Smoty Ale

[John]

I was considering making a dark ale next and came accross your recipe for the Smoty Ale:

 

Ingredients

\u2022 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale beer kit

\u2022 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale beer kit

\u2022 10g East Kent Golding pellets \u2013 15 mins

\u2022 20g East Kent Golding pellets \u2013 steep

\u2022 Both sachets of yeast or ale yeast of your choice

 

Luke had an idea to steep some Chocolate malt with another Dark Ale recipe. Post

 

Mmm - speciality grains - haven't tried that yet - so interest level rising :)

 

My question is whether this would complement the Smoty Ale and if so how much would you suggest be added?

[PB2]

Specialty grains can always give that little extra something.

However, I'm all for making a recipe as suggested, tasting the result and then deciding how you might tweak it.

[BenT1]

Save the specialty grains for another brew, The smoty Ale comes out deliciously as it is, I think its well worth trying without tweaking.

[John]

Thanks boys - you've convinced me - stop teasing the recipes ;)

[Trusty1]

Has anyone (PB2) divulged the secrets behind the naming of SMOTY yet? Specialty Malt Of The Year?

 

Trusty

 

[John]

I've just spent some productive work time doing a search on Google.

 

Smoty

 

a verb meaning doing something perverted.

 

 

Sh!tty Mother of the Year

 

Sud Maker of the Year

 

Specialist Moderator of the year

 

 

[Muddy Waters]

Still waiting on the meaning of SMOTY ale. I believe all will be divulged in the April newsletter. I felt pretty confident that I had worked it out but I've so long waiting all my confidence has disappeared.

 

This recipe sounds pretty good pretty good but I'm trying to clear out my other hops supplies before I give it a crack. Has anybody got any suggestions for using the remaining East Kent Golding hops I will no doubt have when I get around to doing the SMOTY? I've never used them.

[BenT1]

I bought a 50g bag for the SMOTY, and used the remainder in my next brew. Real Ale with 1kg Brew Enhancer 1, literally just threw them in the fermenter with the sugar. Brew turned out really good though, good fresh hop flavour and aroma, an all round nice beer. Next time I think I'll put them in a hop bag because my little bottler got clogged a couple of times while bottling.

[patricke]

hey im relitivly new to brewing ! just wondering what abv the using 2 cans like the smoty would give and then perhaps with half a kilo of brewing suger or brew enhancer? thanks

[PB2]

2 cans and nothing else, to 23litres, then secondary fermented with priming sugar might yield about 5.2%ABV.

[John]

Not sure if I have missed the April Newsletter or not (the wife hogs the home pc that gets the emails atm)

 

Still pretty curious what SMOTY stands for - my first batch of SMOTY Ale should be ready to bottle later this week. (SG was down to 1014 on Saturday - made following recipe)

[Muddy Waters]

You haven't missed the newsletter John. We are all (or at least I am) eagerly awaiting the answer. I was feeling confident when I entered the competition but because the comp is going on for so long my confidence has left me. I still reckon I'm close though - If I picked the clue in the recipe correctly.

[AnnM]

I was going to do a Smoty Ale tonight but there was no Pale Ale left in the supermarket, so I've got a can of Lager instead. Do you think this would work OK with the Dark Ale?

[John]

PB2 would be the guru to ask - I've wondered the same thing myself as our LHBS charged $28 for a Can of Aus Pale Ale wheras our local supermarket sells the regular Coopers kits for around $12 each.

 

The little that I have heared (all heresay - don't trust my knowledge - I'm a newbie) is that the Coopers Lager will be the same colour but slightly bitterer than the APA but only by about 2-3 IBU. I believe that the SMOTY is around 51 IBU so it may not make a large difference on bitterness.

 

Regarding flavour /hops / malt differences I wouldn't have the foggiest.

 

 

Hopefully Paul could advise.

 

[PB2]

Lager could be used as a substitute for Pale Ale. The differences between the two - bitterness, wheat malt, and the yeast.

 

We always urge brewers to try the recipe first, taste the result then make tweaks from there.

[AnnM]

Thanks Paul. Which one has the wheat malt - PA or Lager? And I thought the Lager came with an ale kit yeast? No? Ann

[PB2]

Our Australian Pale Ale beer kit contains wheat malt (less than 10%) and it also has a lager/ale yeast blend.

[John]

Hi All

 

My SMOTY (or AMOTY Ale cause I'm brewing it in April) is ready for bottling - has been steady around 1013 since the weekend. I( followed the recipe - the only change was using NZ Golding (AAH 5.5)

 

It does seem very bitter for my tastebuds. I can smell the malts in the glass but they are concealed behind the bitterness when tasting.

 

How long would it take for the bitterness to reduce in the bottle. Is there anything else

I can do to bring the malt flavours forward/reduce the bitterness slightly before I bottle or am I just tasting too prematurely?

 

Is the recipe meant to be so bitter or did I fudge something when I made it?

 

What has been other's expereince with the recipe?

[PB2]

I published a formula for calculating estimated bitterness in our FAQs.

 

Australian Pale Ale is 340IBU

Dark Ale is 590IBU

 

 

 

The final bitterness, from the two kits, will proabably be around the 50IBU mark.

 

Then add bitterness extracted from the hops. More bitterness is extracted from the hops if simmered for longer...

 

The good news - bitterness softens over time in the bottle (months rather than weeks).

[Trusty1]

G'day Paul.

The recipe suggests both packs of yeast, or cultured yeast. I have cultured yeast from 2 longnecks of Coopers Pale Ale as per instructions (somewhere on here). As I will be using two kits, do I need to double up on the cultured yeast? If yes i might use the cultured stuff and 1 pack from the kit? Okydoky?

[PB2]

If your yeast culture is at least 500ml and active, it should be sufficient to ferment the brew. If you are not sure, add the dry yeast as well.

[Trusty1]

Thanks Paul, should I be expecting a gusher with this brew? Maybe only fill to 18L initially?

 

[PB2]

It didn't foam too severely for me, using the kit yeast. But better safe than sorry...

[Trusty1]

of course, it is so obvious once you are told, everyone knows that February is the SMOTY (not the second but the shortest).

 

I brewed this 2 nights ago with hops as advised and recultured CPA yeast. For some reason I also added 1.5 tbspn of molasses - I am having an alcohol free week, it might be affecting my judgement! I filled to just under 23 litres and just to make Muddy not so cruddy, I ditched the fermenter lid and used cling wrap (NO AIR LOCK). I didn't take an OG, but last night after 24 hrs Hydro said 1045. tasted pretty good, a little sweet. Yeast is doing it's job. I have no active temp control.

 

Paul - will the sweetness ferment out - I'm guessing it's from the molasses?

 

Thanks

[PB2]

Hmmm, second and shortest both start with 'S' - who would have forseen that??

 

Hopefully I can make the next competition as obtuse and ambiguous...

 

 

 

That small amount of molasses would be lost amongst the two cans.

 

Your recipe has two cans, containing malt extract as the main ingredient (it's sweet), and an amount of bitterness from hops. It's unfermented sugars that you are tasting, the same sugars metabolised by yeast producing alcohol, CO2 and other bi-products.

 

Let the yeast do the work and then judge the beer.