Effect of sulfate o this recipe...

[MaryB]

An RO system hasn't fit the budget yet and distilled water is killing me... none of the local stores have RO water, just filtered which I can do myself.

My water is good for brewing most beers except for the 400ppm sulfate reading... my house beer is this

16 pounds of Golden Promise
3 1/2 pounds of victory
3/4 pound of extra dark crsytal(160L)

2oz Perle at 60 minutes
2oz Hallertau at 5 minutes

11 gallon batch, yeast is Danstar Notty, I can control ferment temps to whatever I want...

I know, go ahead and brew this and see how it comes out instead of adding minerals to the distilled or RO water but looking for an opinion...

 

[rwing7486]

Id expect a very dry finish with that much sulfate. Could be good water for a west coast IPA

 

[MaryB]

Not a huge IPA fan... not into massive bitter in my beers. That recipe finishes semi sweet, bit of a bready background... occasional IPA is okay but not as a daily drinker with supper...

 

[JKaranka]

Sounds like good water for British pale ales / bitters. You could try something simple like 13lb MO, 2/3lb C60. 1.5oz Perle at 60m and 2oz EKG at 15m. If it comes with those nice mineral and sulphur notes (choose a decent yeast), plus a nice bitter bite and dry finish you're sorted.

 

[mabrungard]

That sulfate level can be expected to dry your beer's finish. Its getting to the point that you might experience some of the sulfury Burton snatch that some brewers and drinkers complain about. If you don't note it, then you are fine. You can still create nice malty beers with this water, but they may not have the fullness that you could produce with less sulfate.

 

[MaryB]

This recipe comes down heavy on the sweet side so a dryer finish might be fine for me. My friends might complain but oh well! More beer for me! Rest of my water report is dead center for ales, only bad was the sulfate level of 400ppm. Makes the water smell like wet dogs when you do laundry! YECH!