Pale ale water profile?

[Tony B]

I’m planning to brew a pale ale, loosely based on the SNPA recipe. My recipe is on the darker side, SRM 9.4.
Anyhow, I’m pretty new to brewing and so I looked in various places for a water profile. I use RO water and only add gypsum, CaCl2 and sometimes a Little NaCl. My recipe as it stands uses
84ppm Ca
28ppm Na
60ppm Cl
170ppm SO4
All in the mash water.
It seems to be kind of medium to low salt additions from what I’ve read and was particularly intrigued by a Scott Janish recipe that called for about 300ppm SO4 and he splits his additions between mash and boil. What is the purpose of splitting it? Seems like a lot of SO4, but I’m curious what you all are using.
Any input would be appreciated.

 

[hottpeper13]

That profile you have is gonna work for quite a few styles, Pale Ale is one. The 300 ppm of SO4 is what I do for my 6.5% + IPA's and DIPA's. I don't make NEIPA's.

 

[Peebee]

Having been brought up near Burton-on-Trent, UK (it's where the idea of large quantities of sulphates derives from ... hence "Burtonizing salts") I would try to emulate the local bitter (like Marston's Pedigree). Sure enough, about 300ppm did help provide a beer flavored like Pedigree ... for about three weeks (four from being brewed) where upon the true nature of high sulphate evolved (like sticking your tongue on a well-used blackboard).

Like @hottpeper13 says: Keep "300ppm of SO4" back for 6.5%plus ABVs!

By-the-way:

Marston's have now dropped out of brewing beer. As of this very week. That'll be news to many who knew of their beers in USA. 200years of Marston's beer gone forever. Leaving Carlsberg to look after the remnants.

Bottled "Pedigree" was naff, probably for the same reason (high sulphates, more than a month old). The bottled stuff was probably all you could get in USA. It had been "modified" recently to make a more representative beer, but I never tried it.


Why split salts 'ween boil and mash? Most salts don't play a part in mashing, getting "Alkalinity" right is the main aim in the mash (it influences the mash pH). So, some chuck the other salts in the boil. I stick to treating all the water before starting the mash. Whatever you want to believe?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I’m planning to brew a pale ale,pale ale, loosely based on the SNPA recipe. My recipe is on the darker side, SRM 9.4.

A "traditional" (malt bill / hop profile) American Pale Ale.

[300ppm] Seems like a lot of SO4, but I’m curious what you all are using.

170ppm SO4, 60ppm Cl looks like a good starting point.

And you can experiment by adding additional minerals to the glass of beer. I've done this in the past to dial in flavor additions. Some people will also experiment with small acid additions to adjust beer pH (I haven't tried this).

 

[CascadesBrewer]

170ppm SO4, 60ppm Cl looks like a good starting point.

I agree. I tend to target 150 ppm of Sulfate for my Pale Ales and 200 ppm for my American IPAs.

As I recall, I brewed one batch of IPA where I targeted 250 or 300 ppm, and I just thought that beer had a bit of a harshness and minerally character. It could have just been an issue with that specific recipe or the hops, or maybe the specific mix of salts that I used to adjust to that level. I don't recall if I used some Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) to get to that level. With my tap water, if I add enough Gypsum to hit 200 ppm, my Calcium level is near 100 ppm, so I have stopped adding Epsom Salt.

 

[mabrungard]

That's a reasonable water profile for a pale ale. 170 ppm sulfate is a modest, yet notable level for those styles. You can always experiment with higher sulfate content by adding a thin pinch of gypsum to a pint of that finished beer and that should add about 100 ppm sulfate to the beer. You should note that it becomes even drier on the finish, which may or may not improve the beer. You decide and can make that change in your future brews.

Splitting the salt additions between tun and kettle won't really make a big difference in the resulting sulfate and chloride concentrations in the kettle, but it will reduce the pH lowering effect of the calcium and magnesium additions. This could be helpful if you're targeting the Pale Ale profile shown in Bru'n Water since the large amount of calcium and magnesium added to the mash can drive the wort pH too low. I find that having enough alkalinity in the mashing water can be needed to avoid that excessive pH drop. But reserving some of those additions for the kettle could avoid that problem.