Back to simplicity - Recipe formulation

[fakr]

I've realized after several years of brewing that I have a good deal of book knowledge on hop and grain varieties, but with complex recipes (like 5 grain and 4 hops), it's quite difficult to put my finger on individual ingredients and their contribution to the final beer product, save for a hand full of hops and grain that are fairly overpowering on their own.

It also occurred to me that when I got into all grain brewing, I borrowed a lot of tasty, complex recipes from members of this forum.  After some time, I began throwing recipes together myself, and haven't looked back since...

Well, here I am a few years later, and I've decided to take a complete 180 in my recipe formulation as I think it's about time that I learn first hand individual hop and grain contributions to the final product.

So, to begin, I've selected nothing but 2-row for grain and 1 type of hop.

First batch was 15 gallons of 2-row with Simcoe.  This is not an IPA, but just enough hops to give a low-medium bitterness, flavor and aroma.

Results:

Sweet baby jesus!  Very impressed with the malt flavor of just 2-row.  I now finally know what character 2-row, on it's own, gives the final beer product.
I also have an appreciation for Simoe hops, from their use for bittering, to aroma and dry hopping.  


This beer is very drinkable, and I've had lots of positive feedback from it so far.  I explain how I made it, with simplicity, and what I'm trying to accomplish.  My friends really take to being a part of experiments and education.  They feel they are becoming more educated on beer in general, as do I, with these type tests.

My plan for the near future, is to make regular "house" pale ale with nothing but 2-row and a different hop each time.  in the long term, I will chose my favorite hop, then add 1 additional grain to the recipe to get a feel for each specialty grain.

So, I've realized that I started making beer ass backwards.  I should have started with simple recipes like this to build my knowledge of the various ingredients used in more complex recipes.  But hey, that's the fun of brewing at home and with all of you...the experimenting, learning, refining, and sampling of all our great beer.


Thought I'd share.

[chrismccull]

I've always wanted to try a SMASH beer, I just never have.  I have heard that citra works well on its own, you might consider that next.

[Richard]

SMASH is probably the best tool you have for hop exploration/education. From there, you can assess the individual grains by doing a double-MASH. It is rather a lot of effort though - especially if you're doing 15 gallons. I've wanted to do a bunch of smaller batches at-once, but never seem to find the time.

[DandyMason]

100% agree... I just wish I didnt have to brew a full batch to experience each grain/ hop. I suppose we could each brew different smash beers and share

[Richard]

I suppose we could each brew different smash beers and share

Unfortunately I think there's too much variation between brewers to really make this worthwhile (not bad - just different ).

A while back there was an idea floating around to perform one standard-sized mash, then divide into four small (1 gallon) amounts simultaneously on a stove-top, and hop each separately. Ferment in whatever small receptacles you can find (split one pack of yeast between), and force-carb in a large PET bottle (i.e. soda). Just about the most scientific control you can manage in a kitchen.

[Richard]

Credit where credit's due - Thomas actually did some single-hop pales a while back that were very educational, even though he did them on different days.

[fakr]

I brew pale ales more often than other styles so I've committed myself to brewing a SMASH pale ale once a month with a different hop until I run though them all...or at least all the hops I typically use.
I'm also going to use maris otter and 1 british hop as well every other time.

For anyone who brews pale ales often, I would recommend doing this too.  Honestly, this pale ale doesn't taste or smell like it's missing anything.  It just tastes great.  Point being that you'll enjoy the beer as much as any other pale ale....unless you really hate the hop you used.

[Chris Craig]

There are several styles of beer that are essentially SMaSH beers.  A prime example is Bohemian Pils.  Pils malt and Saas hops.  That's it.

[jeffsmith]

[Unfortunately I think there's too much variation between brewers to really make this worthwhile (not bad - just different ).

About 15 of us in the Brewnosers recently did single hop beers with the same malt bill (94% 2-Row, 6% C-60) and exchanged bottles. While I've only had a couple of them yet, they were very similar (malt profile anyway), much more so than I would ever have expected. I'd say it's a pretty worthwhile experiment.

[Richard]

Good to know jeff - was there a mix of forced and natural carbed, or did everyone keep the process the same?

[pliny]

Making a simpler beer can be more of test of your skill. It exposes your processes more and you (or the folks you're sharing your beer with) may be able to detect where you maybe went wrong or areas of improvement. A brewer can hide alot of mistakes behind a 1.085 - 85 IBU and it's their choice - but are they getting better at what they're doing? I don't know.

[fakr]

Good point Pliny.  I do have 1 observation to make about the 15GAL I made.

Kegged the first 5GAL after 8 days, cold crashed in the keg for 2-3 days.  beer was delicious, hoppier than I would have expected.

Kegged second 5GAL day 16, cold crashed for 2 days.  Beer had a noticeable change to it's flavor...just not as fresh...hop profile dropped considerably, a slightly stale taste.

I kegged the third 5GAL after tasting the second.  

The second and third kegs still taste good, but there is something a little off that only I seem to be able to taste...others think it tastes great.

So, I've kind of concluded, to Pliny's point, that simpler recipes like the one are more suseptible to off flavors, where as stronger beers could mask some of the off flavors.

The next run of SMASH beer I make will be fermented for 7 days, then aged in a keg.  I won't be keeping it on the yeast cake for 2 weeks like I've been doing with other beers.

[jeffsmith]

Good to know jeff - was there a mix of forced and natural carbed, or did everyone keep the process the same?

There was a mix. Aside from that though, we tried to keep everything as similar as possible. We all used US-05 in the low 60's for fermentation to try to keep any esters out of the equation.

[Richard]

jeff: What would you say is the average number of years the participating members had been brewing?

[jeffsmith]

jeff: What would you say is the average number of years the participating members had been brewing?

That's a good question. Anywhere from 1-2 to 20+ I'd say.