Maris Otter & Columbus SMaSH

Third entry in my 'Getting Smashed' series is a Maris Otter and Columbus SMaSH. My buddy-in-brewing Mike Helle was kind enough to donate 8 lbs. of his Maris Otter stash for this science experiment. It smells and tastes great. I can see what all the hype around English malt is about.

The Vienna SMaSH I brewed last month acquired a diacetyl problem that I'm conflicted about trying to fix. (At least I think it's diacetyl.) I want to clearly identify that Vienna flavor but I kind of like the smoothness the diacetyl adds to the otherwise simple beer.

Having three of the same beer on tap is a little booooring though. I make take a pause for the flavor cause and do something else before finishing out the malt experiment. Julie returned from her Michigan trip with a bottle of Bam Biere from Jolly Pumpkin. I may have nefarious plans for this guy in the souring arena.

Recipe Notes
Style: Pale Ale

Batch Volume: 5 gal.
Color: 4 SRM
Target Bitterness: 36 IBU
Target OG: 1.040

Grist
8 lb. Maris Otter

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (FWH)
1 tsp. Irish Most (15 min.)

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (5 min.)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (30 min Hop Stand)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (Dry Hop 5 days)

Direct pitch of 2nd generation US-05 slurry

Brew Notes
Brew Date: 5/15/15
Mash Temp: 154F
Mash Time: 75 min.
Boil Time: 60 min.
Fermenter Volume: 5.25 gal
Measured OG: 1.042
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76%

Beautiful day for a brew today. Temps under 80 all day! Brew went off without a hitch. Another hop stand for 30 minutes to get the most out of Columbus for flavoring. Chilled down to 80 with the immersion chiller then in a cold water bath until it hit 72F and I got impatient. Gravity reading on 4.5 gallons of wort was 1.050 so I diluted with 3/4 gallon of water to hit 1.042 OG. I forgot to make a yeast starter last night from the 2nd gen US-05 slurry I had sitting in the fridge. It's been less than a month since harvest though so I warmed it to room temp, dumped the beer off the top, mixed it with some fresh wort in the mason jar, and dumped her on in.

I'm becoming a big fan of yeast rinsing since I have had a few successes with it. It's pretty economical and the attenuation have been consistently high. I may be over pitching which could cause some long term viability problems but don't know of a good way to get even a ballpark cell count measurement.

5/16/15 - After 24 hours gravity is 1.031, temp is 74F. Cooler would be nicer but US-05 is forgiving.

5/17/15 - Gravity is 1.012 but temp has risen to 76F. Too late to cool now I think. Whatever damage can be done has been done.

5/18/15 - Gravity is 1.008 and temp has fallen back to 72F.

5/22/15 - Gravity is 1.006 and temp is back to a normal 65F. Will probably let this sit in the fermenter for two weeks total to avoid the diacetyl problem I had with the Vienna SMaSH.

5/25/15 - Racked to secondary and dry hopped. FG is 1.006. It smelled a little bit like vinegar when racking but I think that was just the wort that wasn't cleaned up on the outside of the fermenter. The sample does taste a little like plastic with a bit of a cider character though. I'm guessing that was from the high fermentation temperature. I hope it doesn't get in the way of what the Maris Otter provides.

Kegging Notes
Measured FG: 1.006
Attenuation: 86%
ABV: 4.7%
Calories: 136 per 12oz.
Carbonation: 2.5 volumes (After force carbonating)

6/2/15 - Kegged after eight days of dry hopping. Longer than planned but I had a stout to evict from the keg which took some time. None of the off aromas or flavors were present which is awesome. There was a slightly stronger hop aroma and flavor than in previous SMaSHes likely because of the extra 3 days of dry hop contact time. I think it's the best tasting SMaSH so far but maybe because of the extra hoppiness.

Two Row & Columbus SMaSH

Mmm, yeasty.

The second entry in my 'Getting Smashed' series is a Two Row and Columbus SMaSH. I'm pretty familiar already with what two-row can/can't do for lightness, flavor, and malt presence, but I decided to brew this one just to have a 'control' beer against which we can judge the others. Not the most exciting recipe in the world but dammit, we're collecting data for science! Well, I do get to make a yeast starter from the left over US-05 from last batch. So that's cool.

Recipe Notes
Style: Pale Ale

Batch Volume: 5 gal.
Color: 3 SRM
Target Bitterness: 38 IBU
Target OG: 1.040

Grist
8 lb. Two Row

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (FWH)
1 tsp. Irish Most (15 min.)

