Water suggestions for hoppy dark ipl?

[anotherbeerplease]

Im gonna brew a dark IPL loaded with late addition hops with ample dry hopping. IBUs around 65.

I want it crisp, dry, and refreshing, but wondering if a straight lager/pils water profile won’t showcase the hops enough. Any water suggestions?

 

[Braufessor]

Im gonna brew a dark IPL loaded with late addition hops with ample dry hopping. IBUs around 65.

I want it crisp, dry, and refreshing, but wondering if a straight lager/pils water profile won’t showcase the hops enough. Any water suggestions?

Do you use B'run Water..... I would go with something like the Jever Profile on there. I use that for hoppy pilsners and saisons and dark saisons...... works well for dry, crisp, refreshing. Usually in the 50-75 on Ca, 80-100 on Sulfate and 40 or so on Chloride. I start with RO. When I brewed dark saisons, I used some higher bicarbonate tap water with RO to bring in mash pH around 5.5. I would think something like that would be a good starting point.

 

[mabrungard]

Yes, the Jever profile might work well in this case. You would want a bit of sulfate, but not like a Pale Ale profile. The amount in Jever could be about right.

 

[anotherbeerplease]

Awesome thanks for the tips, newbie question though, why not go for 200 on sulfate, then it’s 4:1 sulfate chloride ratio and maybe get a bit more hops showcase?? This is my first time messing with water and it’s a unique beer because I want the hops to be atypically forward for a lager.

 

[mabrungard]

200 ppm SO4 might work, but it will be pushing it. I'm concerned that the roast and the sulfate will make the beer finish too dryly. The consolation is that the amount of roast in this style isn't too strong, mostly for color.

I would still start with the modest SO4 level presented in Jever. You can always add more once its brewed...based on taste testing in the glass.

 

[anotherbeerplease]

Thanks mabrungard.

Since it is a dark IPL I am doing a bunch of dark/roast malt additions at vorlauf to maximize color but minimize roast contributions. I'm double milling these grains. How would you account for this effect on pH, can I just discount it entirely since it's done at the end of the mash? Or just not acidify the sparge water in that case? (I am going to use RO water for this batch)