Sunday, September 26, 2010

Smashed

O HAI

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Kegged: 100801 Smash Mouth Volume 1


You may recall that last month's only batch was a SMaSH - Single Malt and Single Hop - that used domestic two-row and Cascade hops. I brewed it on August 13 and finally got around to kegging it today. I think the wait was worth it.

I had hit it with gelatin after two weeks, fully intending to keg it and have it around for Labor Day weekend. Well, I traveled the week before Labor Day so I didn't keg then. Instead, I just cranked the thermostat on the fermentation freezer to lower the temp to 38 F as a cold-crashing exercise, with the intention of kegging the following weekend.

I was hoping to get a really clean, really clear brew, and I think cold conditioning it for three weeks has actually done that. The taste of the gravity sample was really crisp, and I could definitely appreciate the flavor nuances that the Cascade brought. Plus, it's easily the clearest beer I have made to date.

The final gravity was 1.009, as planned, giving an ABV of 4.43%, a little higher than the estimated 4.16% due to the .002 higher OG.

I have this carbonating right now and am really looking forward to drinking and sharing it. Maybe this is the one that the casual drinkers will like. Or maybe not - doesn't matter, I like it.