troubleshooting a few issues with my IPA

[zodiak3000]

i wanted to crank my IPA to be pretty bitter and hoppy. according to beersmith i was calculated 88 ibs, and according to my hydrometer i hit my OG and FG (7.0 abvish). i used about 55 ibus at bittering w/ chinook, and the rest of ibus later in boil w/ columbus/centennial. all failry high alpha acid hops with high cohumulone. just a simple 70% 2row and 30% light munich to let those hops shine, no crystal. well, the beer itself tastes great, but not what i was expecting in terms of that hop "bite". it seriously tastes like a 45 ibu pale ale. while this issue could be rather complex, does anyone have a suggestion? old hops from supplier with incorrect alphas? shady utilization? my palate being destroyed by IIPAs?

next, i used US-05 yeast. what is up with the peach aroma? i noticed this in my previous batch and i thought the apollo/simcoe dry hop was the culprit. i want to say its a tropical aroma from hops, but no...its that damn identical peach aroma again in this batch. dry hopping w/ all the hops mentioned above i was expecting pine/citrus...not the peach. its very noticable and almost over powers the dry hop. never had this issue with this yeast until these last 2 batches. fermented at 65 with a temp. control for 21 days in primary, no secondary used. anyone have this issue? my answer to this is im going back to liquid/starters to see if there is a difference, never noticed before....

 

[Reelale]

Could be your water. I have the opposite problem. My water is too high in sulfates. I got bitter, no doubt. I've started diluting my water to mellow out hops. If you want in your face hops, check the sulfate levels in your water.

 

[BackyardHB]

Could be your water. I have the opposite problem. My water is too high in sulfates. I got bitter, no doubt. I've started diluting my water to mellow out hops. If you want in your face hops, check the sulfate levels in your water.

Are you referring to tap water? I believe I have the same issues. Should I use bottle water or just filtered water.

 

[zodiak3000]

i guess i should get a water report and see what im working with. anyone have a soild link on how to treat water? i dont know the process...

 

[Reelale]

Are you referring to tap water? I believe I have the same issues. Should I use bottle water or just filtered water.

You really should obtain a water report. Ward labs offers a good report for cheap. I filter my water, but I have too much sulfate. Diluting 50% with RO got me right.

 

[Reelale]

i guess i should get a water report and see what im working with. anyone have a soild link on how to treat water? i dont know the process...

Check out aj's water chemistry primer. It's a sticky.

 

[zodiak3000]

Check out aj's water chemistry primer. It's a sticky.

 

[BackyardHB]

You really should obtain a water report. Ward labs offers a good report for cheap. I filter my water, but I have too much sulfate. Diluting 50% with RO got me right.

This might be a dumb question, what a water report and how do I request one? Is this something I can order via web?

 

[Reelale]

This might be a dumb question, what a water report and how do I request one? Is this something I can order via web?

There are no dumb questions. http://www.wardlab.com/FeeSchedule/WaterAnalysis.aspx

Order test W-6 or W-5. The instructions are on their website.

 

[Yooper]

The first thing that occurs to me is that a 30% munich malt grainbill will be a very malty tasting beer, and not at all like a typical IPA.

I also have tasted peach esters in S05, particularly at cooler temperatures (like 62 degrees).

 

[zodiak3000]

The first thing that occurs to me is that a 30% munich malt grainbill will be a very malty tasting beer, and not at all like a typical IPA.

I also have tasted peach esters in S05, particularly at cooler temperatures (like 62 degrees).

your right yooper, the munich did impart a pretty malty flavor that is possibly hiding the hops a little bit. the munich is so dang tasty though and i wanted to experiment without using any crystal. as far as the peach thing happening in the 2 last batches, its kinda turned me off from the convenience of lazy yeast pitching. i see adding crystal again and lowering the munich, making starters again, and possibly treating my water based off a report....

