SMaSH Brewing - Take One

There will definately be a Take Two, Take Three, Take Four, etc. I'm new to this concept, but this is a concept that has been around for hundreds of years, if not thousands. It's a simple concept, because simple is sometimes the best. So what is SMaSH Brewing?

SMaSH is an an acronym for Single Malt and Single Hop. Every beer I have brewed to date has had some complex grain bill, ie. 40% base malt, 30 % wheat malt, 20% specialty malt, and 10% adjunct malts, plus a varietal hop schedule, ie. 20% cascade hops, 30% hallertau hops, 50% styrian hops, on top of some flavoring additions such as 1 oz coriander seed and/or 1 oz orange zest, for example. As you can see, these beers are complex, requiring a bit of this and bit of that and lot of this and some of that.

It never crossed my mind to do something so simple until Farmer Ian dedicated some of his homegrown hops to my homebrew setup. Because he had homegrown hops, there was some risk associated with the use of hops that had an UNKNOWN alpha acid content. Hops are what determine the level of bitterness, aroma, and flavor are in a particular beer. For example, a 120 Minute India Pale Ale (IPA), continuously hopped through the boil with end up with a bitterness of 141. This number 141 is a defined numerical data point that correlates with the amount of alpha acid in hops. A wheat beer, which is not hoppy in taste, may have a bitterness of 10. This number is referred to as IBU's, or International Bitterness Units. Commercially grown hops are tested for their average alpha acid content, therefore a homebrewer or commercial brewer can accurately set the level of bitterness in their brew. A pale ale could have 40 or more IBU's, etc. It really depends on the style beer. Obviously, a hoppy beer will have a higher IBU score.

So, back to brewing, I decided that since I can not determine how hoppy my brew will turn out, we better play it safe, for economical reasons. I didn't want to dump $40 into 2 cases of beer, or $80 into 4 cases of beer for that matter. Hence, I felt comfortable spending $12 on 2 cases of beer ($6 per case for those mathematically challenged) that way if it turned out a failure I wouldn't be out that much money. This is where the SMaSH beer came to play. Less grains = less costs. By now you are probably asking yourself if you ever consumed a SMaSH beer. Chances are yes if you have ever had Urquell Pilsner.

SMaSH beers are great for beer drinkers and great for homebrewers. It goes down just as good as any other beer (good for the beer drinker) and allows the homebrewer to identify the subtleties of a particular malt and a particular hop. Put your magic to the test and try drinking a specialty beer that has 4 or more hop additions. There is no way you can point out the certain flavors from the different hops, its just too hard to know what each one is. Unless of course you completed the Beer Judge Certification Program (www.bjcp.org). It is the neither the prior nor the latter that appeal to me more, I like to drink beer and I like to further understand how particular malts and particular hops are affecting the flavors of my beer.

Today we brewed the Wet Hot American Ale, consisting of the following SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop).

Wet Hot American Ale
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 6.50 gallons @ 90 Minutes
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
Est. ABV - 4.92%
Fermentation: 5 days in primary, 5 days in secondary
Yeast: Safale-05 (American Ale Yeast, dry)
Malt: 10 lbs Vienna Malt
Hops:
1.1 oz Cascades @ 60 minutes
1.9 oz Cascades @ 20 minutes
1.0 oz Cascades @ dryop in secondary fermenter
Single Infusion, Batch Sparge, steeping @ 60 minutes at 151 F, sparging with 168 F water.

We were targeting an original gravity of 1.052 and ended just shy at 1.050. It's good enough for beer, that's for sure. This particular style American Ale requires an OG of 1.045 - 1.060, so we're safe. We're also safe if Ian's homegrown hops have the average 5.5% alpha acid putting this beer at 38.1 IBU's. The American Ale style guidelines call for 30 - 45 IBU's. The color was within range at 5.7, where 5-14 was needed. As long as the FG is within 1.010 and 1.015, then we will have an authentic American Ale. Now, in regards to Ian's homegrown hops, we have no way of testing the alpha acid content. It is very costly to do, so we'll just have to compare beers. I just did a quick google search and found that Budweiser's new American Ale is 28 IBU's, so as along as the Wet Hot American Ale has a pinch more bitterness to it, then we scored. If not, no biggie. That's why I only spent $12 on this batch.

Tune back for an update.

Special thanks to Ian for sharing some of his beloved hops with me.