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These posts have been copied here from the full thread (link below) as a member posted this in it -
Northern_Brewer posted -
This ended up being rather longer than planned and some of the points have since been mentioned in replies after I started writing; I do get onto a recipe in the next post, but first :
I think you rather are - in that SMASHes are so constrained that it's pretty hard to "waste time and resources" on a "bad" recipe for one. Assuming good basic brewing technique then there's almost no such thing as a "bad" recipe for a SMASH (unless you're doing something weird like throwing in 150 IBU of bittering), whereas personal taste varies much more. And in turn that forgiving-ness means they are actually an ideal place to get some confidence in writing your own recipes.
I actually look at things the opposite way to you - since so much of brewing is dependent on one's own taste, my limited brewing time is better used on side-by-side experiments to see what really works for me, rather than making big batches of something that may suit someone else's taste but not mine. As long as you're not doing anything too weird, the worst it will be is likely "OK" - but the good batches will help you towards something that is really great for your taste.
And it's not just taste that varies - people's motivation for brewing, their equipment and availability of ingredients can all affect a recipe. I have a house rule/quirk that all my recipes have to have EKG in them in some form even for "SMASH"es, so for "SMASHes" I tend to use EKG for bittering and then "smear" a 100g pack of hops over the late boil and cold side. Also I brew more than I drink, so I'm not bothered about stretching a pack of hops over as many litres as I can, so that 100g is typically going into 14 or 18 litres. I'm always experimenting and so almost always split into gallon buckets with different yeast, fermentation temperature, dry-hop regime etc. For more subtle, Old-World type hops I'll do 14 litres into 3 buckets, for brasher New-World-style hops I'll do 18 litres into 4 buckets - so there's another example of how the "recipe" depends on a variable.
Aside from the fact that I grew up on beers like Stones and Boddies (which was effectively a SMASH in 1901 and 1987, although in between they had various adjuncts) and so something SMASH-y is pretty much what I'd drink out of choice anyway, it does make inventory management very easy - sack of pale malt, an open packet of bittering hops in the freezer, and then buy yeast and 100g packs of hops as required.
Going back to the OP - it depends on what kind of beer you like, something intensely fruity like Nectaron will give you a very different SMASH to something as subtle as WGV. But to give a few ideas :
I'm an unashamed fan of Goldings - the queen of British hops works brilliantly in a SMASH with British pale malt and lots of commercial beers have been variations on that kind of theme, from historical IPAs to the 1980s golden ales like Summer Lightning (although SL isn't technically a SMASH).
And while I'm not the biggest fan of Fuggles, you might want to try it at daft hopping rates :
Fuggles in the recreation of a recipe from the 1800s. “The sheer volumes of hops that they used meant that the essential oils that carry the aromas couldn’t escape in steam during the boil, they recirculated back into the bulk of the wort and isomerised there” he explains. “Beers we’ve brewed like this have smelled as fresh 18 months later as they did when we first brewed them.” He goes on to explain that Fuggle is a great hop for understanding the impact of this effect. “When you use it in small quantities, like it has been done recently, it’s pretty average. But when you use a lot of it, you get wonderful mango/stone fruit aromas and flavours.” Steve tells me that the difference is so pronounced that the profile has confused many who have taken a sip. “Drinkers trying it without knowing the hops have guessed that it’s an NZ hop.”
Other obvious British hops are Challenger and First Gold, a less obvious one is Admiral which despite being sold as a bittering hop can give a nice orange-citrus note particularly to lighter more lagery beers.
I think Ahtanum is probably my favourite of the "west coast" grapefruity hops, and you can't go wrong with Centennial. Falconer's Flight is another good shout - I've never brewed with it but it's the basis of one of my favourite commercial beers.
If you like the modern-fruity stuff, you can't really go wrong with the likes of Citra and Mosaic or most of the New Zealand hops.
On the flip side, I personally think that while I like them, the blackcurranty English hops like Bramling Cross, Bullion and Jester don't particularly suit SMASHes, they work much better paired with eg Goldings. And some of the New World hops like Azacca are a bit one-dimensional and are much better supporting other hops rather than as the star of the show IMO. Sabro is another one that's better off in a blend, it's so intense it gets a bit overwhelming. Also the likes of Sorachi Ace and Nelson Sauvin are real love-or-hate hops.
Don't forget the other half of the SMASH though - in the UK we're lucky to have ready access to the best pale malts in the world, and you can't really got wrong with a SMASH based on Maris Otter, Golden Promise, Pearl etc. Also you can play with heritage malts like Chevallier and Hana (Crisp are malting small amounts of Hana which is an old Czech landrace which makes great lager), and different styles of malt, from extra pale/pilsner to Vienna and (at a pinch, it's a bit low in enzymes) Munich.
