Help with SMaSH recipe

[petrolSpice]

For my third brew I would like to try a single malt single hop recipe. The simplicity of the recipe is intriguing as well as the opportunity to taste the ingredients on their own. However, I really have no clue how to choose the ingredients.

I'd like to use LME just because it's cheaper and easier to use IMO. My LHBS has Briess pilsen, munich, wheat, and traditional amber. I have heard all wheat will be strange. I've already used pilsen from them and amber from another place. So I was thinking of going with Munich. I would like something under 20 IBU and 5-5.5% ABV. Something that is easy to drink, refreshing. How does this recipe look?

8.5lb Munich LME

1oz Saaz, 60 min
1oz Saaz, 30 min
1oz Saaz, 1 min

Safale US-05

Batch size 5 gal, boil size 3 gal. BF says this should be an OG of 1.054, FG of 1.015, ABV of 5.11%, IBU of 12.8.

My biggest worry is the large mass of LME. Should I go with less and substitute with corn syrup or something?

I chose Saaz because it seems like it's a relatively easy going hop. Is there one that will go better with Munich malt?

Thanks!

 

[InLimbo]

SMASH from extract doesn't really work. light/dark extracts will generally have crystal mixed in with them, and I'd be surprised if munich extract wasn't actually a mix of multiple base malts.

You can make a beer from 100% extract and no specialty grains though. I've never done it so I can't really chime in.

As far as the mass of LME, I wouldn't worry about it. A lot of people will split it into two additions. Add half at the beginning, and the other half with ~10-15 minutes left in the boil.

 

[Devilsnight]

I'm doing my first smash this weekend, recipe is bout the same. I'm using Maris Otter though, from what I can tell MO is the only "pure" extract available. everything else is blended / contains some amount of carmel,crystal,whatever.

 

[BarrelheadBrew]

Per the Briess website:

"This specialty malt extract is made using a traditional multiple step mashing process to achieve higher levels of
fermentability. It is made from 50% Munich Malt and 50% Base Malt to produce a very rich, malty, amber colored
extract"

So, it's not a true SMaSH. That being said, my house pale is 8lbs Breiss Pale LME with three 1 oz hop additions, similar to your schedule. The 12 IBU's looks off, I think it should probably be closer to 24, but should still be a darn tasty beer.

 

[JR_Brewer]

These guys are right about extract, it's already a mix of different malts, so it wouldn't really be a SMaSH beer. However, that's not a reason to not do this. Simple recipes can really highlight the brewer's skill... or lack of.

I have heard all wheat will be strange.

If you're doing all grain, you're right, all wheat will be strange (and tough to convert during the mash). However, wheat extract is a mix of wheat and barley extracts. From the Briess spec sheet for their Bavarian Wheat DME, they use "65% Malted Wheat / 35% Malted Barley."

I've found that Wheat DME can stand alone. While I often do all-grain or partial mash, I will sometime brew up an extract using wheat DME. My personnal opinion is that Wheat Extract is closer to wheat than barley malt extract is to barley malt (not supported my data, just my 2 cents!).

 

[JR_Brewer]

Oh, and forgot to mention this... which was the point of the thread, sorry!

I like using saaz in combination with munich malt. I think your recipe looks pretty good! If anything I would increase the bittering hop and move your 30 minute addition back to 10 or so, but that's just me tinkering.

Cheers! Happy brewing!

 

[brew_ny]

I like using saaz in combination with munich malt

I did a couple 10 gallon all-grain batches with all light and all dark Munich and Saaz

they both were very good drinking brews

I used 05 in both and went for 24 IBU

all the best

 

[bajaedition]

Saaz is on my top 3 list of favorite hops

only thing I would change is the second hops would go in with 10 minutes to last
.
the way I learned is bittering hops the longer you boil them the more utilization you get

flavor hops start being boiled off after 15 minutes

aroma hops get boiled off after 2 minutes

those are the guidelines I go by, we will probably see a bit of debate on them

 

[petrolSpice]

Thank you for the help guys! I guess you are all right, it would not be a true SMaSH recipe, but I suppose it would let me experiment with the single malt extracts and hops that are available at my LHBS.

How would the taste differ if I were to remove some LME and substitute with corn sugar/syrup or some other sugar source? I was just adding LME until the ABV came out about right. I'm thinking less LME and more sugar will dry out the flavor. Is that correct?

If I were to use the wheat LME (65% wheat, 35% barley), what would be a good hop to go with?

 

[bajaedition]

Thank you for the help guys! I guess you are all right, it would not be a true SMaSH recipe, but I suppose it would let me experiment with the single malt extracts and hops that are available at my LHBS.

How would the taste differ if I were to remove some LME and substitute with corn sugar/syrup or some other sugar source? I was just adding LME until the ABV came out about right. I'm thinking less LME and more sugar will dry out the flavor. Is that correct?

If I were to use the wheat LME (65% wheat, 35% barley), what would be a good hop to go with?

adding corn or rice sugars are going to make the beer a lot lighter, If you are doing this to learn hops taste and bittering profiles that would be a good idea.

but if you are doing it to learn hops, stick to 1 recipe so that you are comparing apples to apples. When learning to cook a chef does this with spices, they take a bland item and use 1 spice on it so they can learn the nuances of that spice. then they cook the exact same thing with a different spice.

doing that with beer and hops will help your brewing tremendously
may not be real exciting, and be a lot of light beers, but your palate with hops would be real educated. And that is a good thing.

 

[chickypad]

If I were to use the wheat LME (65% wheat, 35% barley), what would be a good hop to go with?

Lots of ways you could go here. A noble hop like hallertau, cascade or amarillo, sorachi ace if you like lemony. If you're trying to learn hops I would recommend a clean yeast for an American style wheat (like wyeast 1010 or a chico strain). A German hefe yeast will dominate the taste more.

 

[JR_Brewer]

Sugars (corn, table, honey, etc) tend to dry out a beer, adding alcohol without a lot of flavor, body, or aroma. So, on a simple, single malt beer that will already be on the simple side, I don't think it's a good idea. Use sugars to dry out a beer with a complicated malt profile or a lot going on.

Chickypad has some good ideas, the noble hops could work if you want something clean/traditional. And the big american "C" hops could work if you want to go that direction (cascade, centennial, chinook, citra, etc).