I want that bright/crisp hop flavor and aroma. Such as is in Stone Enjoy By.
But I keep getting this muddled dank-ish character.
What can I do to the water to get this?
Thanks
+1 with the above water comments. I like around the same sulfate to chloride level for most of my hoppy pale beers. 150+- seems to be a good range for my liking. favoring sulfate for a west coast and chloride for a NE.
do you keg? To me, that was the number 1 difference in obtaining that desired fresh hoppiness in my beers. The ability to purge a keg with co2 before and after, and you can do closed transfers if you want too.
Yeast also plays an important role and can really compliment or compete with what you want. Ive been playing around with alot of the english strains of late. 1318, conan, 007(i think stone uses), some newer strains...hothead, 644. and an old standard, s-05.
644 didnt thrill me. hothead was over the top fruity/berry at 80-90F but a rad option for people that can't temp control(still experimenting with lower temps on hothead).
007 was hard to explain, in my opinion highlighted the hops the least but also doesnt compete or get in the way like hothead(berry) or conan(apricot/peach/stone fruit). i love the fast turnaround and it produces very great beers.
1318 is just awesome for that juicy bright character. but take forever for the krausen to drop and conan is a solid 2nd.
try double dry hopping too, around day 2-3 then again for 2-3 days once fermentation is over.
Alot of this in my opinion is a waste if your bottle conditioning. you'll still produce a good beer but kegging with produce outstanding hoppy beers.