 

[RitsiGators]

I am pretty new to brewing, but something i realized i had done was calculate my ibu's based on how much beer i put into my primary, not including the .5 gal of sludge i left behind.... if i included that sludge, my ibu's dropped significantly

 

[zodiak3000]

I am pretty new to brewing, but something i realized i had done was calculate my ibu's based on how much beer i put into my primary, not including the .5 gal of sludge i left behind.... if i included that sludge, my ibu's dropped significantly

there are many factors that effect actual utilization of ibus in the finished product. i generally calculate about 15 ibus above what i want in my IPAs from trial and error due to what i come up with in my system as the end result. since i calculated 88 ibus for this, i was expecting something taste wise in the ballpark of say 70 ibus. this just taste way too light in hops (like 45 ibus). im starting to think that the munich is the culprit, but ive had plenty commercial beers comprised of heavy munich or vienna that still had a hop bite. no crystal added to this either. how did you come up with a calculation of ibu loss through sludge?

 

[beerkrump]

The first thing that occurs to me is that a 30% munich malt grainbill will be a very malty tasting beer, and not at all like a typical IPA.

I also have tasted peach esters in S05, particularly at cooler temperatures (like 62 degrees).

+1

What is your BU:GU? Should be 1 or above for an IPA. If you are using malty or sweet grains (like Munich, honey malt, or aromatic), bump that up to 1.25.

 

[Brandonovich]

The first thing that occurs to me is that a 30% munich malt grainbill will be a very malty tasting beer, and not at all like a typical IPA.

I also have tasted peach esters in S05, particularly at cooler temperatures (like 62 degrees).

I have an IPA recipe that I am honing, and I am at 13.5% munich. This is pretty light, but it does exactly what you are talking about by getting out of the way of the hops.

 

[RitsiGators]

What i do is base my IBU calculations on total volume after the boil instead instead of volume that goes into my primary. I brew 2.5 Gal batches because i live in a tiny apartment, but my total volume (including sludge) after my boil is usually 3 Gal. It makes about a 15-20% difference in most of my IBU calculations.

Also, another possible explanation I have heard is that the strength of your boil can effect your utilization, with less vigorous boils meaning lower utilization....

 

[BackyardHB]

There are no dumb questions. http://www.wardlab.com/FeeSchedule/WaterAnalysis.aspx

Order test W-6 or W-5. The instructions are on their website.

Thanks... Till I get my results should I just buy 5 gallons of water each time I brew?

 

[zodiak3000]

+1

What is your BU:GU? Should be 1 or above for an IPA. If you are using malty or sweet grains (like Munich, honey malt, or aromatic), bump that up to 1.25.

88/66= 1.3.

i dont believe im actually getting 88 ibus though due to factors of my brewhouse and hop utilization. probably more like 70.

70/66= 1.06

so maybe a touch under the prefered ratio. again though, i didnt add any crystal...just 30% munich/ 70% 2row. the bitterness is very muted...

 

[williamnave]

Thanks... Till I get my results should I just buy 5 gallons of water each time I brew?

Not necessarily. Keep in mind you want high concentrations of Sulfates. Bottled water, especially if it's RO water, is going to have almost dead-on zero mineral content.

In the right concentrations, minerals are good!

For what it's worth, I use Bru'n water, and when it comes to science I'm kind of impaired. Bru'n water makes it easy for me. There are a lot of different spreadsheets/calculators out there, and it's probably a matter of finding one you like and sticking with it.

 

[coypoo]

I am having the same issues with my IPAs. I made my last batch with distilled water and built from there. It was better than before but I think that I am not getting the utilization I should. 85 IBUs, 1066 (1.29 BU:GU). It's pretty deflating, and I think I am giving up for a while designing my own IPA recipes and I'll just brew some tried and true ones and start again later

 

[zodiak3000]

Not necessarily. Keep in mind you want high concentrations of Sulfates. Bottled water, especially if it's RO water, is going to have almost dead-on zero mineral content.

In the right concentrations, minerals are good!

For what it's worth, I use Bru'n water, and when it comes to science I'm kind of impaired. Bru'n water makes it easy for me. There are a lot of different spreadsheets/calculators out there, and it's probably a matter of finding one you like and sticking with it.

aside from changing the water profile based off a report. what do you guys think about this, can it be used without getting a report?-

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_187_398&products_id=1692

 

[williamnave]

With 5.2 I Have No Personal Experience

-BUT-

I have no personal experience because older/wiser brewers whom I trust greatly have told me it is a flawed product and a waste of money.

 

[dandw12786]

This might be a dumb question, what a water report and how do I request one? Is this something I can order via web?

Just FYI, you should also be able to get a water report from the city you live in, many post them online. Just google water report for the city you live in or go to your city's website.