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (5 min.)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (30 min Hop Stand)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (Dry Hop 5 days)

1L Yeast starter of 2nd generation US-05 slurry

Brew Notes
Brew Date: 4/26/15
Mash Temp: 151F
Mash Time: 60 min.
Boil Time: 60 min.
Fermenter Volume: 5.25 gal
Measured OG: 1.042
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76%

Made a 1L yeast starter the night before. Started by measuring 100g Pilsnen DME into 800ml of water. Boiled for 10 minutes which is tough in an Erlenmeyer flask. Added 200ml of yeast slurry to reach the final 1L volume. Tried using stir plate but it's a weak piece of crap and the stir bar would stop moving after I left it for five minutes. Periodically agitated and aerated the starter.

After boil chilled to 170 for a 30 minute hop stand. Spent most of the hop stand at 165. Next time stop chilling at 175 to hit 170. Added hop stand hops immediately after flame out. They steeped during the two minute chill from boiling to 170. Chilled wort to 70F and poured through grain bag to collect hop material. Collected 4.5 gallons of 1.049 wort at 68F. Added 3/4 gal. of tap water to hit 5.25 gal. of 1.042 wort. Decanted beer from top of yeast starter and pitched yeast. Added gravity sample to flask, swished it around and pitch the remainder of the flask. Aerated by shaking 100 times.

Five hour brew day exactly with 30 minute hop stand.

Update 4/29/15 - Gravity reading is 1.007 already. Attributing to use of harvested yeast and yeast starter. Mashed two degrees lower but I've never really seen that have an effect before. Tastes smooth and buttery. I don't know exactly what diacetyl tastes like but maybe this is it. Probably let this go a week in primary instead of five days like the first SMaSH just to be sure this is cleaned up.

Update 5/2/15 - Racked to secondary. Gravity is 1.006. Decided to keep the yeast train going and with another yeast harvest. This time added a gallon of water to the fermenter before swirling around. Let the fermenter sit for ten minutes and poured 3/4 gal off the top into a one gallon jug. By adding more water I'm seeing much better stratification between beer, yeast, and trub. The image to the right is after letting the jug sit for 20 minutes. I'll wait 30 minutes total and decant into two pint size mason jars. This will be the 3rd generation of this US-05 yeast.

Update 5/5/15 - Dry hopped with 1 oz. of Columbus

Update 5/7/15 - Sample is very hoppy. A little bit of the 'dank' kind of hoppy I'm looking for. Gravity remains at 1.006.

Kegging Notes
Measured FG: 1.006
Attenuation: 86% (That seems high...)
ABV: 4.7%
Calories: 136 per 12oz.
Carbonation: 2.5 volumes (After force carbonating)

Update 5/11/15 - Kegged today. Doing the trick where I set it at 30 psi for 48 hours. Drinks clean but has a very noticeable 'back of the throat' bitterness that tastes like I swallowed lupulin powder.

Vienna & Columbus SMaSH

It's all about malt

This brew marks the beginning of a malt experiment that I'm calling my 'Getting Smashed' series. I intend to make the same SMaSH beer seven times with seven different base malts to hopefully acquire a taste for what each base malt brings to the game. The seven malts I have lined up are...

• Pale (2-row)
• Pale Ale
• Pilsner
• Maris Otter
• Golden Promise
• Vienna
• Light Munich

Today I'll be starting with Vienna malt. I chose to use Columbus hops for this experiment for a couple of reasons. First because I'm not that familiar with them but am excited to learn about their 'dank' contribution. Second, they're a very efficient bittering hop at 15.6% alpha so it keeps the cost down and minimizes the amount of plant matter in a 60 minute boil.

Recipe Notes
Style: Pale Ale

Batch Volume: 5 gal.
Color: 6.2 SRM
Target Bitterness: 38 IBU
Target OG: 1.040

Grist
8 lb. Vienna Malt

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (FWH)
1 tsp. Irish Most (15 min.)

0.5 oz. Columbus 15.6% (5 min.)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (30 min Hop Stand)

1.0 oz. Columbus 15.6% (Dry Hop 5 days)

Safale US-05

Brew Notes
Brew Date: 4/19/15
Mash Temp: 153F
Mash Time: 75 min.
Boil Time: 60 min.
Fermenter Volume: 5.2 gal
Measured OG: 1.042
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%

Brewed outside today because it was one of those rare spring-summer days in DC that are warm and sunny but not boiling lava hot. Everything went swimmingly. After the boil reduced wort temp to 170 for a 30 minute hop stand at sub-isomerization temps. Cooled and collected 4.5 gal. of 1.048 wort. Diluted to 5.2 gal. of 1.042 but the gravity's still slightly higher than I was aiming for. Efficiency for this batch is 5 points higher than normal. Julie brewed last weekend and experienced the same thing but had >80% efficiency. Something magic in the spring air?

