![]() I don’t know if it’s possible to have chloride sensitivity, but anytime I used a 2:1 ratio, I felt the beer lacked something, and the mouthfeel felt gritty, chalk-like. I experimented with several different water chemistry profiles that led me to the conclusion that the 150 ppm chloride to 100 ppm sulfate tasted the best to me. When it comes to brewing New England IPA, I have definitely developed preferences for certain malts, yeasts, and hops over time. Perhaps every brew day is an opportunity for you to test out new methods and ingredients to dial in your process and get weird. Maybe you liked the results of using a certain base malt so you never considered using something different. It can be as simple as comparing two finished beers and choosing your favorite. ![]() ![]() When it comes to homebrewing, I view preference as being formed from comparison, familiarity, and/or experimentation. The downside of the treated batch was it seemed to lack the stronger aroma and flavor I picked up in the untreated batch. I perceived the beer made with untreated water as brighter and more aromatic with a slight alcohol flavor and a touch more bitterness, while the treated water batch came across as rounder, smoother on the palate, and overall easier to drink. In each case, I had to go back and forth between each sample multiple times before making my decision. My Impressions: My wife served me 4 blind triangle tests, and while the differences weren’t blatantly clear to me at first, I ended up picking the unique sample 3 times. At this sample size, 9 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, though only 4 (p=0.83) made the accurate selection, indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a New England IPA treated to achieve a targeted water profile from one brewed with straight untreated distilled water. ![]() Each participant was served 2 samples of the treated water beer and 1 sample of the untreated water beer in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. Left: treated | Right: untreated | RESULTS |Ī total of 16 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. My curiosity got the best of me as I contemplated all the possibilities, so I figured I’d test it out for myself. Unlike sulfate, which is known to accentuate hop bitterness and lend a drying effect to styles like American IPA, chloride allows the malt to come through, providing a fuller, rounder, smoother, and dare I say, juicy experience on the palate.Īs someone who loves this style and brews it often, I couldn’t help but wonder if water chemistry really matters, whether the natural flavors from the malt, hops, and yeast really needed a boost from mineral and acid additions. If all that isn’t enough, then there’s water chemistry.Ī common recommendation when making NEIPA is to use water with a higher ratio of chloride to sulfate, often in the range of 2:1, though sometimes even higher. Then there’s yeast, which in the end will create some fruity, beautiful, often opaque happiness in a pint. The hop choice usually consists of tropical, pungent, heady aromatic varieties. I began to dissect the style in my head and asked the question- what makes a NEIPA a NEIPA? The grist usually contains pale malt with a decent percentage of flaked adjuncts such as oats or wheat, which are used to add body to the beer, impart a slick mouthfeel, and aid in head retention. I asked myself this question recently while designing a recipe for one of my favorite styles, New England IPA. Will applying all this extra effort into the beer really make a difference? Throw in some math, brewing salts, spreadsheets, ions, ratios, acids, and pH into the mix, and it can all feel overwhelming. With so many aspects of brewing to focus on, it can become very easy to put something as seemingly unexciting as water chemistry on the back burner. This is the amount of time it likely took your brain to decide if that prickly hop and malt flavored water you just took a sip of was good or not. Is it everything you were expecting? Too bitter? Too sweet? Flavorless? What exactly is that flavor? Is it balanced enough? How’s the mouthfeel? Oh, that aroma! Do I want another? What should I adjust? Is it perfect? Visit The Brü Club website for more information on this series. Articles featured on are selected by The Brü Club leadership prior to being submitted for publication. While members who choose to participate in this series generally take inspiration from Brülosophy, the bulk of design, writing, and editing is handled by members. This xBmt was completed by a member of The Brü Club as a part of The Brü Club xBmt Series in collaboration with Brülosophy. Mosaic Of Change IPA by House Of Pendragon.
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