OnTap Magazine

RECIPE SMASH PALE ALE Nuts & bolts Batch size: 22 litres Target OG: 1.048 Target FG: 1.013 Target ABV: 4.5% Target IBUs: 38 ................................................................................................. Mash ingredients 4.25 kg Pale Malt 200 g Vienna Malt 145 g Acidulated Malt ................................................................................................. Boil ingredients 20 g Southern Passion @ 60 min 17 g Southern Passion @ 15 min 30 g Southern Passion @ 10 min ................................................................................................. Brewer tips Mash at 68°C for 60 minutes. Ferment at 18°C for 5 to 7 days using S04 yeast. This beer is special to me is as it was the beer we had to brew for our first club competition. I ended up in second or third place. I have changed it slightly over the years and it is not a true SMASH (Single Malt and Single Hop) anymore, but close. I love brewing it because it is a simple recipe and enjoyed by many of my friends. I have tried it with a few other hop varieties but always go back to Southern Passion. a few years and have been constantly adapting the recipes. It might not be the best example of a true to style Irish Red but is something I really like and always have some on tap. OT: What is your biggest brewing disaster? GG: My biggest actual brewing disaster was having a few “burnt” beers. I made a few beers where the electrical element had sediment settle on it and caused an extremely bad burnt taste in the beer. It was undrinkable and everyone in the club is still reminding me of this regularly. This also resulted in some of the long-standing members of the club referring to me as “Bosbrand”! I replaced the electrical element but soon had the same issue…I have since changed to gas. OT: Describe your system in a sentence. GG: I do brew in a bag. Very simple system. I changed from a plastic 70-litre drum with electrical element to a stainless steel vessel and gas a few years ago and use 22-litre plastic drums for fermenting. OT: Do you have any brew day quirks or traditions? GG: Nothing specific. I try not to start brewing with a beer in the hand but normally end up with one! I always lay out all my equipment and ingredients in order of use on my counter before I start. I like to have things as organised as possible. OT: What would be your ultimate clone? GG: As I mentioned, I love my Belgian beers. I had a Leffe Ruby at the monastery outside Dinant in Belgium and really enjoyed it. It would be a great one to clone and something I will try early in 2023. On the other hand, we as homebrewers always joke about the big commercial beers like Castle etc. I don’t think it would be easy to clone and I think if you can duplicate it, that would be very rewarding as well. OT: What is your main homebrewing goal? GG: We have a very nice club going (YCBC) and will have our 10-year anniversary next year. We are not too big but have enough active members to always put on a good show at any of the events we have and I do believe the general standard of the beers presented at our monthly meetings and fests has increased a lot. I think my ultimate goal as a homebrewer would be to promote homebrewing and see our club growing bigger in terms of active members and also see our homebrew beerfest grow with brewers from other clubs also attending. At the last RHBC Homebrew Fest in March we did have visitors from Helderberg and East London, so it is a start! 56 | Summer 2022 | ontapmag.co.za