excessively high ph more forgiving in hop-heavy beers?

Having only recently started to learn about water chemistry it seems that all my brews so far have had a mash ph (at least as predicted by the water programs) that was at least 5.6 and sometimes even up to 5.8 due to very soft water (43 ppm calcium, 167 ppm bicarbonates) and no corrections.

But while I noticed the dark beers turning out much better and it only being the paler beers that had off flavors and astringency, in my IPAs and APAs I didn't notice the same problems.

Could that be because the strong bitterness of the hops mask the potential faults of an excessively high ph? One of my favorites, a Bell's IPA clone had a predicted ph of 5.83!! and still the beer is very drinkable.

Thanks for your help!

Dark beers probably turned out well due to the bicarbonate level. I have the same issue where I live (bicarb in the 200s). Before I got into water chem, my first brown ale was amazing. I think we killed the keg in a few days (my brother, a few friends, and myself). Pale beers, not so much. The bicarb level is probably why your pH is a bit elevated. Try cutting your water with 50% RO and see out that fares with the pale beers. You might even see improvement on your hop-forward brews.

Never thought of hops hiding that sort of flaw, but I suppose that they could. Your beers are still better off if you get the pH under control. I recommend that you get some acid so that you can neutralize that high alkalinity. That is a better solution than hiding flaws...since they are often apparent when you take a step back from the glass.

I think your thesis is probably correct. The effect of lower mash pH is a brightening of the flavors of the beer. Bitterness isn't really a flavor, is it? If the beer is one dimensionally bitter, as many of the popular brews seem to be today, then brighter malt flavors, or their absence, aren't likely to be noticed.

ajdelange said:

I think your thesis is probably correct. The effect of lower mash pH is a brightening of the flavors of the beer. Bitterness isn't really a flavor, is it? If the beer is one dimensionally bitter, as many of the popular brews seem to be today, then brighter malt flavors, or their absence, aren't likely to be noticed.

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Interesting! Didn't know that low mash ph does that.
I'll brew that same IPA again next week but with adjustments in the water and then see how it compares to the previous version (which I really like!).

Thanks for the input!

Buy some lactic acid. It will last for a long time.