MattHollingsworth
Well-Known Member
So, was listening to Can You Brew It and on the one I listened to, they went and interviewed the brewmaster at Green Flash Brewing about his West Coast IPA. He said they have hard water and they add even more gyspum to it, but that they don't approach Burton or anything.
Which lead me to wonder about their water as compared to mine. While I'm still awaiting the full water report for my area, the water is very hard with high bicarbonate. Which was leading me to thinking of adding a lot of distilled water. I like making fairly pale, though amber-ish, hoppy beers. Loved the Green Flash when I visited SoCal, for instance.
Looking at the water report for San Diego County as linked in the Vista website, where Green Flash is located, they also have pretty hard water.
The water report is here:
http://www.vid-h2o.org/pdf/publication/CCR_2007.pdf
As linked to here:
Vista Irrigation District - Pubications - Online Publications
Hardness is at 218, bicarbonate is at 115. Now, my water is even harder. But from what I had been reading about the high bicarbonate lending a harsh edge to hops and bitterness and not being desirable, I was sort of despairing with how much distilled water I might have to add. Like I said, still awaiting my full report, but am guessing I could approach their water with diluting by half, which isn't as bad as I thought at all. I don't really want that sulfate content of Burton. But I also don't want an overly harsh bitterness.
What are the thoughts on this stuff? Does Arrogant Bastard also use this hard water? I love that as well. When people are saying to shoot more for the lower bicarbonate, do they really mean for clean, pale lagers with noble hops? If you're going for a more West Coast IPA, what are the thoughts?
Which lead me to wonder about their water as compared to mine. While I'm still awaiting the full water report for my area, the water is very hard with high bicarbonate. Which was leading me to thinking of adding a lot of distilled water. I like making fairly pale, though amber-ish, hoppy beers. Loved the Green Flash when I visited SoCal, for instance.
Looking at the water report for San Diego County as linked in the Vista website, where Green Flash is located, they also have pretty hard water.
The water report is here:
http://www.vid-h2o.org/pdf/publication/CCR_2007.pdf
As linked to here:
Vista Irrigation District - Pubications - Online Publications
Hardness is at 218, bicarbonate is at 115. Now, my water is even harder. But from what I had been reading about the high bicarbonate lending a harsh edge to hops and bitterness and not being desirable, I was sort of despairing with how much distilled water I might have to add. Like I said, still awaiting my full report, but am guessing I could approach their water with diluting by half, which isn't as bad as I thought at all. I don't really want that sulfate content of Burton. But I also don't want an overly harsh bitterness.
What are the thoughts on this stuff? Does Arrogant Bastard also use this hard water? I love that as well. When people are saying to shoot more for the lower bicarbonate, do they really mean for clean, pale lagers with noble hops? If you're going for a more West Coast IPA, what are the thoughts?