Update 4/24/15 - Measured SG of 1.009. Fermented only five days and already moving to secondary. Despite this being a malt experiment I added 1.0 oz of Columbus in a hop bag for some sweet aromas. Washed the yeast and saved two pint jars of slurry.

Collected slurry

20 min. settling time. No visible yeast-trub separation.

Before refridgeration

After 1 day of refrigeration

Update 4/29/15 - Sample tastes a little like melon and butter. Can't decide whether to keg this now or let it go another couple of days on dry hops. EDIT: Kegged today in a partial experiment to see what kegging a beer this young is like. After cruising some brewing forums it doesn't seem too extreme, especially with the 5 day dry hopping in secondary. Pressurized to 30 psi in my first attempt at speed carbonating. Too many experiments at one time? Probably. But there's so much I want to try out. Will let sit for 48 hours then reduce to serving pressure and see how that speeds things up.

Kegging Notes
Measured FG: 1.008
Attenuation: 81%
ABV: 4.5%
Calories: 137 per 12oz.
Carbonation: 2.5 volumes (After force carbonating)

Update 4/30/15 - Yesterday when force carbonating I set the pressure at 30 psi for that keg then disconnected it and set the rest of the manifold back to serving pressure. This was probably a bad idea because when I pulled a sample today it was not coming out 'vigorously' at all. When I hooked it back up at 30psi there was definite audible pressure equalizing. So now I'm keeping 30 psi on this keg for 48 hours and disconnecting the others. That's probably the right way to do it.

Update 5/16/15 - This brew acquired a bit of a diacetyl problem that went undetected while kegging. I'd never smelled or tasted diacetyl before but based on the descriptions I read this batch definitely has it. As an experiment in diacetyl reduction I pulled the keg out of the keezer and let it warm up to 70F. Then I top cropped my Maris Otter SMaSH during high krausen and pitched it into the keg. Stirred it around with my sanitized brew spoon. Excited to see if the krausening thing can help w/the diacetyl.

5/17/15 - Keg is at 78F. Sample has a lower diacetyl taste but may be harder to pick out when it's warm. I'll be leaving this for a few days to see what happens.

5/19/15 - Don't taste much diacetyl at all any more! Leaving for two more days just to be sure then chilling and carbing.

5/22/15 - After six days of krausen help and warm temperatures I can no longer detect what I believed to be diacetyl. Great news! Put it back in the keezer and started carbing. There's a bunch of crap at the bottom of the keg now. Will wait a few days for it to settle then hopefully just pour it off.

American Cascade SMaSH

American Cascade SMaSH
December 30, 2012
2.5 gal.

My first attempt at all grain brewing! Tally-ho!

4 lb. 2-Row Pale Malt (Rahr)
1 lb. Toasted 2-Row Pale Malt (Rahr)
1.5 oz. Cascade Hops
1 pkg. Munton’s Dry Ale Yeast
⅜ cup Corn Sugar (Priming)

12/29/12 - Toasted 1lb. of 2-row at 275 for 45 min.

12/30/12 - Removed yeast from fridge. Collected hops from freezer. Crushed grain at 0.025” spacing. Raised 2.5 gal of water to 165 deg. Preheated oven to ‘WARM’. Removed pot from heat. Placed bag in pot. Stirred crushed grains into water. Mashed grain in water at ~155 for 60 minutes in warmed oven. Raised 1.5 gal sparge water to 170 deg. Dunk sparged grain bag in sparge water. Squeezed a little. Added sparge water to boil kettle and got 4 gal of wort. Removed a few cups of water so boil pot wasn’t brimming. Boiled. Added ½ oz. Cascade at 60 min, 20 min, and 5 min to hop bag. OG is 1.048. Racked to glass fermenter. Collected 2.5 gal of wort.

1/5/13 - Racked beer to secondary. SG is 1.010. Super low. Tastes good, like a generic American ale.

1/12/13 - Bottled 2.5 gallons for 26 beers.FG was still 1.010. ABV is 5.1%. Used ⅜ cup of priming sugar for lower beer volume.

1/24/13 - Tried bottle. Very litre carbonation. Furnace was out while on vacation. Probably too cold. Brought beers up to computer room to carbonate. Significant sediment. Poor job racking or too fine of grind or both. Didn't use auto siphon to siphon. It was broken.