Water Treatment

[rodwha]

I’ve been brewing hoppy beers for quite some time, and my IPAs, though high in IBUs with very little bittering don’t always come off as the hop bomb they should. I only recently bought and use chalk for the bulk of my calcium. I use RO water and doctor it up from there. I don’t necessarily shoot for a particular style, and what I often do is shoot for ~20 IBUs as a first wort hopping, around 50 IBUs from 15 and 5 min additions, and then an equal amount of boiled hops in a 30 min whirlpool followed by a huge dry hop. My recipes tend to shoot for 90+ IBUs.

So how would you address your clean slate water for a hop forward beer?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

So how would you address your clean slate water for a hop forward beer?

For hop forward styles, I use mostly gypsum and/or calcium chloride (depends on the desired amount & ratio of sulfate & chloride); at least 50 ppm of calcium to help with the mash. No chalk.

 

[wepeeler]

You're better off using Calcium Chloride for your calcium additions. Chalk is not very soluble and takes forever to dissolve in solution.

RO water. Shoot for 80-100ppm Ca 150-200ppm Cl 80-100ppm SO4

 

[rodwha]

You're better off using Calcium Chloride for your calcium additions. Chalk is not very soluble and takes forever to dissolve in solution.

RO water. Shoot for 80-100ppm Ca 150-200ppm Cl 80-100ppm SO4

Yeah, I found out when I used it before really researching it, something I don’t really do often. I just assumed it would work like the others I guess.

 

[wepeeler]

Yeah, I found out when I used it before really researching it, something I don’t really do often. I just assumed it would work like the others I guess.

Those numbers are fairly vague too. Just figured I'd give you a range. The main thing is Ca>50-75 and a Cl:SO4 ratio of about 2:1 for NEIPA and 1:2 for WC. Seems to be the consensus?

 

[rodwha]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

For a very long time I’ve just used gypsum and calcium chloride shooting for a rough balance between the two above 75 and below 90 between SO and Cl.

I’ve mostly read and utilized what Palmer wrote in his How To Brew. Since then I’ve seen wildly different ways to approach this, mostly now with NEIPA/Hazy/Juicy styles.

This is what my recent water profile looked like:

0.9 g gypsum, 1.1 g epsom, 1.2 g salt, 0.5 g cal chl, 3.3 g chalk in a 2.5 gal batch for Ca 72, Mg 8, Na 34, Cl 69, SO 66

Before this recent change it was more like:

2 g gypsum, 1.1 g epsom, 0.9 g salt, 2.1 g cal chl in a 2.5 gal batch for CA 58, Mg 6, Na 20, Cl 87, SO 87

 

[rodwha]

Those numbers are fairly vague too. Just figured I'd give you a range. The main thing is Ca>50-75 and a Cl:SO4 ratio of about 2:1 for NEIPA and 1:2 for WC. Seems to be the consensus?

So I’ve looked for a closer to 1:1 ratio. Why such an opposing ratio between them?

I really love a west coast IPA, but I figure mine is somewhere between a west coast and a juicy style. Basically a high IBU west coast with little bittering. Would it benefit me to approach this more from a west coast water profile?

 

[wepeeler]

So I’ve looked for a closer to 1:1 ratio. Why such an opposing ratio between them?

I really love a west coast IPA, but I figure mine is somewhere between a west coast and a juicy style. Basically a high IBU west coast with little bittering. Would it benefit me to approach this more from a west coast water profile?

2:1 Cl:SO4 gives you softer bitterness, while 1:2 CL:SO4 enhances hop bitterness. So, 1 is "better" or at least more appropriate for NEIPA and 2 is better for WC IPA.

 

[rodwha]

2:1 Cl:SO4 gives you softer bitterness, while 1:2 CL:SO4 enhances hop bitterness. So, 1 is "better" or at least more appropriate for NEIPA and 2 is better for WC IPA.

So since I’ve reduced my bittering to ~20 IBUs and as a first wort hopping it seems as though I’ve covered the soft bitterness part in a different manner but maybe should continue on the path of higher chloride levels?

 

[wepeeler]

So since I’ve reduced my bittering to ~20 IBUs and as a first wort hopping it seems as though I’ve covered the soft bitterness part in a different manner but maybe should continue on the path of higher chloride levels?

FWH isn't really a thing for NEIPA. 20 ibu is fairly low too. What's your recipe look like?

 

[rodwha]

FWH isn't really a thing for NEIPA. 20 ibu is fairly low too. What's your recipe look like?

I don’t really push for a style per se in most IPAs. I wasn’t getting the hop flavor I expected and was advised long ago to reduce my bittering charge and load up at the back end of the boil, this well before NEIPA/Hazy/Juicy was a thing in Texas.

Here’s my hop schedule for a recent black IPA (more simple) for a 2.5 gal batch using Rager as Tinseth seemed too high):

0.125 oz Centennial (10.7%) @ FWH for 14 IBUs
0.75 oz Centennial (10.3%) @ 15/5 mins for 19/12 IBUs
0.90 oz Centennial for a 30 min Whirlpool starting around 185°
2 oz Centennial for dry hopping

My latest IPA just used too many various hops and weights, but it uses twice as much hops

 

[rodwha]

I paint outside of the lines when it comes to my IPAs. Funny as I’m usually a somewhat strict rule follower.

 

[rodwha]

To be clear, even though my beers tend to be hazy as I use white wheat, it’s not really the style I’m after. But this style I like when I brew it seems to really siphon a lot from it. I can’t say it’s closer to another version.

I see I can easily add photos. Here’s my latest IPA trying a thin-bodied version: