SMaSH Stout. Is it possible?

No.

 

What if you started with the "darkest" base malt you could find then scorched the ever-loving shit out of it? Or start with 10 gallons of wort and reduce it to 5 via boil off.

 

If you scorch the ever-loving shit out of it it's no longer the same malt. I asked the same thing about a beer I brew with 10% of the base malt toasted at 350F for 20 minutes.

 

I have never seen such a recipe. Possibly a historically accurate (whatever that would be) brown malt might work, but it seems unlikely that any modern/currently produced malt would work well.

 

Does roasting your own barley count?

 

I voted no. I don't know for sure, but it seems that a dark enough malt to look like a stout would have problems converting itself.

If you roasted/cooked a base malt dark enough to look like a stout, would it be able to convert itself or does the roasting process change the malt enough that it no longer has enough diastatic power? Anyone know the answer?

 

Dark roasting destroys the enzymes.

 

Just mucking about.

 

Thanks, that is what I was thinking would happen. Really need to get around to reading the "Malt" book.

 

By scortch I meant in the kettle. Similar to what happens when you let LME sink to the bottom with the flame on.

 

Kettle caramelizing has been brought up, and while under extreme circumstances, you may end up with the correct color, I don't think it'd be something that would taste like a stout, or something you'd like to drink, really. If you could still get brown malt with some available enzymes, you could pull it off, but unless you have access to a kiln and feel like malting some barley from scratch, I don't think its possible.

 

What, exactly is a smash beer?

 

Single Malt and Single Hop

 

How about 100% crisp brown malt which of course is not diastatic but then add enzymes to the mash? alpha and beta amylase can be bought. Anyone want to try ? (not me )

 

And apparently, by most people's definition, after-market modifications of the malt (e.g., darkening some of it in your oven - I don't know that you would really be able to create anything like a roasted malt this way, but then again, I never tried to achieve a dark roast this way).

@MrOH suggested it could have been done with the old-style brown malt that no one makes anymore. This sounds about right to me.

 

.how about Maris otter or dark Munich and fuggles, seems that could be called a smash, or am I missing something?

 

Sure, those would be SMaSH beers, but they wouldn't be stouts.

 

Gambrinus Malting's Munich Dark is the darkest malt that I know of with sufficient diastatic power to self-convert. At 30+ Lovibond, it could singlehandedly get you close to the color of a stout... but as several have already mentioned, color alone does not make a stout.

The whole point of SMaSH beers is simplicity. If you're trying to make a stout using SMaSH principles, perhaps you should consider setting limits. Use only one base malt, one crystal malt, and one black/roasted/chocolate malt. Compared to other stout recipes, this will allow you to evaluate individual ingredients' impact on the final product.