Best Bitter Water Profile

[dangove]

Hello,

I’ve been trying a few British Bitter recipes lately. However, I’m having some challenges with the water.

Some of the recipes I’ve seen suggest a higher Sulphate than Chloride water. To bring out the hops and accentuate the bitterness

To me, this style tastes very malty (I’m thinking of Fullers London Pride). So it makes me want to increase the CaCl over the CaSO4

Do you have any experience what seems to work best for you? My recipes all come in at approx 4.5% and 10 SRM

Thanks
Derek.

 

[McKnuckle]

Well, they are malty but also dry. I think there are a couple of popular misconceptions. One is that malty and bitter are opposite qualities, and are therefore mutually exclusive. Second is that sulfate makes beer bitter. Personally I think it comes out dry, which tends to let hop qualities reveal themselves. But the amount and timing of hops is really the foundation of that, and it's under your control.

While chloride lends a "fullness" to beer, true maltiness is more a factor of ingredients and mash regimen - favoring alpha amylase - and I find that it is not compromised by healthy additions of gypsum to the wort.

I've had success with a wide range of SO4 and Cl in bitters. My latest has each at around 100 ppm, so overall there is a good amount of calcium as well. This particular beer is malty and dry, perhaps like what you want.

 

[mabrungard]

My experience is that there is a need for sulfate in brewing a Bitter. But I agree that it should be modest. Somewhere between 75 and 150 ppm sulfate has worked for me.

 

[BigEd]

Hello,

I’ve been trying a few British Bitter recipes lately. However, I’m having some challenges with the water.

Some of the recipes I’ve seen suggest a higher Sulphate than Chloride water. To bring out the hops and accentuate the bitterness

To me, this style tastes very malty (I’m thinking of Fullers London Pride). So it makes me want to increase the CaCl over the CaSO4

Do you have any experience what seems to work best for you? My recipes all come in at approx 4.5% and 10 SRM

Thanks
Derek.

I'm going to echo what McKnuckle and mabrungard have told you. Some sulphate is good here as typical British pale ales were developed with water with medium to high sulphate levels. I like at least 100 ppm and 150ppm isn't going to hurt. This doesn't change the bitterness but it does help bring out the "edge" of the hops' presence. Think of it as a sprinkle of salt on a steak.

Yes, these beers are malty too. It's the malt that does that not chloride content. You want to use a good quality UK pale malt here to give you the full malty sweetness these beers are known for. That said you can add Calcium chloride but I'd keep the cl- to no more than 50ppm. The malt bill should be simple, IMO. 95% pale malt and 5% medium UK crystal is a good outline. For your numbers an IBU rate of .75 of the OG makes a nice, balanced bitter. So if you're at a OG of 1.048 shoot for IBUs of 36. The other basic techniques that work for me are to use a 90 minute boil and two hop additions, one for full boil and one late at 20/15 minutes. And don't forget to use some nice UK hops to accompany that pale malt.

 

[Hanglow]

I like about 250ppm sulphate and 150ppm chloride in my bitters. Ultimately it will be down to your personal taste though.

 

[cire]

I like about 250ppm sulphate and 150ppm chloride in my bitters. Ultimately it will be down to your personal taste though.

Yes indeed, that would be a typical British Bitter water profile. Less than 100ppm chloride will make any such brew too dry to replicate a recognisable Bitter.