Water profile for IPA first try...

My first shot at making a water profile from distilled water for a pliny the younger clone. I used EZ water and this is what I came up with so far.

Calcium 76
Magnesium 16
Sodium 0
Chloride 64
Sulfate 167
Ratio .38

I think I understand the chloride to sulfate ratio is more important than amounts there as long as you dont go over 300ppm sulfate?

Any help is appreciated as I am sure I am way off...

thisisbeer said:

I think I understand the chloride to sulfate ratio is more important than amounts there as long as you dont go over 300ppm sulfate?

Click to expand...

I would say that the contrary is true- that the ratio is unimportant.

The amounts are important in the flavor of the beer, but the chloride/sulfate ratio is unimportant.

I use more sulfate lately in my very hoppy APAs and IPAs, but I have some recipes where I like a more modest amount.

If you want to, you could use far more sulfate if you like that in your beers.

thisisbeer said:

I think I understand the chloride to sulfate ratio is more important than amounts there as long as you dont go over 300ppm sulfate?

Click to expand...

I think were making some progress in getting rid of this common misconception but we have a way to go. If you think about it for a minute I think you will see that beers made with 1 ppm each chloride and sulfate and 300 ppm each are going to be vastly different.

Get some megaswill and put it in a glass. Taste. Now add some calcium chloride. Taste again. This will show you what chloride does to beer. Now do the same with sulfate. Pay especial attention to the hops here which may be difficult with megaswill as it is usually hopped at the threshold. You might want to repeat the experiments with a more highly hopped regional or imported beer.

Continue the experiments with different amounts of gypsum and calcium chloride additions. See if you think it is the ratio that is more important than the absolute amounts.

thisisbeer said:

My first shot at making a water profile from distilled water for a pliny the younger clone. I used EZ water and this is what I came up with so far.

Calcium 76
Magnesium 16
Sodium 0
Chloride 64
Sulfate 167
Ratio .38

I think I understand the chloride to sulfate ratio is more important than amounts there as long as you dont go over 300ppm sulfate?

Any help is appreciated as I am sure I am way off...

Click to expand...

The ratio is not as important as the total levels of chloride and sulfate. But with that said, the profile you have proposed should be a good starting point for an IPA. I use more sulfate, but there is no great need to follow that advice for your beer.

Enjoy!