SMaSH Report

[TheHairyHop]

A few weeks ago I made smashes using the same wort and hopping techniques. I used MO for the wort and Apollo, Citra and Nelson Sauvin for the hops.

The hopping schedule was the equivalent of 2 oz added over the boil in equal increments every 10 minutes. I then cooled to 180 and steeped 1 oz for 30 minutes, cooled to 160 and then added an ounce more for an additional 30.

The Citra is pretty insane. It tastes like I added pounds of orange, grapes, apricot and peach straight in the fermentor. It's unbelievable that such a strong fruit flavor comes from hops.

The NS is more subtle. I definitely see where flavors of a wine could come in. It has a puckering quality and a dryness that I associate with a dry red. Very unsweet but still slightly refreshing. I'll have to drink more in order to comment more.

The Apollo is good. I had many telling me it would not be, but the beer is very drinkable. Earthy and pungent, it has a more traditional hop flavor. It doesn't taste like onion, which sometimes a "dank" hop can give. I didn't get too much marijuana flavor that some have talked about. It was slightly piney and reminded me of wild, dank herbs. The bitterness is a fantastic tingle that covers my tongue.

If I do any more smashes, I'll be sure to report on them here.

 

[Jmarsh544]

Do you think the apollo and citra would go well together?

 

[TheHairyHop]

Depends on the beer that you're making. I mixed small amounts of each with each other in order to get a feel for combined tastes. The citra and nelson went well at about a 50 50 ratio. I added the Apollo and it completely changed the flavor. The earthy pungentness of the Apollo easily covers a lot of fruit flavor.
They would taste great in an IPA, just don't over do the Apollo or you won't taste the citra

 

[TheHairyHop]

Just an update.

After aging around for these past days flavors have changed.

The citra is noticeably weaker than it was. Overall, fresher is better.

The Nelson has aged wonderfully. It's so much more pleasant initially and fades to a very fermented fruit flavor for the after taste.

The Apollo also aged well. It's more bitter in the middle of a sip and a more dank flavor has taken over the earthy flavors that I previously reported.

 

[branCHEs]

Depends on the beer that you're making. I mixed small amounts of each with each other in order to get a feel for combined tastes. The citra and nelson went well at about a 50 50 ratio. I added the Apollo and it completely changed the flavor. The earthy pungentness of the Apollo easily covers a lot of fruit flavor.
They would taste great in an IPA, just don't over do the Apollo or you won't taste the citra

I saw this thread and had to share. Attached is my citra/nelson pale ale. Safale US-05. I hit my mash temps dead on, as well as my OG. It was a very good beer. Good crisp bitterness that was well balanced by the wheat. The hop flavor was one that I had never tasted before; very subtle citrus followed by a mellow but lasting mellon flavor. The aroma was very refreshing; citrusy summer beer air that tingles the nose. I would recommend this to anyone looking to combine citra and nelson.

If you to try it out, please let me know how it was.

Fresh beer is good beer!