I am thinking about doing my first SMaSH beer. I think I will go with MO as the malt but I am undecided on the hop. I was thinking amarillo or east kent. Shooting for 1.052 OG and 30-40 IBUs.
I also drank my first Marzen at an Oktoberfest celebration last week and that was awesome. I think it is my new favorite beer. I am going to plan a Marzen for the end of the year since I don’t brew in the winter and my equipment will be sitting anyway.
So I have also been thinking about doing a Munich smash. Any hop suggestions for Munich? Do you think you could produce something similar to a Marzen via a SMash beer that doesnt take as long to be ready?.
As far as yeast I was thinking something clean like American Ale. Any suggestions?
The whole point of doing a SMaSH beer is generally to taste test a particular malt and/or hop. So go with whatever you’re most interested in. EKG’s would be a pretty standard choice with MO. I’d go with WY1968 for your yeast if you go that route.
For a Munich SMaSH, I’d go with something noble like Tettnang or Hallertau, or maybe a US equivalent like Mt Hood or Ultra.
If you want to brew a “Mocktoberfest”, I wouldn’t go the smash route. The best Marzen recipes I’ve tried use a combination of Pils, Vienna and Munich (some with a touch of Caramunich as well), and that really gives a nice malt backbone. If you want a good starting point, Jamil’s Ofest recipe from Brewing Classic Styles is a great place to start.
I make an English Pale Ale with just a 95% MO and 5% Crystal 20. Mash at 154. 1.055 OG. 1.012-1.014 FG. 40 ish IBU’s. The crystal is pretty much just for some body so you could use 100% MO. East Kent Goldings is the single hop. 90 minute boil, 2 oz EKG after the boil gets established, 1 oz at flame out. Steep for a bit then cool. Wyeast 1968 ESB Yeast. Great beer.
I think if I were going to do a Munich based SMaSH I’d go with Hallertauer Mittelfreuh. Thats a damn fine hop right there. Noble, if you will. If your in a hurry, I’d go with WY1007 or your favorite German lager yeast if you can be patient.
I brewed an IPA a few weeks ago and primarily used Citra. One charge of Centennial to bitter and the rest was Citra. I cheated a bit for a SMaSH, but the Citra was great!