Water profile for hoppy saison.

[JBOGAN]

Wondering if I should adjust my water tilted more towards an IPA mineral base. I build my water from distilled and on saisons I am usually pretty conservative just using enough calcium to get in pH range. It has also been awhile since I have brewed an IPA and I really want the hops to come through on this, but not so much as to destroy the saison. Found a water profile on another forum and I have never been curious enough to push my water this high sulfate wise but why not?.


Calcium Magnesium Sodium Chloride Sulfate Chloride / Sulfate
(Ca ppm) (Mg ppm) (Na ppm) (Cl ppm) (SO4 ppm) Ratio
Mash Water Profile: 150 0 0 76 262 0.29

Not sure if this would muddle the saison completely so any input would be great.

 

[Natdavis777]

I think that is a little steep on the S04 for a saison. That is def an IPA water profile you have there. Seeing that you want a saison with a good hop presence, I would drop the S04 to 100ppm. Its a saison after all, so you want that yeast character to come through. Everything else looks appropriate to me.

*also, I wouldnt worry much about S04/Cl ratio. A 25/50 and 100/200 beer are going to be vastly different, yet share the same ratio

 

[JBOGAN]

I think that is a little steep on the S04 for a saison. That is def an IPA water profile you have there. Seeing that you want a saison with a good hop presence, I would drop the S04 to 100ppm. Its a saison after all, so you want that yeast character to come through. Everything else looks appropriate to me.

*also, I wouldnt worry much about S04/Cl ratio. A 25/50 and 100/200 beer are going to be vastly different, yet share the same ratio

Turned out to be one of my favorite brews, infact the keg has almost kicked. Thanks for the input.

 

[mabrungard]

As you have found, high sulfate is not necessarily a bad thing in beers that aren't all that bitter. Sulfate helps dry the finish, it does not make beer bitter.

Now, I wouldn't have pushed the sulfate as high as mentioned in the first post, but a 100 ppm is not out of the question. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[Br3w4u]

How can I match this profile from RO water?

 

[JBOGAN]

How can I match this profile from RO water?

I now use RO water and just brewed this beer again changing nothing much in the water.

 

[Br3w4u]

I now use RO water and just brewed this beer again changing nothing much in the water.

I want to brew one this weekend. My water doesn't make good hoppy beers at all. I wanted to try using RO and add minerals but I really have no idea what to do. I have read to use about 1/3 tsp gypsum, 2/3 tsp calcium chloride, and add about 3-5 oz. acid malt. Do you think that would work?

 

[mabrungard]

1/3 tsp gypsum??? In 5 gallons??? I'm not sure what that produces in terms of ppm sulfate, but its probably not much. In my experience, a minimum of 100 ppm sulfate is desirable in a typical APA or IPA. That level still leaves quite a bit of the malt coming through without being too drying. But in my APA's and IPA's, I use 300 ppm sulfate to get those beers to dry out very well and let the hopping and bittering to shine. Somewhere in that range is what most brewers should like in their hoppy beers. But again, there is no right answer. Only the answer that is right for you.

 

[JBOGAN]

What he said. Bru n Water is a start to getting to understand water. Stick with the yellow, Amber and pale ale profiles. Also check out a brewing water primer.

 

[Br3w4u]

Like I said I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to water chemistry. I just bought John Palmers book on water chemistry today so maybe that will help.

 

[JBOGAN]

Like I said I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to water chemistry. I just bought John Palmers book on water chemistry today so maybe that will help.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460