Muddled Hop Flavor is it my water?

[NervousDad]

I submitted two IPAs for a competition and they did terrible. The only bad comment that I got back was that the hop flavor is muddled. But it killed my score.

Do you think it's my water profile?

Here is an example of my water profile for a heady topper clone that I used with wlp007 instead of Conan

Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 43
Mg: 22
Na: 19
Cl: 39
SO4: 24
CaCO3: 138

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 4.83 / 5.56
RO or distilled %: 70% / 80%

Total Grain (lb): 15.3

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaSO4: 9 / 9
CaCl2: 1 / 1
MgSO4: 0 / 0
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
CaCO3: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid (ml): 0
Sauermalz (oz): 3

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 140 / 128
Mg: 7 / 5
Na: 6 / 5
Cl: 38 / 34
SO4: 282 / 261
Cl to SO4 Ratio: 0.14 / 0.13

Alkalinity (CaCO3): -88
RA: -191
Estimated pH: 5.51
(room temp)

 

[mchrispen]

Assuming I am reading this correctly, the only thing I see is the pH at 5.51. I would strive to pull it down a bit further. You could up the Sauermaltz a bit to drop nicely into the 5.4 range... or add some liquid acid.

However, that 5.51 would imply a higher pH into the kettle that tends to present a sharper or "rougher" hop character, which should also follow with the elevated levels of sulfates... so "muddled" from water - I don't see it. Especially assuming you treated all things with care - fresh hops, careful dry hopping, no O2 contact after fermentation, etc.

My guess is that the judge was commenting more on your hop bill and schedule. I have found that moving my aroma and flavor hops to late in the boil and in the whirlpool/stand has really changed some of my hop forward beers - sometimes they come out very sharp and crisp, and others not so much.

 

[NervousDad]

The pH was a little high, but the 2 row that I was using has a slightly lower pH than was was calculated.

The Heady Topper was an overly complicated Hop but my other IPA was just columbus and Cascade, all 5 minute and 0 additions, with one 60 minute bittering addition. The hops were a 2012 crop year stored in the freezer. Maybe my gelatin stripped too much flavor.

Thanks for the help!

 

[mabrungard]

Was the sparging water diluted or acidified?

 

[NervousDad]

Yes, I used 80% RO For my sparge water. The gypsum and CaCl went into the boil.

 

[mabrungard]

Yes, I used 80% RO For my sparge water. The gypsum and CaCl went into the boil.

All of the mineral additions or just the part for the sparging water?

 

[NervousDad]

Just the sparging.

 

[mabrungard]

That all sounds good. But as Matt pointed out, 5.5 is a little high. Targeting a pH of 5.4 could reduce the tendency to elicit rough hop flavor and it should also brighten the beer flavors. Don't drop the pH too far below 5.4 since that can reduce the hop expression. 5.2 is OK for beers that aren't hop focused.

 

[NervousDad]

Thank you, this is great information! I'm always afraid to go overboard with my additions, but I guess I need to get over that