AG no.2 - Challenger/Munich SMASH

[Alastair70]

First of a series of SMASH's planned to get a feel for ingredients.

Mash
Crisp Light Munich Malt (Get 'er Brewed) 2kg
5L Strike water (alkalinity 35ppm - Ca 150ppm)
Mash Temp: 65C
Mash time: 90 mins (however, ended up sitting in tun overnight due to unplanned events)
Mash out: none

Boil
Boil Time: 60 mins
Challenger pellets

18.2g - 60 mins
4.5g - 30 mins
4.5g - 15 mins​

Protoflac tab - 15mins

Fermentation
White Labs California Ale Yeast HBWLP001
OG 1.050


What went well
Starter worked a treat
Hit expected OG
Got something into fermenter despite interruptions

What didn't
Cheap magnetic stirrer bought on eBay had European plug, but lots of flask swirling seemed to do the trick instead.
Timing interruptions might compromise process yeast efficiency, it was going a dinger on the evening I had planned to pitch.

 

[Alastair70]

A couple of days in and it’s al gone a bit quiet on the fermentation front. SG fell from 1.050 to 1.030 in the first 48 hrs so there has been some activity. Going to leave it for a week and recheck SG, see if things have moved on there own.

 

[matt76]

Yep, that sounds familiar - goes like the clappers for 1-3 days and then all stop - one of my FVs is particularly like this, whereas the others at least keep giving the occasional bubble.

Leave it alone, it'll be fine - I've just got used to the idea now that once I've pitched my yeast I just have to forget about it for absolute minimum 2 weeks, and ideally 3. And at the end, all will be well.

Sounds like an interesting recipe, will be interested to know how it turns out - just bottled a pale ale of my own using (I think) 20% Munich.

 

[Alastair70]

A week of ignoring the fermenter has done the trick. Despite no real action in the airlock, SG is down to 1.014. I had a kit that did this a few years ago too. Going to leave for another 7-10 days before bottling.
I drank the contents of the tasting jar (obviously). Hard to comment on colour, very cloudy but looks like it’s heading for a dark gold. Taste is what I was hoping for, the bitterness is spot on balancing a light caramely sweetness at the current 4.5% alcohol level. The challenger hops give a hint of green tea and spice and could be more pronounced. Unfortunately I’ve none left or I’d have dry hopped for the last couple of days of fermentation.

 

[Alastair70]

2 weeks of bottle conditioning and a 250ml taster got cracked open tonight. Despite the lack of head, it was effervescent. More careful pouring would have produced a clearer glass. Colour is a deep amber. Not much aroma of the challenger but taste is pretty close to what I was expecting. Hitting 5% ABV helped balance the malty sweetness of the Munich and bittering levels were just about right for my palate.
Will definitely do a 20l brew, but will tweek things a bit. Dry hopping will let the Challenger stand out against the malt a bit more and I'll maybe up the proportions in the final addition in the boil too.
All in all, I'm pretty chuffed with it. Next up, I'm off for Easter and the Pumped Up APA kit from Get er Brewed will be featuring later this week.

 

[Zephyr259]

I missed this originally, Munich challenger smash sounds great! Kind of a pseudo Munich dunkel. I'd agree that a dry hop is in order for more aroma, but a 0-5 min addition would also help. Head will probably get better over the next few weeks, mine often do and I find Munich also conditions a bit slower than pale malt.