What's the secret to brewing a REALLY clean tasting IPA?

[fendersrule]

Would thou like to live deliciously?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

You have Magnesium Chloride? I ask mostly because I thought I might pick some up and it seems mostly what I could find was bags of ice melt and some pills...I do see some listing for health stores selling it. It does not seem to be a very common salt for brewing. I mostly adjust my Chloride with Calcium Chloride and don't worry much about Magnesium.

I have been moving toward not micromanaging my mineral levels. If I am adding less than a gram of something to a batch, I have to wonder if it makes any impact. Can you tell 17 ppm of Sodium vs 25?

Everything I read says that 5-10 ppm of Magnesium is good for most beers. Even 0 seems fine as the grain contributes a good amount. 25 ppm seems much higher than I see others recommend for a light beer like a Pale Ale. I see where Colin Kaminski (co-author of "Water") recommends that level for dark beers. I have 7 ppm in my tap, and only occasionally add some Epsom Salt and only for dark beers based on the recommendation from Kaminski...not because I can notice the extra Magnesium.

 

[RPh_Guy]

He had particular targets for sulfate and chloride. Those are both anions, so he also needs to add cations to maintain electrostatic balance. He made the smart choice to distribute the increases across all the cations, although potassium could also be used, just not with the spreadsheet.

 

[fendersrule]

I don't have Magnesium chloride.
I noticed that on brew day and caused a slight panic. I removed that to zero and added .1g calcium chloride to compensate.
My final numbers. Close enough.

 

[z-bob]

Anyone tried using a kolsch yeast in an IPA? Like Fermentis K-97.

 

[fendersrule]

I did add some magnesium sulfate as well. Just a little. Probably .3-.4G.

I’ll be fine!

 

[ba-brewer]

WLP029 makes a good hoppy beer, it is clean, fast, drops quickly and lets the hops come through.

 

[fendersrule]

Hosted a good brew day. May have gotten a neighbor fully hooked on the BIAB method.

70% efficiency like clockwork. Single step mash, all basic and no frills.

Nice thing about brewing in the late fall/early winter is when the wort hits the carboy, it's 65F on the dot.

1.059-1.060 OG.

With a 154F mash, she'll probably hit around 1.010.

Pitched S-04 last night. Krausin already going good in the morning. By tonight it should be full on.

Will dry hop several ounces of pellets in a few days.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I dip apple slices in Campden table solution to keep them from browning. It's been a while since I've sliced apples because my kid is grown, but I think it was half a tablet in a pint of water. They will stay pretty and white in the fridge for weeks until they eventually rot.

That's a hell of an idea! My wife has often not wanted to send apple slices with the youngest kid [7 yo] in her school lunch because she worries that the kid won't accept the browning. This would be a great answer for that...

Thanks!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

You have Magnesium Chloride? I ask mostly because I thought I might pick some up and it seems mostly what I could find was bags of ice melt and some pills...I do see some listing for health stores selling it. It does not seem to be a very common salt for brewing. I mostly adjust my Chloride with Calcium Chloride and don't worry much about Magnesium.

I have been moving toward not micromanaging my mineral levels. If I am adding less than a gram of something to a batch, I have to wonder if it makes any impact. Can you tell 17 ppm of Sodium vs 25?

Everything I read says that 5-10 ppm of Magnesium is good for most beers. Even 0 seems fine as the grain contributes a good amount. 25 ppm seems much higher than I see others recommend for a light beer like a Pale Ale. I see where Colin Kaminski (co-author of "Water") recommends that level for dark beers. I have 7 ppm in my tap, and only occasionally add some Epsom Salt and only for dark beers based on the recommendation from Kaminski...not because I can notice the extra Magnesium.

I think the common addition for magnesium is epsom salt. Which is insanely cheap in large quantities too. But it's magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), so if you want chloride you need to find it elsewhere (such as calcium chloride).

I generally think that micromanaging the water profile is probably overkill at the homebrew level. I used to use a scale that was only 1g resolution, and not that long ago bought a scale that was 0.01g resolution, and I don't think it made any real difference to the beer. Generally I figure if I was targeting, say, 25 ppm of sodium, with the older scale I could easily have been anywhere between slightly under 20 and slightly over 30. At that point, I agree that it's not all that critical.

That said, I do think that you should try to be as close to the ballpark as possible. Very slight deviation is one thing, but if your target profile is 25ppm sodium and your actual brewing water is 150ppm, THAT might be noticeable.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Anyone tried using a kolsch yeast in an IPA? Like Fermentis K-97.

WLP029 makes a good hoppy beer, it is clean, fast, drops quickly and lets the hops come through.

I'm literally drinking an IPA brewed with WLP029 right now. It was fermented at typical kolsch temps as well.

Very good beer. Not my best IPA, IMHO, but I don't think that's due to the yeast. I was basically using the Pliny recipe to inspire a lower-ABV version and then ferment with the kolsch yeast. I think the balance is off.

But I agree with @ba-brewer -- in concept the use of kolsch yeast in an IPA makes sense. It's a pretty neutral yeast, and doesn't get in the way. I've got a number of homebrew club buddies who have done IPAs with kolsch yeasts and like the result.

 

[Dgallo]

I’m so surprised this thread ended up getting so many post. Clean tasting beers always start with proper fermentation/yeast healthy, eliminating or minimizing o2 pick up, and good sterilization. That will get you a clean beer. After that you can dial in the water profile for what your brewing to pull out flavors and perfect a recipe for the mouthfeel/body your going for.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I’m so surprised this thread ended up getting so many post. Clean tasting beers always start with proper fermentation/yeast healthy, eliminating or minimizing o2 pick up, and good sterilization. That will get you a clean beer. After that you can dial in the water profile for what your brewing to pull out flavors and perfect a recipe for the mouthfeel/body your going for.

Sure, but it's the details that matter.