Water Report help - Page 2

**ajdelange** · 06-30-2011, 12:43 PM

The proper amount is that which produces the beer you want. If your goal is to produce a beer that resembles those brewed with Burton water then keep the sulfate level high. But authenticity isn't the only goal. Many brewers find the beer better tasting overall at lower levels of sulfate. I generally recommend that people start with low sulfate and work up i.e. brew it multiple times increasing the sulfate as they go. I've been told that if you brew without sulfate and then add it to the finished beer (in tasting sample sized quantities) that you can get an idea as to what the effects of sulfate would be in that same beer brewed with more. I've never done this but I got it from a professional brewer. That approach tends to support the idea of starting with low sulfate but, of course, you can start with high sulfate and make subsequent brews with less.

mabrungard · 06-30-2011, 02:04 PM

I've never tried 'Burton-level' sulfate concentrations (>600 ppm) in my pale ales, but I've used the 300 ppm sulfate Pale Ale profile included in Bru'n Water dozens of times. Its straight out of ProMash (with minor treaking to get it to balance) and I understand that it may have originally been presented by Randy Mosher. 300 ppm sulfate is not overbearing by any measure when used in a hoppy beer.

I highly recommend brewers experimenting with punching up their Pale Ales try the Pale Ale profile first. If you're brave, try the Burton profile. I think 300 ppm sulfate is enough in a hoppy beer.

tmurph6 · 06-30-2011, 04:21 PM

I guess I should have prefaced this that my pale is only 35 ibu with a citra hop burst. I want a strong hop flavor presence, but I don't want something so bitter it almost tastes tannic. From what I'm hearing the 300 ppm is probably good for hop emphasis.

mabrungard · 06-30-2011, 04:48 PM

If your OG is also on the low end of the gravity range (closer to 1.045 than 1.060) it should be fine to go with 35 IBU. Be careful with hop bursting in that you're adding a huge amount of vegetative matter to the wort. Its easy to impart a grassy chlorophyl flavor. Be sure your mash and sparge water pH are in appropriate ranges to help reduce extracting the polyphenols and other vegetative flavor components.

hops2it · 07-01-2011, 12:09 AM

Sorry, mispost.