Need help with water!

andconnolly6 · Sep 27, 2018

Ok, so I’m finally jumping on the NEIPA bandwagon. I’m planning on brewing this recipe for the average perfect neipa: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/363082/avg-perfect-northeast-ipa-neipa-
Water chemistry seems like trying to read Japanese. Can someone breakdown water to the simplest level possible, like how many teaspoons of what to add when. I’m using RO water. Thank you!

wepeeler · Sep 27, 2018

First off, decent recipe, but don't boil any of those flavor/aroma hops. Boiling Citra can lead to undesirable flavors (from personal and word of mouth experience). Use something clean like 0.5-0.75oz Warrior/Centennial @60 min to get your IBU. I add all my flavor/aroma hops after I've cooled to about 170-180. Continue cooling, and you'll be just fine. For RO water (I use distilled), I start with 8 gallons (gets me about 5.5-6 gallons into fermenter, and about 5 gallons into keg after trub) of mash water to which I add 0.7g sea salt, 0.8g chalk, 2.4g Epsom salt, 4.8g Gypsum, and 6.5g Calcium Chloride. I add salts while heating up to strike temp, but before adding the grains. I aim for about 110 Ca, 10 Na, 120 Cl, 8 Mg, 120 Sulfate and 16 BiCarb. Seems to be perfect for my liking. And skip the Irish Moss!

From a prior Braufessor post: 100% RO water. I add per gallon of mash and sparge water -
Gypsum = .6 grams/gallon
CaCl = .7 grams/gallon
Epsom = .3 gram/gallon
Lactic Acid = .1ml/gallon

For reference:
1/4 tsp Gypsum = .9 grams
1/4 tsp CaCl = 1.1 grams
1/4 tsp Epsom Salt = 1.3 grams
1/4 tsp Canning Salt = 1.8 grams

I do not add lactic acid, so I can't comment how it affects the water, although I do know it's used to target pH. I've also made an all citra neipa where I only added 6.5g gypsum and 7.5g Calcium Chloride and it came out fantastic. It really depends on your starting volume.

andconnolly6 · Sep 27, 2018

Wow, that’s super helpful. Thank you!!

myndflyte · Sep 27, 2018

For my NEIPA my water profile looks like this:
110 ppm Ca
18 ppm Mg
15.6 ppm Na
107 ppm Sulfate
192.4 ppm Chloride

To get those numbers and target a pH of 5.33 I use:

0.25 g/gal Gypsum
0.69 g/gal epsom salt
0.15 g/gal canning salt
1.32 g/gal calcium chloride
0.1 ml/gal 88% lactic acid

My grain bill is pretty basic; 6lb Marris Otter, 6lb 2-row and 1lb flaked oats.

Jag75 · Sep 30, 2018

Dang I didn't realize that water really made a difference. I have just been using bottled spring water . Sometimes just tap water . I figured I'm boiling it anyway but I must taking the water for granted.

BlueHouseBrewhaus · Oct 1, 2018

Water chemistry is a big subject and important in brewing. Your first stop should be the Brewing Water Chemistry Primer sticky in the Brew Science forum. Read at least the first few pages of that thread and then you'll have an idea of some of the science and what questions to ask. Ask questions in that forum and you'll find Martin, AJ and many others who are very helpful.