Single-Malt beers

Hi folks, I remember hearing some folks talk about single malt beers.

Are they worth doing?  I’m think 25 lbs of Maris for a 10 gallon batch.

Or is it just goofy?

Definitely not goofy. IMO there is no better way to get a true sense of the flavor profile of a malt than doing a single malt beer. My Bohemian Pils is 100% Weyermann Floor Malted BoPils malt and its great!

Youll also frequently hear SMaSH mentioned. Single malt and single hop. These can be very fun to do to get a great feel for a certain hop and malt. Im actually planning an all Maris Otter/Simcoe hop SMaSH.

SMaSH beers are great. Go ahead and try it.

If you look up Randy Mosher’s Dragon’s Blood October beer recipe you’ll find that it is comprised of 15.5 lbs of Maris Otter and 7 oz. Kent Goldings for a 5 gal batch. I haven’t made this one yet but, it’s in my schedule, It’s a Mosher recipe so it can’t be bad.

I’d say maybe they’re worth it.  They’re definitely a great way to learn ingredient flavors.  Sometimes they make a good beer, sometimes they come off as boring and one dimensional to me.  You just need to give it a try and see for yourself.

I think it depends upon what you are looking for as a final result.  I agree that it can come off one-dimensional, unless you are brewing a BoPils with the appropriate malt like Jason which is also in line with the style guidelines.

Experimentation is part of why we do this hobby, no?

Dave

I’m with Denny, I generally don’t love SMaSH beers.  I like the idea of SM or SH separately, but if you want to explore hop flavors you don’t need to go with a single malt, just go with a basic pale ale recipe that you like.  Same with malt, if you want to get a sense for it go with a basic recipe that is lightly hopped to let the malt shine through.

I like my SMaSH barley wine! munich and fuggles. Course the hops are only at the begining of a 2 hour boil so I’m not sure it really matters what kind it is.

I am semi-planning a SWaSH beer with half a sack of wheat malt and ??? hops (havn’t decided yet, maybe saaz?)

Thanks everyone.  I’ve got 30 gallons of various things fermenting right now for NHC, so it’ll be a couple weeks until there’s room in my freezer/fermenting chamber.  But, I think I’ll try a Maris Otter Single malt, with Comet bittering, and Cascade aroma.  If your coming to NHC, you may be able to tell me how bad it is…  LOL

Tettnang!

I kind of think these are silly, but for a different reason than a lot of others.

To me, a single malt beer is a regular thing.  My Pils is 100% Pilsner Malt, my British Summer Ale is 100% Maris Otter, and I make a Dunkel that is 100% Weyermann Dark Munich.

They are all delicious, interesting beers, not novelties.

I have a lot of Simcoe I need to use up, thanks for the idea.

Do it!  I made one last year and it turned out great.  5 oz of Simcoe,  1 oz. at 60, 45 10, 0, and dry hop.

I agree. I make “single-malt” beers all the time - Kolsch, Pilsner, Saison. I mean wasn’t this the way beer was made before specialty malts anyways? (of course most of the malt was probably burned and brown ;))

IMO, Single Malt beers are where “fancy” malts like Maris Otter really shine. Since it usually costs me ~$35 for a sack of Great Western 2-row or Northwest Pale Ale malt and $80+ for a sack of anything from Europe, I rarely use the fancy stuff. But when I do, I keep it simple - single malt (or nearly single-malt, I sometimes do a 90-96% MO and 4-10% British Crystal 65L Bitter or ESB). I have never understood people using MO or other like hops for big hoppy beers, but to each his own.

I started using Golden Promise after drinking an IPA from Drydock made with Golden Promise. It won some award for something or other. I don’t really see a reason other than cost not to use good pale malt if the recipe calls for pale malt.

Part of it IS cost - I prefer not to spend more money than necessary. But the big thing is that I just don’t care for a strong toasty flavor in my hoppy beers when I can detect them. And usually those toasty flavors get lost in a massively hop-focused beer (in which case the extra cost was for nought). But when they are noticeable, I find them distracting. That’s why my preference for hop-centric beers is to use domestic 2-row (preferably Great Western).

I have been enjoying this discussion and thank everyone for their input.  Currently just put my 5th AG batch to ferment, an oatmeal stout that has 9 different grains in the bill.  Also have been reading Tess and Mark Szamatulski’s Clone Brews where I find many beers made with a primary grain and only one other specialty grain which I find very curious.  Keeping the bill simple but producing very different beers.  So I think my next beer will be a SMaSH just for the education of malt and hop flavors.  Anyone have a good starter SMaSH for someone who is new to the AG brewing?  I have done a scottish ale, porter and a cream ale from my own recipes which turned out fine from my biased opinion but also all liked by my wife, neighbors and co-workers.  Just bottled a pale ale so I have to wait and see how it did.

That is the single best advice I can give for people who want to make their own recipes. Add ingredients with purpose, not “just because.” You’d be amazed at how complex a beer can taste with only one or two kinds of malt. I think often too many competing flavors detract from the finished product.

Thanks nateo.  As I moved into AG, I started trying to copy various commercial beers with my own blend of what I could find on the internet.  Like BJ’s PM Porter.  Their website, as most brewer’s, gives the main list of ingredients but no proprotions, so I look at other porters to get an idea of %'s for each grain.  But I was never sure which grain was doing what.  Now I will back up and start basic recipes, learn the flavors and move up from there.

I got started in this from a friend at work, did 3 partial mash kits and then jumped into AG as he does.  Glad I made that move.  Now I have a keggle and a 10 gal Gott cooler mash tun; will build another keggle soon.

If I want to stay with the fuller beer profiles like a scottish ale, what would anyone recommend on the type of grain to try first?  A british pale 2-row, MO, or something else.

Thanks!