I put in for a drawing at my LHBS and won 50 lbs of 2 row malt. I don’t normally use a lot of 2 row malt. I was thinking maybe brewing some smash beers. Anyone got some favorite smash recipes they wouldn’t mind sharing that use 2 row malt
Search the phrase “Smash with 2 row” in your favorite search engine. I saw plenty of awesome recipes. One I’d like to try is 2 row with Cascade.
Technically not a SMASH but I just did an all centennial IPA with 10#s 2 row and 1# c40. It’s really good.
Try Citra!!! Re-brewing this right now.
personally I think 2 row is to blah for smash, I prefer munich 
If you don’t mind a few experimental batches you can just do a few trial brews. I did some one gallon batches from different water sources (ex: city, well, filtered) to show people how they affect particular styles of beer. I used 2 pounds of 2-row and 0.5 ounces of Styrian Goldings and some of them weren’t that bad.
Why do you want to do a SMASH? What are your objectives?
A recipe for a SMASH?!
What kind of 2-row? I like the flavor of Rahr.
My impression was that it’s for the learning experience…
Good article in the most recent issue of BYO about SMASH beers.
Thanks for the replys guys. I have look up smash recipes with 2 row found a ton of them. Danny that sounds like a good ipa I brewed one few years back and used caramunich instead of crystal 40 that was atasty beer. Now my objective brewing a few simple smash beers is that I tend to work mostly on German beer styles and Irish stouts and porters and Belgian beers that I thought few simple recipes easy to drink beers around the house that’s cheap and easy. I also saw that smash article in byo good article.
My impression was that it’s for the learning experience…[/quote]
It is that, indeed.
But it can also result in an outstanding brew. Simpler can at times be much better than the muddled confusion that complicated recipes try to achieve in the name of ‘complexity’.
A SMASH I first brewed last year has become my preferred ‘house ale’, actually replacing a far more complicated ‘house ale’ recipe that I’ve been brewing for 35 years.
I think it was Denny who said “Simpler is better…except when it’s not”.
My impression was that it’s for the learning experience…[/quote]
Yes, but what are you trying to learn? That would be useful to know in order to help with recipe suggestions.
Professor what is your house ale?
Technically, I actually have two.
My ‘everyday’ house ale (which per my previous post is now a very simple brew) is a fairly straightforward English style Bitter of average strength (nominally 5% ABV) and a comparatively conservative bitterness (variably averaging around 40 to 45 IBU). The 2-row malt is whatever I can get my hands on for a good price…the hops are always Cluster.
My other one is a traditional, well aged (for 1 year) IPA, an homage to the 1960s’ /1970s iteration of Ballantine IPA I enjoyed during my college years (see my avatar picture). That one is copper colored, around OG 1.070, and 75 IBUs (like the original) in addition to being very aromatic.
Also like the original, I usually age it for up to a full year on a fairly small quantity of American oak chips (the chips serving as a substitute for the gigantic wooden aging tanks used at the original brewery in Newark, NJ).
2 row is a good base malt, but I don’t know that I would want to use it without anything else. Not much to it. If you want to use it to get to know malts, why not parcel it out into a few batches with one additional malt each? You’ll still get to know 2 row, but also get to know the other malts you add.
I agree. A smash with say MO or PA malt will make a decent smash. I think 2row won’t provide enough depth or complexity.
I too agree that don’t think 2 row is best malt for smash beers. I like to think that I know my malts pretty good. I have some years under my belt. I don’t really use a lot of 2 row being that I mainly brew german, Irish and Belgium beer styles. My idea of maybe useing the 2 row for smash beers is one is free 50lbs bag of it. Two most everything I been brewing is some what complex and some simple easy drinking cheap recipes with free 2 row malt. I been thinking one simple recipe 10 lbs 2 row 1/2 lb caramunich and 1 lbs clover honey and 1 oz of saaz 60 min and another 0z 45 minutes and using belle saison yeast.
I would tend to agree that 2-row is not a great choice for a SMASH beer unless you’re looking to make the beer interesting in another way, such as using a yeast with a lot of character or using an extra long (2 hour) boil to encourage more flavor development in the kettle.
That’s cool and the recipe is a great suggestion. But its not technically a SMASH. Anther good suggestion would be to use a little flaked barley and flaked maize and a neutral yeast.
