I’m not dead. In fact, I made some beer this week and have lots more beer I need to make, but that’s talk for another time. This time, I’ve got a SMaSH (single malt single hop) beer going that’s going to be an IPA with Equinox hops. I’ve seen mixed things about the relatively new hop. Apparently there’s some aggressive green pepper perceivable to some, so I’m going to see if I can detect it at an unpleasant level before using it in other beers.

Vienna Equinox SMaSH Ingredients:

Malt

100% – Vienna

Hops

0.2 oz / 1.5 gal – Equinox @ 60 minutes

0.4 oz / 1.5 gal – Equinox @ 10 minutes

0.4 oz / 1.5 gal – Equinox @ 0 minutes

(note: This equates to 0.7oz and 1.4oz in 5 gallon increments)

Yeast

Danstar Nottingham Dry

SG / FG / ABV

1.053 / 1.011 / 5.5%









Overnight:

The SMaSH beer with equinox hops and vienna malt is off to the races. I’ll bottle it up at two weeks and condition it another week or so before testing it out for a hop profile.

1.5 Weeks

Gravity is on the equinox SMaSH IPA is down to 1.011 That puts the ABV at 5.5%. I have this cold crashing for 3-4 days before I bottle it. Right now the aroma is a subdued fruitiness that keeps it from being perceived as sweet. The very green beer has a punchy bitterness with a fruity flavor. There is some green pepper, but it’s not in your face in this case.

3 Weeks

Bottled, carbed, and drinking. I didn’t get any of the noted green pepper in the final beer. What I perceived was a pine-like bitterness with a generic “tropical fruit drink” type of aroma. The Vienna malt created a nice sweetness to it without being over the top. It’s a great malt to use at high levels if you don’t plan on using any crystal. Next up is either a rye IPA with galaxy hops or another all Vienna beer with mixed hops.

What are some of your favorite SMaSH combos? Let me know in the comments.

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