What's not to like". M.O. malt, choose a nice hop not too citrussy, say Challenger and you'll have a cracking summer ale. I also think I'd drop the gravities as well. 1.050 - 1.052 OG and aim to finish at about 1.011 will give a lovely crisp beer out of the fridge yet will still pack quite a punch - and you get to drink an extra one before you fall over. I think it is possible to get a bit hung-up over details. Keep it clean, keep it easy, especially as you are just starting out. And good luck, you'll enjoy the journey!

 

[AdeDunn]

One of my first AGs was a simple SMASH with IREKS pale malt and mosaic hops. Was one of my best brews, and we could have cried that I only made 5 litres of it..... It's a top hop if you aren't one of the folks who thinks they taste oniony, one of my faves.

As to timings, as others have said, go KISS. Start of boil for bittering, 15 minutes for flavour, flame out (0 minutes) for aroma, and a nice dry hop 3-5 days before you bottle. Boom, delicious. Keep your bittering addition small with mosaic though is my advice, when used for bittering, well the results can catch you by surprise let's say. lol

 

[chuffer]

If it were me, I'd aim for 35 - 50 IBU rather than 146 IBU....i like hoppy beers but i tend to try and add more at the back end (flame out and dry hop) and keep the early additions fairly low to add just enough bitterness to balance the amount of malt