First BIAB brew - Will this SMASH be good?

[Lionman]

I'm going to do my first BIAB soon after doing quite a few batches of extract.

Was going to keep it relatively simple for my first one so I thought a SMASH IPA would be interesting.

Was planning something along the lines of...

20L
6KG WY Munich I
20g Brooklyn @ 60mins
20g Brooklyn @ 20mins
60g Brooklyn Dry Hopped
US-05

OG - 1.061
FG - 1.011
IBU - 62.8
ABV - 6.6

Will this be good?

Cheers

 

[BrosysBrews]

I would be worried that there is not enough malt profile (choc, crystal, carra) to balance that bitterness. I would drop the 60min addition to 5-10g and move the 20min addition to the cube if no chilling or maybe 10 min or even whirlpool if chilling. It all comes down to personal taste but thats my 2 cents anyway. I would suggest that less is more at this stage for the IBU and increase as you learn. Aim for about 25 for now IMO

 

[mtb]

If it's your first all-grain brew, I reckon you ought to go with a tried & true recipe like Dr Smurto's Golden Ale or, if you're really after an IPA recipe, go Googling.

While you wait for the batch of DSGA to ferment/condition/carb etc, you can brew an experimental batch like your SMaSH above. That way, if it fails, you still have tasty beer!

 

[Lionman]

I must admit brewing a 25IBU ale doesn't excite me that much. I prefer bigger beers but maybe the proposed hop bill is pushing it a bit far for the modest malt profile.

An IPA should be closer to .8 bitterness ratio rather than 1. An IBU of around 50 would put the brew closer to on par with the style.

Would the Munich have much body? It seems pretty highly fermentable so maybe not. I'm lead to believe it's a bit maltier than a pale malt though.

I'm not shy of hop forward ales.

Maybe this might be a bit better

20g Brooklyn @ 60mins
10g Brooklyn @ 20mins
70g Brooklyn Dry Hopped

IBU - 51

Also, plenty of grog on tap!

 

[mtb]

Munich malt has a generally lower diastatic power, ~40% lower than 2-row, according to this source - although I'm not sure how credible it is. Since I rarely see recipes calling for 100% (or even 50% and over) Munich I'd say it's best to wind back the Munich and use some nice easy pale malt as your base, and have 30% Munich if you already bought the stuff and need to use it.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Yep it will be good. Go with your original recipe. It will be a good baseline. 100% munich will be plenty of malt for 65 IbU.

 

[Lionman]

I realise I need to now think about diaststic power when mashing but from what I have read, the WY munich is fine. Manufacture quotes up to 100% of grain bill is ok.

A slightly dryer, bitter, fruity, aromatic IPA is what I'm after.

Thanks for the responses. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[manticle]

Munich has enough diastatic power to self convert.

Have a crack if you want a big SMASH and tweak to taste next time depending on results.

 

[contrarian]

I reckon a smash is a great first beer to brew. Not familiar with the hops but when I make IPAs I aim for about half the IBUs at 60 minutes and the rest from later additions.

I'm guessing your selected hops is high AA% so this approach would work well.

If you are chilling split the late hops between 15 and flame out and if you are no chilling split them between flame out and the cube.

Your first brew is about getting to know your system so don't worry too much about hitting numbers but make sure you measure everything. Especially volume and gravity so you can learn what you lose to grain and boil off. This will help you get consistency in the future.

I'm sure whatever you make will taste awesome!

 

[Coodgee]

Why brooklyn though? Is it a hop you particularly like? Personally i don't rate it.

 

[Lionman]

I reckon a smash is a great first beer to brew. Not familiar with the hops but when I make IPAs I aim for about half the IBUs at 60 minutes and the rest from later additions.

I'm guessing your selected hops is high AA% so this approach would work well.

If you are chilling split the late hops between 15 and flame out and if you are no chilling split them between flame out and the cube.

Your first brew is about getting to know your system so don't worry too much about hitting numbers but make sure you measure everything. Especially volume and gravity so you can learn what you lose to grain and boil off. This will help you get consistency in the future.

I'm sure whatever you make will taste awesome!

Thanks for the advice. Yep, the hops are fairly potent at 17%AA. I was going to no-chill and I read that you move hop additions back 20mins to account for the extended time and high temp. When I say 20mins, I take that as flameout.

There is a whole lot of new stuff I need to worry about now so part of the plan was, keep the grain and hop bill simple and I can focus on the process more.

Why brooklyn though? Is it a hop you particularly like? Personally i don't rate it.

Not sure to be honest. I haven't used them before, there's only one one to find out.

Wanted to experiment with some NZ hops. The listed flavours/aromas sound interesting, although there are some mixed reviews coming through the interwebz about them.

I won't know if I like it till I try it.

 

[kocken42]

Let me know what you think of the hops.

I think your recipe looks fine. As you said there is only one way to find out, and you don't break any boundaries by copying what everyone else is saying.

I used Brooklyn in my last brew teamed up with Citra. I think the Brooklyn is a far more modest hop. Less in your face. The bitterness is nice too. I also think the hop is complex enough to work well alone. Sometimes we get carried away with all the tropical fruits. The Brooklyn brings a nice spice touch, and more melon character imho.

Good luck.

 

[Lionman]

My mill finally arrived so I will put this one down on the weekend.

 

[Lionman]

I finally put my first AG batch down and it's in the cube.

I built an electric mill by installing the $20 ebay mill into a 20L bucket and ran it with my cordless drill. It ate the malt with ease. I got a bit too carried away though and ended up with 7.2KG of milled Munich. The kids were having a bit too much fun pouring cups of grain into the hopper.

Mashed in at 68c for 60mins, Mashed out at 73c for 10mins. Ended up with sweet wort, so that's a good sign!

To offset the increased OG, I upped the cube addition of Brooklyn to 30g.

I ended up with a 23L cube full of wort at 17 brix, or around 1.070 SG. Hopefully it's a tasty IPA, 6.8% ABV. 66IBU.

Depending on how much wort I lose to the hops/trub in the cube I'm looking at around 70% efficiency which isn't too bad I think. I think next time I will do two small batch sparges instead of I big one, that will help bump it up a bit.

I did it in the kitchen and this made an almighty mess. I can see why people do it outside, can't hose down the kitchen.

Planning on pitching 2 packets of US05 tonight if the cube is cool enough. I should have saved a bit of the crap from the bottom of the kettle to make a starter, I'll remember that for next time.

 

[Lionman]

Just an update, first all grain batch is delicious.

The wife is drinking too much of it which is a good sign it's pretty good.

The beer is bitter at first, then sweet and fruity, more citrus but a hint of tropical, with a slightly dry, spicy finish. It's quite bitter but reasonably well balanced.

I wouldn't hesitate in brewing it again. Definitely the closest I have got any of my brews to a commercial standard.

I measured again at pitching and it was more like 16 Brix or about 1.065. It fermented to 7 Brix or around 1.011 corrected in under a week. Ended up with a bit under 7.5%ABV.

 

[Lionman]

Loving this brew.

 

[mtb]

It sure looks the part. Well done