Brewing in a bag has been a fun series this year. I have brew a few experimental batches using this method. The first one was the great wheat malt experiment during the summer. The most recent BIAB sessions have been the hop explorations.

Mosaic was the first one I did and then when I had time, I was able to brew a SMaSH El Dorado hop ale and a SMaSH Equinox ale. The two gallon fermentors are hanging out in my upstairs closet together, getting ready for being bottled later on this week.

They both received dry hop additions during the weekend, and will be in that phase for four days. If you are keeping score at home, here was the hop schedule for each of these one gallon, BIAB, SMaSH ales:

.25 ounces of hops added with 60 minutes to go in the boil.
.25 ounces of hops added with 15 minutes to go in the boil.
.25 ounces of hops added at flameout.
.25 ounces added to the beer after a week of fermentation and left in contact with the beer for 4 days.

Since the schedule was the same for each different SMaSH, we should have beers that will showcase each of the hops’ characteristics the same way.

I am sure you have added up each of the hop additions – yes, I only used an ounce of hops for each batch. The small batch allowed me to keep costs down and maximize the hop flavor.

After the brew day, I stored the remaining quarter of an ounce of each hop in the freezer, clearly labeled. I imaged that if I screwed up and put the wrong hop into one of the beers, then my experiment would be over. When I plan, I make sure I don’t set myself up for mistakes.

Looking at the calendar, these experimental beers should be ready for consumption before the end of the month. With our wacky Wednesday video posts, we’ll wrap up what these beers taste like and if they match up to what the descriptors say about each of them.