IPA Experiments
I've been brewing a lot of IPAs and APAs in the last few months. In fact, every other batch has been an pale ale of some sort. I love the bright citrus flavors of West Coast IPAs, but have been having trouble replicating that flavor.
When I inquired about the local water, they gave me these values:
Calcium 83 ppm
Magnesium 39 ppm
Sodium 41 ppm
Sulfate 35 ppm
Chloride 81 ppm
CaCO3 364 ppm
I've been trying to wade through Colin Kaminsky and John Palmer's Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, but it's been such a long time since I took chemistry! I've only gotten halfway through. And I was flipping through Mitch Steele's IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale
, looking at the recipe for Stone IPA. Their CaCO3 is 100 ppm. (While looking at the recipe for Union Jack, I noticed Firestone Walker was 100 ppb. I wonder if that is a typo?)
Way back when I first brewed Dirktastic, I used 5 gallons of distilled water, and got a really nice grapefruit flavor.
Why not do this with my upcoming OPA? I thought. BeerSmith tells me I need 9 gallons and some change for brewing. I bought six gallons of distilled water to get my CaCO3 down from 364 ppm to closer to the 100 ppm range.
As long as another arctic front doesn't blow through, I will brew tomorrow. I will keep you posted.
When I inquired about the local water, they gave me these values:
Calcium 83 ppm
Magnesium 39 ppm
Sodium 41 ppm
Sulfate 35 ppm
Chloride 81 ppm
CaCO3 364 ppm
I've been trying to wade through Colin Kaminsky and John Palmer's Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, but it's been such a long time since I took chemistry! I've only gotten halfway through. And I was flipping through Mitch Steele's IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale
, looking at the recipe for Stone IPA. Their CaCO3 is 100 ppm. (While looking at the recipe for Union Jack, I noticed Firestone Walker was 100 ppb. I wonder if that is a typo?)Way back when I first brewed Dirktastic, I used 5 gallons of distilled water, and got a really nice grapefruit flavor.
Why not do this with my upcoming OPA? I thought. BeerSmith tells me I need 9 gallons and some change for brewing. I bought six gallons of distilled water to get my CaCO3 down from 364 ppm to closer to the 100 ppm range.
As long as another arctic front doesn't blow through, I will brew tomorrow. I will keep you posted.
Labels: Recipes
posted by hiikeeba at 08:00
2 Comments:
I am located a little south from you and have this same problem. I feel like I put a good bit of hops in yet I never achieve the same hope profile as described. I look forward to your results.
Will be interesting to see what happens. Will be getting our yearly water report soon, I don't think our CaCO3 is far off from yours if I remember last years report correctly.
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