BeerBorg

I'm working up a recipe for a big IPA for this weekend. And I'm looking for a good water profile for an IPA/Double IPA. I've been looking on the internet and there is all kinds of opinions out there. Just wondering if anyone has a profile they've used and works well.

I've modeled a few of my IPA's after Scott Janis' recipes. I've never directly brewed his recipes but took ideas from a few and mixed them together (but he's won countless awards for his beers so copying his shared recipes is also suggested).
I've used similar water profiles to this a number of times with minor adjustments for my recipe and like them. I know you use EZWater but I think Brun' Water and Screwy's EZRecipe do a better job for me but that's just my opinion. Of course, if something is working well for you, there's no reason to change.

Tasty McDole has a water profile he uses for all his hoppy beers. Based on his experience and succes, it might be worth checking out. I have used it a time or two, it is certainly geared towards bringing out the hops and drying out the finish of the beer.

Ca: 110, Mg: 18, Na: 17, So4: 350, Cl: 50

There is also a water profile in the "Water" book by John Palmer that talks about what Sierra Nevada uses for there Pale Ale. I can look it up easily if you are interested.

Thanks guys...I found both of those profiles while I was researching. They are pretty close to each other except for the Sulfate levels. And that's where I'm getting confused. I've found comments that if it's too high (over 300) it can leave a chalky mouthfeel, but others say no. Who do you believe??? I may just work it towards the Janis profile and see what happens.

IMO, anything over 150ppm So4 seems like overkill and it's probably a matter of diminished results. I know there are higher levels for certain brewing waters but I mind of compare to the IBU thing, at some point it's probably no longer contributing anything.

I just listened to a podcast on water profiles last week and also heard that going to 300 is not recommended. Can't remember the persons name they quoted but do remember that 150-200 is the highest they recommend for most folks. I'd have to look at my last few brews of hoppy pales and IPA's but I'm pretty sure it was under 200. I know the person behind Brun Water (Martin) agrees with the 'never over 300' as well. However, I kept some of Tasty's p2 things I've bookmarked this a while back and found interesting. I have tried to keep my sulfate to chloride ratio 2 to 1 most of the time.
http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/03/water- ... t-results/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/co ... o_for_ipa/

Can't you tell I really show my nerdness and OCDness when it comes to water?

Thanks for the comments and the links. Good reading. I think I'm going to go with this profile:
Ca - 100
Mg - 18
Na - 16
Cl - 49
SO4 - 204

I'll post the recipe later in the Advance Recipe section.

IMHO the only reason to go crazy high with the So4 is if your trying to emulate something like Burton water for an old school English IPA/Burton Ale and you are using large quantities of exclusively low AA hops like Goldings or the like as all your bittering hops. That's when you will notice a difference in the final product. In this case it's not as simple as just bitterness because when using large amounts (IE I'd use 6-8oz in a 3 gallon batch as the bittering addition, and a couple more oz later in the boil) of low AA hops you are influencing the beers final taste because of all the extra hop tannins/polyphenols introduced, so there are astringent elements added too. You can't make an authentic old school Burton Ale using a high AA bittering hop in small quantities (seriously it won't taste the same at all) and the extra So4 does seem to help these beers be what they are supposed to be somehow.

I just checked out Scott's IPA recipe and was surprised to see he also added minerals to the boil. Something up to this point I haven't thought to do myself. I plan on following his process and brew an IPA based on his recipe. I may skip the keg hop additions and add them to the fermentor at day 6 though.

I have a recipe planned that is somewhat similar to this one but I've never added anything to the boil. I'm not really sure how much, if any, difference it makes.

I’ve never added anything to the boil either. Now that I think about it, I’ve only added minerals to the mash water. Never even added to the sparge. Wonder if that matters??


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Ignoring that some people cold sparge with success:

Solubility in a solution is always tied to a combination of "time, temperature, and ph".

So, in "theory" sparge water PH matters just like temperature. So in "theory" adjusting your sparge waters profile makes sense if it's adjusting the PH.

Does it really matter in a sparge, I don't know. We aren't talking about a lot of "time" there in the first place, and the "solution" being produced isn't very concentrated. We are talking if anything very small differences I'd guess.

FWIW, I also treat my sparge water as well as the infusion/mash water. I generally keep the same water profile for all of my beers (balanced in EZ Water) but maybe I'll start playing around a bit with ph and the other levers a bit since I now have lactic acid (not malt).

I have big enough pots that I treat the whole amount of water, if I need 9.5 gallons mash and sparge, I treat and heat to mash temp then start reheating for sparge right about 55 minutes on the mash. By the time I'm done draining the wort it is about to sparge temp. I only add any acid addition to adjust pH in the mash cooler, have not used acid addition in sparge.

Good clarification: I only adjust my sparge water with calcium chloride, salts, gypsum, etc. I wouldn't be adjusting the ph of the sparge water.