Hmm - hit the character limit for one post so will have to split, a recipe of sorts follows in the next post
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/smash.95659/
Northern_Brewer posted -
This ended up being rather longer than planned and some of the points have since been mentioned in replies after I started writing; I do get onto a recipe in the next post, but first :
I think you rather are - in that SMASHes are so constrained that it's pretty hard to "waste time and resources" on a "bad" recipe for one. Assuming good basic brewing technique then there's almost no such thing as a "bad" recipe for a SMASH (unless you're doing something weird like throwing in 150 IBU of bittering), whereas personal taste varies much more. And in turn that forgiving-ness means they are actually an ideal place to get some confidence in writing your own recipes.
I actually look at things the opposite way to you - since so much of brewing is dependent on one's own taste, my limited brewing time is better used on side-by-side experiments to see what really works for me, rather than making big batches of something that may suit someone else's taste but not mine. As long as you're not doing anything too weird, the worst it will be is likely "OK" - but the good batches will help you towards something that is really great for your taste.
And it's not just taste that varies - people's motivation for brewing, their equipment and availability of ingredients can all affect a recipe. I have a house rule/quirk that all my recipes have to have EKG in them in some form even for "SMASH"es, so for "SMASHes" I tend to use EKG for bittering and then "smear" a 100g pack of hops over the late boil and cold side. Also I brew more than I drink, so I'm not bothered about stretching a pack of hops over as many litres as I can, so that 100g is typically going into 14 or 18 litres. I'm always experimenting and so almost always split into gallon buckets with different yeast, fermentation temperature, dry-hop regime etc. For more subtle, Old-World type hops I'll do 14 litres into 3 buckets, for brasher New-World-style hops I'll do 18 litres into 4 buckets - so there's another example of how the "recipe" depends on a variable.
Aside from the fact that I grew up on beers like Stones and Boddies (which was effectively a SMASH in 1901 and 1987, although in between they had various adjuncts) and so something SMASH-y is pretty much what I'd drink out of choice anyway, it does make inventory management very easy - sack of pale malt, an open packet of bittering hops in the freezer, and then buy yeast and 100g packs of hops as required.
Going back to the OP - it depends on what kind of beer you like, something intensely fruity like Nectaron will give you a very different SMASH to something as subtle as WGV. But to give a few ideas :
I'm an unashamed fan of Goldings - the queen of British hops works brilliantly in a SMASH with British pale malt and lots of commercial beers have been variations on that kind of theme, from historical IPAs to the 1980s golden ales like Summer Lightning (although SL isn't technically a SMASH).
And while I'm not the biggest fan of Fuggles, you might want to try it at daft hopping rates :
Fuggles in the recreation of a recipe from the 1800s. “The sheer volumes of hops that they used meant that the essential oils that carry the aromas couldn’t escape in steam during the boil, they recirculated back into the bulk of the wort and isomerised there” he explains. “Beers we’ve brewed like this have smelled as fresh 18 months later as they did when we first brewed them.” He goes on to explain that Fuggle is a great hop for understanding the impact of this effect. “When you use it in small quantities, like it has been done recently, it’s pretty average. But when you use a lot of it, you get wonderful mango/stone fruit aromas and flavours.” Steve tells me that the difference is so pronounced that the profile has confused many who have taken a sip. “Drinkers trying it without knowing the hops have guessed that it’s an NZ hop.”
Other obvious British hops are Challenger and First Gold, a less obvious one is Admiral which despite being sold as a bittering hop can give a nice orange-citrus note particularly to lighter more lagery beers.
I think Ahtanum is probably my favourite of the "west coast" grapefruity hops, and you can't go wrong with Centennial. Falconer's Flight is another good shout - I've never brewed with it but it's the basis of one of my favourite commercial beers.
If you like the modern-fruity stuff, you can't really go wrong with the likes of Citra and Mosaic or most of the New Zealand hops.
On the flip side, I personally think that while I like them, the blackcurranty English hops like Bramling Cross, Bullion and Jester don't particularly suit SMASHes, they work much better paired with eg Goldings. And some of the New World hops like Azacca are a bit one-dimensional and are much better supporting other hops rather than as the star of the show IMO. Sabro is another one that's better off in a blend, it's so intense it gets a bit overwhelming. Also the likes of Sorachi Ace and Nelson Sauvin are real love-or-hate hops.
Don't forget the other half of the SMASH though - in the UK we're lucky to have ready access to the best pale malts in the world, and you can't really got wrong with a SMASH based on Maris Otter, Golden Promise, Pearl etc. Also you can play with heritage malts like Chevallier and Hana (Crisp are malting small amounts of Hana which is an old Czech landrace which makes great lager), and different styles of malt, from extra pale/pilsner to Vienna and (at a pinch, it's a bit low in enzymes) Munich.
Hmm - hit the character limit for one post so will have to split, a recipe of sorts follows in the next post
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