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So, I’ve been feeling the urge to do something rather basic for a brew. Something to highlight the complexity possible from a very simple recipe. A batch using just one grain, and just one hop, fermented as far as the yeast will take it. A quick search of the various brewing bulletin boards (such as my favorite, the Green Board) showed that I wasn’t the first to think of such a thing. They call it “SMaSH” brewing–Single Malt and Single Hop. The predominant brew for this seems to be Scottish Ales, but there are others. At least one person did an all-Munich Malt brew (which would be yummy); there was one I recall that focused on Golden Promise malt. Hops seemed to be whatever was available and to the brewer’s taste; yeast likewise.
In considering this for my next Brew Day (the 25th of this month), I’m looking at what I have on hand. While I’ve got some Saaz hops, I think I’ll save those, and use some Nugget–it’s stronger, so I won’t have to use as much for a balanced bitterness. The malt is a no-brainer; I just picked up a sack of Pils malt. Where to go with the yeast is really the question. Pils malt with a single hop looks a lot like your standard Pilsner-style lager, but where’s the fun in that, really? I mean, there’s a whole world of yeast to explore. Any suggestions from you, my loyal reader(s)?