SMaSHaSS ideas

[JKaranka]

Any ideas of single malt, single hop, single sugar beers?

I've been toying around with making an Old Ale with Maris Otter, Challenger and invert sugar syrup #2, OG 1.075 and 65 IBU, and a strong ale with Belgian pale malt, Perle and raw cane sugar syrup (Spanish cane honey) with an OG of 1.070 and 45-50 IBU.

 

[Psylocide]

Acronym could use some work... lol.

 

[JKaranka]

Acronym could use some work... lol.

I thought it would catch on!

 

[m00ps]

why not just SSSMaSH

also, just my opinion, but using trying to incorporate simple sugars into the whole ingredient exploration thing wont really have much impact other than drying the beer out more and not really letting you get as much of the malt character you are trying to investigate

 

[JKaranka]

why not just SSSMaSH

also, just my opinion, but using trying to incorporate simple sugars into the whole ingredient exploration thing wont really have much impact other than drying the beer out more and not really letting you get as much of the malt character you are trying to investigate

I'm just keener on investigating the sugar character and the sugar x malt interactions rather than malts or hops. Specially things like invert #4 must have plenty of flavour contributions going for them.

 

[giraffe]

Almost all the trappist styles can be made all smashass. Some sort of pils or pale, either clear invert, or a various grade of dark candi syrup at 20% or so, saazer, styrian goldings, or some flavor of hallertau. (and a belgian yeast of course) actually would be intresting to compare the difference between british style invert and a similar color belgian candi syrup. Im murky on the details but i believe there are differences in how thay are made.

 

[JKaranka]

Almost all the trappist styles can be made all smashass. Some sort of pils or pale, either clear invert, or a various grade of dark candi syrup at 20% or so, saazer, styrian goldings, or some flavor of hallertau. (and a belgian yeast of course) actually would be intresting to compare the difference between british style invert and a similar color belgian candi syrup. Im murky on the details but i believe there are differences in how thay are made.

 

[gometz]

Tomorrow I'm brewing a pilsner, Belgian sugar, Nelson beer. There's also acidulated malt in it though. It will be split between WLP001 and 3711. Let me know if you're interested in the recipe.

 

[MaxStout]

Belgian pilsner, noble hops, Belgian yeast and you're off and running. You don't even need to add fancy candi sugar (unless you want color). Check out Brew Like a Monk and see how many brewers use plain old table sugar.

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

I'm just keener on investigating the sugar character and the sugar x malt interactions rather than malts or hops. Specially things like invert #4 must have plenty of flavour contributions going for them.

I guess it depends on what the goal is, SMaSHs are great because they can be distinguished apart from each other enabling you to understand what each may contribute to the beer. Sugar additions may give a false impression of the malt contributions. But for increasing gravity it's easy to use. Personally I feel sugars don't bring much to the party other than ABV increases. I can't remember the guy advocating these brews, Drew something or other. I don't see the validity in this in terms of experimentation.

 

[JKaranka]

I guess it depends on what the goal is, SMaSHs are great because they can be distinguished apart from each other enabling you to understand what each may contribute to the beer. Sugar additions may give a false impression of the malt contributions. But for increasing gravity it's easy to use. Personally I feel sugars don't bring much to the party other than ABV increases. I can't remember the guy advocating these brews, Drew something or other. I don't see the validity in this in terms of experimentation.

I feel that a bit puzzling. Breweries have spent decades working with sugars and combinations of sugars (Belgian and British breweries specially), when they have had much simpler ways of increasing both colour and abv, so clearly there is merit to working with sugars. If you look at old recipes by the likes of William Youngers or Fullers, they often combine up to four different types of invert and proprietary sugars when one would have sufficed.

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

I feel that a bit puzzling. Breweries have spent decades working with sugars and combinations of sugars (Belgian and British breweries specially), when they have had much simpler ways of increasing both colour and abv, so clearly there is merit to working with sugars.

2 things: what is possibly an easier and cheaper way to increase ABV than adding plain sugar? Because of it being so easy to use, and easy to ferment, it leaves almost, depending on quantity used, nothing in terms of character in the beer, which is the main reason people use it to dry out a beer without adding body or flavor. Especially the Belgian breweries after WWII when they faced stiff competition by the French wine market, and needed to compete on an ABV level in a cost effective way. Molasses, honey, and piloncillo, to impart some mild character but I find it to be so negligible or a bit of a twang that is not very pleasant on the molasses based sugars.

That all said I used a lb of dark brown sugar in a Belgian 2 months ago, for ABV and a talking point when I serve it. I'm not saying don't use sugar, just saying it's not all that when you are trying to learn your ingredients through SMaSHs. If you find contrary evidence in your results, please post it, I'd love to read it and maybe learn something new.

 

[JKaranka]

Qhrumphf in the English Recipes thread has been making invert #4 so I'm pretty much looking forwards to how that comes out (I wonder what he'll use it for, I assume fairly simple dark milds or maybe porter).

In the UK breweries added sugars as a premium ingredient to beers as it was more expensive and less available than malted barley (sugar was grown and refined in the Caribbean while barley is just a regular grain). Improved clarity as well and was allowed as a 'malt substitute' even pre-1890 when unmalted adjuncts were banned.