Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

I recently was turned onto the new SMASH recipes.  Same Malt and Same Hop.  I had heard that it would show you the simplicity of the malt and then the hop, which makes sense.  Right?  But it would also bring out a different complexity. It allowed me to taste Marris Otter but mainly the new hop Saphir, which is a German hallertauer hybid with "a citrus" aspect.  Marris Otter is one of the best base malts out there, and I will say that it is better than standard 2-row, but with a minor impact. Saphir hops is interesting as it has the German hop smell with hints of lemon and cherry.  This is a good tool to understand the differences in hops, but not malt. I think the Marris Otter needs the compliments of Crystal 20L or even maybe some victory or honey malt added for this breed.  The Saphir can stand alone with the right multiple flavor additions.  I even dry hopped it, and still not much on the nose as I expected. I guess my point is that though SMASH recipes are good for research, but it is perhaps not something that is a great common recipe. Specialty malts help bring out the malt complexity of the base malt.  Multiple hop additions help compliment eachother in order to achieve the profile you are looking for.  I have learned something about both.  Marris Otter is more complex than 2-row, and Saphir hops can make an interesting blend with simcoe and amarillo.  I am not downgrading SMASH, but it allowed me to understand how important it is to add specialty malts and maybe add another hop or two to make this beer what it is capable of achieving. I even set my mash temps at 158 to drag out some sugars in the end, but even that wasn't much help.  SMASH is a good tool, but not a "must put on tap."

Cheers.  Let me know what you think.


Doc M.

I have only had one SMASH beer, which is one that Peter made a couple of years ago with Sarachi Ace and a base grain, of which I don't recall.  The resulting pale ale was very tasty and interesting enough to lead me to attempt a hefeweizen made with Sarachi Ace instead of German noble hops.  It turned out good and I would have never tried to use that hop without Peter's SMASH beer.

I recently made a SMASH beer and I love the results. I didn't originally intend on doing a SMASH, but it just happened to turn out that way. I bought some Mount Rainier hops based on the description that Hops Direct provided. Then I went searching for a recipe to use them in, and the one commercial beer that uses them was a special one-off that Rogue did a few years ago, Latona Ale.  As it turned out, Latona Ale uses only Mt. Rainier hops and 100% Special Aromatic malt for the malt bill (NOT the same as Belgian Aromatic!!!).  So I bought a sack of Special Aromatic malt from North Country for this recipe and because Denny Conn likes it, and brewed me up some Latona clone and pitched some Rogue PacMan yeast.  I never had the original beer, but I think this is fantastic stuff. You get all different dimensions of the particular hop used. I'm glad I bought the Special Aromatic. It's a terrific base malt, sort of vienna like but drier.  Beautiful dark golden color.  It's a pretty complex beer for being a SMASH. 

Who makes the special aromatic malt?  I am always looking to try new base malt, as my current favorite for English ales (Mutton's pale) I only tried because Ferm Trap was out of maris otter.

Malteries Franco-Belges (MFB) makes the special aromatic malt.  I got it from North Country Malt.  I'm not sure what other stores carry it. I did a quick search and saw that Rebel Brewer also carries it and you can buy by the pound.  It has a pretty limited availability though.  Here is a description:

Special aromatic malt: Specially produced for a few Belgian brewers. Selected Prisma or Nevada barley undergoes a particular process (strong sprouting and specific kilning with returning), which favors the development of a very regular aroma and the characteristics required for Belgian and other aromatic styles. Gives a pleasant aromatic taste, reinforced by a soft and mellow mouthfeel, and lends a slightly darker color to the beer. Highly modified and specially kilned. Grain is grown in the north of France and processed at the Prouvy plant. Odor of mash: very aromatic. Degree of clarity: clear. Rate of filtration: normal.