Fuller's Water Profile: 200 Sulphate, Zero Chloride?

[eshea3]

They're self-appointed experts who appear to be making recommendations for British styles that bear no resemblance to actual practice in the UK. I mean dammit, adding large amounts of sulphate to brewing liquor is such a thing here that it's got its own verb! They may be experts in US beers, but beware ultracrepidarianism.

(always nice to find an excuse to use one of my favourite words...)

Certain things in the US brewing community get repeated and become articles of faith, rather than reason. Don't even get me started on the LODO (low dissolved O2) advocates.

 

[Miraculix]

Certain things in the US brewing community get repeated and become articles of faith, rather than reason. Don't even get me started on the LODO (low dissolved O2) advocates.

Amen.

 

[Miraculix]

They're self-appointed experts who appear to be making recommendations for British styles that bear no resemblance to actual practice in the UK. I mean dammit, adding large amounts of sulphate to brewing liquor is such a thing here that it's got its own verb! They may be experts in US beers, but beware ultracrepidarianism.

(always nice to find an excuse to use one of my favourite words...)

Had to look that one up

 

[DBhomebrew]

Had to look that one up

I think we all did.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

It isn't really malty vs. bitter but more smooth vs. sharp - well, not sharp but something like that. You can have a malty profile but tons of hops, or a bitter profile with very little hops. "Mouthfeel" might be a better descriptor? It's not great either but - yeah, the malty / bitter thing on the ratios is but one way to think of the effect of the ratio, and probably not the best one.

That is what I found when playing with additions. Sulfate accentuated a bit of a crisp flavor that lets hop bitterness show more. Chloride provide a bit of a "fullness" character, maybe a touch "slick".

I also found that I needed to add quite a bit to be able to detect differences. It made me realize that, while I might notice a difference between 50 ppm and 150 ppm, I don't worry much about 40 vs 60. Well, at least with Chloride (Calcium Chloride) and Sulfate (Calcium Sulfate). When adding Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) and Table Salt (Sodium Chloride) to a beer, small amounts were much more noticeable.