A Couple Questions About Water

[Gustatorian]

In reference to Pale Ales/IPAs. Is there a sweet spot that shows the best results for different Chloride/Sulfate ratio? If I wanted to accentuate hoppiness/crispness of beer – would I notice the same quality across the board with different water profiles as long as the Chloride/Sulfate ratio is the same?

Also, is there any benefit to adding NaCl to your water? If so, how much would you add per gallon?

 

[dmtaylor]

There is no magic to "the ratio". If you want to accentuate malt flavors, ensure you've got chlorides. If you want to accentuate hop bitterness, ensure you've got sulfates. If you want to accentuate both, ensure you've got both. If you don't care to accentuate either one, use neither. The "ratio" concept is a complete farce. The two ions act completely independently of one another.

Personally I do think there is some advantage to a bit of NaCl salt in the beer. Go easy on it. Don't turn your beer into seawater like so many commercial goses these days -- bleccch!

All of this depends on your source water. If building water from distilled or RO, then you'll generally have to add various salts to get what you want. If using hard water from the tap or a well, then often times you won't need to add any salts. Software such as Bru'nWater will help you get the results you want.

In GENERAL, for pale ales and IPAs, you'll want your sulfate level to be as high as 300 ppm or more, in which case you'll USUALLY need to add some gypsum to get there.

Skip the Epsom, it's too easy to overdo -- magnesium does not taste good and is not essential to yeast health, they'll get all the magnesium they need from the malt.

 

[Gustatorian]

There is no magic to "the ratio". If you want to accentuate malt flavors, ensure you've got chlorides. If you want to accentuate hop bitterness, ensure you've got sulfates. If you want to accentuate both, ensure you've got both. If you don't care to accentuate either one, use neither. The "ratio" concept is a complete farce. The two ions act completely independently of one another.

Personally I do think there is some advantage to a bit of NaCl salt in the beer. Go easy on it. Don't turn your beer into seawater like so many commercial goses these days -- bleccch!

All of this depends on your source water. If building water from distilled or RO, then you'll generally have to add various salts to get what you want. If using hard water from the tap or a well, then often times you won't need to add any salts. Software such as Bru'nWater will help you get the results you want.

In GENERAL, for pale ales and IPAs, you'll want your sulfate level to be as high as 300 ppm or more, in which case you'll USUALLY need to add some gypsum to get there.

Skip the Epsom, it's too easy to overdo -- magnesium does not taste good and is not essential to yeast health, they'll get all the magnesium they need from the malt.

How much NaCl would you use if you were using it? My water is essentially RO, so I have basically no sodium.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

How much NaCl would you use if you were using it? My water is essentially RO, so I have basically no sodium.

That heavily depends on the beer style...

 

[dmtaylor]

I'm not actually a water expert. However if memory serves, anywhere from like 40-80 ppm sodium is probably fine. Most beers are probably closer to 40. As far as ounces or teaspoons, I'm not sure. Use software to figure that out. I can only guess that it's in the neighborhood of like 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons but that is just a wild guess. Use software to know for sure.

 

[Gustatorian]

That heavily depends on the beer style...

I would assume Sodium levels don't fluctuate wildly between styles, unless we're talking about a Gose. If you could educate me on it, that'd be awesome!

 

[mabrungard]

The 40 to 80 ppm sodium values should be considered maximiums for pale and dark styles, respectively. Sodium salts should only be used sparingly to provide nuance and not be overdone. In Gose, the sodium content should be less than 250 ppm to avoid tasting salty.