Blarneybrew
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
- Messages
- 118
- Reaction score
- 8
I made a pilsner using a spring water with only these lab results available:
Calcium 49.9 mg/L
Hardness as calcium carbonate 171.5 mg/L
Magnesium 11.4 mg/L
Sodium 2.2 mg/L
It came out beautiful. The first sip was a bit awe inspiring, at least for me and my mates it was. The only thing I noticed that I didn't like is that the hop aroma lasted for only a few sips, and then the beer just tasted a little bit gritty or granular. Like a bland slightly clean lager.
It was easily drinkable, but I was hoping for a little more savory/aromatic hop mid-taste, less so an after taste that lingers on the tongue
I know this isn't a lot of information to go on, but would any of those minerals have had an affect like this, more so than my hop additions?
If this water is close to ideal for my tastes what sort of small tweak could I do to it? One thing I still haven't done yet is check mash pH. So whatever the wyermann pilsner hit after a 30 min protein rest is what I ended up with.
On another note I'm in week two of carbonating a pilsner using acidulated and carahell. It's interesting to notice the sour of the acidulated coming through pretty strong when the beer was flat, and as it becomes more carbonated the sour flavor seems to fall a bit more in to balance.
Calcium 49.9 mg/L
Hardness as calcium carbonate 171.5 mg/L
Magnesium 11.4 mg/L
Sodium 2.2 mg/L
It came out beautiful. The first sip was a bit awe inspiring, at least for me and my mates it was. The only thing I noticed that I didn't like is that the hop aroma lasted for only a few sips, and then the beer just tasted a little bit gritty or granular. Like a bland slightly clean lager.
It was easily drinkable, but I was hoping for a little more savory/aromatic hop mid-taste, less so an after taste that lingers on the tongue
I know this isn't a lot of information to go on, but would any of those minerals have had an affect like this, more so than my hop additions?
If this water is close to ideal for my tastes what sort of small tweak could I do to it? One thing I still haven't done yet is check mash pH. So whatever the wyermann pilsner hit after a 30 min protein rest is what I ended up with.
On another note I'm in week two of carbonating a pilsner using acidulated and carahell. It's interesting to notice the sour of the acidulated coming through pretty strong when the beer was flat, and as it becomes more carbonated the sour flavor seems to fall a bit more in to balance.
