Gypsum in NEIPA

[Lynchy217]

Hi all,

I know you were all thinking that the forum was running short on threads about NEIPA's, so here we go...

I recently got a water report, and my sulfate concentration came out to 21 ppm (7 reported as SO4-S). I've been reading that for NEIPA's, sulfate levels should be close to 300 ppm. Using Bru'n Water, I checked to see how much Gypsum would be needed to hit 300 ppm, and it came to ~12g for 7.5 gallons of pre-boil water (1.6g/gallon). Is this reasonable, or am I missing something?

I should note that I do a full-volume mash with BIAB.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I run 150 ppm Chloride to 75 ppm sulfate in my NEIPAs.

 

[TheHopfather]

300 ppm sulfate in a NEIPA? Where have you heard that? Most people seem to go 2:1 chloride to sulfate in the 200:100 or 150:75 range.

West Coast IPA's you'll see water profiles up in the 300 ppm sulfate range, but on a NEIPA that seems strange.

 

[elburrogrande]

300 is way too high. Try adding about 4.5g gypsum, 6.5g CaCl, and 4g sea salt. That should give you a nice water profile.

 

[jerbrew]

I tend to like about 150PPM sulfate and about 50 PPM chloride in just about anything hop related no matter if its NE, west coast, APA, a frankenbeer, or whatever. That's just my preference. I've done 300PPM sulfate a few times in a west coast IPA and found that it takes a while for me to "like" the beer. It always seems to harsh and bitey when it's young and mellows out over time. So, I found that 150PPM sulfate works well for my taste and through other testing found I don't care for large amounts of chloride. Hence my preference of 150:50 sulfate:chloride.

I'd take the recommendations already here and start with something like 150:75 and work from there. Especially if you're not experienced with what changes in a water profile do to the final product. And, if you have a good pocket scale (down to 0.01g) you can dose smaller portions of your beer up to certain amounts and see if you can taste the difference, like adding salt to a Mexican lager.

 

[Invertalon]

My best NE IPA's are with west coast water profiles... 300+ sulfates.

My recent I tried the whole high chloride ratio thing and bleh. Not nearly as good.

 

[MrHadack]

My best NE IPAs to date have been 75 chloride, 35 sulfate. Sulfate assists with bitterness perception, it does not amplify juicy hop flavor. Neither does chloride. The reason for chloride being present at higher levels than in a normal IPA is because you want a softer malt mouth feel. Don't overthink it.

 

[MrHadack]

Additionally, when considering the actual ratio of chloride and sulfate, you need to think of total amount, not just the ratio. For example, a 2:1 ratio using 100 sulfate and 50 chloride is NOT the same as 2:1 ratio using 300 sulfate and 150 chloride. When both are over 100 it's reported harsh flavors start to develop.