From an older thread... I am hoping to be doing AG by early next year. I was thinking of doing basically the same thing, but more as a way to get the process down. What base grain would you use? Maris otter? What equipment would you start with as a new AG brewer? Links? I have more of an idea as to how to manipulate a hop bill than a grain bill. But of course I will need to optimize the process in the beginning moreso than search for a source of elaborate recipes (there are tons of recipes). This is why I am considering starting with some smash beers when I first start. Of course every detail will be fully blogged in my blog along the way. I was honestly thinking of doing either a five or ten gallon system* and optimizing my process with some simple pale ales for the first ?? batches. I think pale ales would be best, as they have room for experimentation with hops, but are simple and of course damn tasty. Advice, links, ridicule or anything you care to add that you think would be helpful welcome. *the exact system I start with may depend somewhat on opportunity as much as price
Hard to go wrong with M.O. Flavorful enough that your beer won't be boring, but it won't step all over your hops. I'd recommend building a mash tun from a chest cooler. (Coleman XTremes are great.) It's a cheap way to go, and bigger isn't much more expensive than smaller. The plans I used for mine seem to be gone (from the web) now. But google 'coleman xtreme mash tun' and you'll find a lot of info. I'd build a tun bigger than you think you'll need. Because you may outgrow it, or you may get into higher gravity brews, or you may want to experiment with 'no sparge' techniques. If you are already doing full boil 5 gallon (extract) batches, then you already have a boil pot big enough to get started with 5 gallon AG batches. In that case, I'd build the tun big, and start with 5 gallon batches with the existing pot. Then upgrade the pot later if needed.
[ What base grain would you use? Maris otter? I've been using a lot of NA Pale Ale Malt lately as a base...somewhere between MO and dometic light 2 row. The Gambrinus ESB malt is my favorite, but the other NA Pale Ale Malts seem to also clear better than MO and provide a little toast to regular ole 2 Row...oh...and it's a lot cheaper than MO.
I have found that I really like the flavor that Vienna brings to my SMaSH beers. As far as equipment goes, as VikeMan said above I would start with a chest cooler as a mash tun. If you already have a boil kettle big enough to do full boils then there is no need to run out and buy a new kettle right now, if you don't then you will need to get one that is around 7.5 - 10 gallon to do 5 gallon batches. Aluminum vs. Stainless is a hotly debated topic on this site, but I have been using an aluminum kettle for several years now and have seen no issues at all.
Whenever I do smash recipes I usually let the "style" dictate the base malt. I am a big fan of British beers (pale ales, ipas, bitters, etc...) so I often use Maris Otter when I do that type. Remember the hop varieties where cultivated to go well with certain malts. With a small amount of research you can usually come up with good pairing ideas. However, the point of a smash beer (at least for me) is to experiment. So don't be afraid. My advice is just keep fairly good notes about likes and dislikes. Its usually pretty easy to figure out if a flavor was a result of hops or malt. So once you've figured out what you like, you can build some great recipes based on manufacturers description (don't feel like you have to taste everything).
Great responses! A bigger boil kettle is my next investment, because I need one even for the extract batches I'll be doing for the rest of this year. Right now my kettle is just a little too small, and I have to top off with water. Not that I'm complaining though, I'm pretty happy with my results so far. However, I must progress to the next level! I do keep good notes on my blog. Everything will be published as it happens!
I typically do mine for experimentations sake, but have made some nice, balanced beers in the process. You don't need to limit yourself to a particular malt (Unless buying in bulk) or hop (Ditto); just starting trying them if you want to understand how they work in a beer. If you have extra or small carboys you can also start trying out a bunch of different yeast strains in the process to further expand. One thing of note thats worth exploring is looking at maltster to maltster variance in the flavor profile of the grain; just because its Marris Otter doesn't mean it will perform the same if bought from Crisp versus Muntons versus Simpsons, etc. (Bias note here, I like Marris Otter). Regarding equipment, I'm a big fan of direct fire mash tuns (I found them easier for step mashes, especially if you're prone to miscalculating/over/undershooting your infusion temps) ... If you want to slowly build up equipment, you could pick up a 15 gallon kettle w/ ball valve and thermometer (Or a keggle) to use as a boil and Brew in a Bag Kettle, and then buy a second kettle down the road for a dedicated mash tun.
I'm about ready to, but not in a hurry at all to purchase pieces of equipment. The idea is to be ready by next year. Thus, I'm kind of searching around in a slacker-esque manner for the moment, hoping the obvious choice presents itself.
True, but I don't do enough step mashes to make a direct-fire mash tun seem necessary...I'll take the "Fischer Price" diatribes from my brew buddies and be very happy with my cooler mash tun.
Do you recirculate yours? Is it a must too? FWIW I have a RIMS. Still trying to figure why at times I have poor flow, but that's another issue. But when I have poor flow temp regulation becomes very poor.
The other thread where you saw that was mine! I ended up buying 10lbs of Maris Otter and 10lbs of American 2-row. I'm gonna do them with Cascade and Citra, respectively, since I'm a huge fan of fruitier/citrus pale ales. I recommend a 10gallon cooler mash tun if you ever plan on moving to higher gravity stuff. I'm fine with my 5gallon for now and I don't really see myself moving on but that's something to consider.
Yeah make sure to either post your techniques/recipes/results or PM me and we'll compare notes. Everything I do will be documented in my blog, of course.
These are the recommendations I got for both: 10lbs mashed at 155, add 1oz. hops at 60, 10, 0 with optional 2oz dry hop.
