Beer Forum

Strongly considering a SMaSH for my first all grain batch this weekend. NOTE: 3.5 gallon batch!

Basic recipe:

6 lbs Maris otter
0.5 oz willamette 60 min
1 oz willamette 7 min
1 oz willamette 0 min
1 oz willamette dry hop
US-05

targets

1.047 OG
34.2 IBU
4.9% ABV

I want a very light, easy drinking, easy to brew, lightly hoppy, simple pale ale.

Will this do it?

Here's a link to the full exact procedure and more detail than you probably want, lol.

I'm pretty set on keeping this first brew a SMaSH. I can still adjust the recipe (hops or water), but I will be using 6 lbs of maris otter for the grain.

Looks good

Looks good to me, but that those ingredients, I'd go the English route yeast wise. Wyeast 1968 or 1469, Nottingham at 65-66 with a warmer mash temp, or even Windsor at no more than a temp controlled 65f. Otherwise SMASH brews are great.

I'm kind of stuck with a 67-68F closet without temp controls (but it's very steady temperature, FWIW).

I have Us-05, US-04, and Nottingham to choose from. I get my stuff from mail as there's no LHBS, so I can't just run out and grab some yeast.

I've heard about fifty-seven bizzillion suggestions on yeast

But I will likely go with 05 simply because I have three of them available

With only 3.5 gallon batches I intend to brew more often, but smaller batches. So I'll improve my process fast, and if a batch doesn't come out that great, oh well, there's another one right around the corner.

Also, I've done enough batches of partial mash/extract now that I'm not terribly worried about ruining this batch. It'll be fine, or at least drinkable.

You've got the right idea! The recipe looks solid and should produce what you are looking for. Your first all grain batch of BEER!

just gone done, it went extremely well. OG was only off by two points! volumes and temps spot on. copious notes here

Congrats on a job well done! Now its time to brew up another batch to keep your pipeline running smoothly!

Congrats!

7.boiled the hops in the boil pot directly. need to find out if you can boil inside those nylon paint bags used for dry hopping, or if they’ll melt/leave bad flavors.

They will not melt nor will they leave bad flavors. I have done this a bunch of times. Tie the top of the bag using a slip knot so it's easy to open after the boil. Its a pain in the butt to clean the bags later, but it's one way to keep the hop debris out of your fermenter. Be sure to use big enough bags so that the hops will float around and not be compacted.

HTH-