BrewZilla FermZilla Journey

[KevinJ]

Ok, so I finally kegged my Torpedo clone where I experimented with water chemistry for the first time, and it's nigh undrinkable. I'm not saying it's because of the additions I made to the water, but I haven't had a beer taste like this before. The beer smells fantastic, very hoppy and bright, but it tastes off...very boozy and chalky (?).

I used 1/2 pound of Acidulated Malt because I didn't have any acid (I have some now for future brews). I also added the following:
- 11 g Gypsum
- 1 g Epsom salt
- 1 g NaCl (I forgot that Megary told me not to)

I didn't have my pH meter calibrated, so I don't know what my mash pH was, but according to the BF Water Chemistry calculator, I should have been close to 5.2.

Were those the wrong additions to make? Is there a better way to calculate what I should add (other than guessing 100 times and using different combinations)?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Ok, so I finally kegged my Torpedo clone where I experimented with water chemistry for the first time, and it's nigh undrinkable. I'm not saying it's because of the additions I made to the water, but I haven't had a beer taste like this before. The beer smells fantastic, very hoppy and bright, but it tastes off...very boozy and chalky (?).

I used 1/2 pound of Acidulated Malt because I didn't have any acid (I have some now for future brews). I also added the following:
- 11 g Gypsum
- 1 g Epsom salt
- 1 g NaCl (I forgot that Megary told me not to)

I didn't have my pH meter calibrated, so I don't know what my mash pH was, but according to the BF Water Chemistry calculator, I should have been close to 5.2.

Were those the wrong additions to make? Is there a better way to calculate what I should add (other than guessing 100 times and using different combinations)?

I've never gone that far on my gypsum depends on how your water is straight. Most I've gone is 6g to get that crispness and hop bite going.

 

[KevinJ]

I've never gone that far on my gypsum depends on how your water is straight. Most I've gone is 6g to get that crispness and hop bite going.

Thanks. I didn't have much to work with so I basically guessed. I'll dial down the gypsum next time.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Thanks. I didn't have much to work with so I basically guessed. I'll dial down the gypsum next time.

Usually your local water authority will do an online water report with an average % of the main minerals your looking for calcium- magnesium- sulphates- Chlorides and alkalinity or hardness sometimes measured in bicarbonates.

I use my local water report 95th percentile readings for my water numbers.
I plug these into my water profile and use this as my base water profile when adjusting my salt additions in the water calc that's linked through the recipe builder on this site.

See if you can find out your base water profile before adding that much sulphate in the future.

Your on the right track though Usually for hoppy beers I'll favour sulphates over chloride.
I basically adjust these two ions when creating beers.
Ph is adjusted once these salts have been added most times you'll fall into the 5.2-5.6 ph zone.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I've probably been too busy at work to see this the last couple of days. I'm still learning things myself, but I am finding that different yeasts do make a huge difference. With IPAs, they are doing all kinds of things now.
Some of the breweries are making "cold IPAs" or IPLs now that I enjoy. That might be worth playing around with too.
I think the advice of doing a recipe a few times is good. I have been trying different styles, and when I i get around to doing one a second time, it almost always turns out better.
British yeasts with an IPA, German larger yeasts with an IPA, and hell, anything else..it sounds like fun.
I know that White Labs had a hoppy lager on tap and in a 4 pack when I was in Asheville in the spring. In the 4 pack, 2 were with one yeast, and two were with another. They were two completely different tasting beers with the same recipe. Both were good.
One of these days, I will get around to the water. The Spring Water from Publix works really well for me at this point, but I do still have a lot to learn.