Matching my water for an IPA

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shwagy

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I was finally able to get my water analyzed. I was wondering what corrections I should do to my water for an IPA. Any help is greatly appreciated.

PPM
Ca - 5.15
Mg - 1.13
Na - 12.2
SO4 - 11
Cl - 6.5
Alkalinity/CaCO3 - 23
PH - 7.7

They didn't give me an HCO3 value. Just the CaCO3 for Alkalinity.
 
HCO3 is equal to alkalinity as CaCO3 x 1.22, or ~28 ppm. That is a fine water for a starting point to brewing.

The alkalinity may be a little low for a few styles. But that level should be well suited for paler beers. I suggest you consider the Pale Ale profile in Bru'n Water as an appropriate water profile for an IPA. If you haven't brewed with SO4 in the 300 ppm range before, I suggest that you roll back the sulfate concentration to around 200 ppm for a start. The calcium level will be rolled back also since you should just add less gypsum than required to create the Pale Ale profile. That reduction in Ca will be helpful since its likely that the tap water won't have enough alkalinity to keep the mash pH from dropping too low.

If you find you like the sulfate at 200 ppm, you may consider bumping it to 300 ppm in a future brew. The calcium will increase due to the extra gypsum added to provide the 300 ppm sulfate. That will make it more imperative to add more alkalinity to the mash to keep its pH in a good range near 5.4.

Enjoy!
 
I suggest you consider the Pale Ale profile in Bru'n Water as an appropriate water profile for an IPA.

FYI, that is:

Ca=140
Mg=18
Na=25
Cl=55
SO4=300

This is very close to Randy Moser's Ideal Pale Ale number which are:

Ca=110
Mg=18
Na=17
Cl=50
SO4=350

I have to second mabrungard's suggestion to try a lower SO4 value first out. Whenever I brew a hop forward beer like this I like to use:

Ca=110
Mg=18
Na=16
Cl=50
SO4=279

(Basically Randy's numbers but with slightly less sulphates).

Good luck!

Kal
 
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