HopsAreGood
Well-Known Member
I'll start this by saying that I primarily brew NEIPAS and other IPAs. Like most everyone here I'm always trying to improve, experiment, and gather as much knowledge as possible with the end goal being the best beer possible. It also goes without saying that we're all at different levels when it comes to experience, skill, knowledge, equipment, etc...What I hope to do here is share some more "advanced" concepts that I have either implemented myself, or am planning to try out in the future. Any concepts, experience, thoughts, suggestions are welcome. I am by no means an expert and would love to hear any tips or tricks that work well for others. I should also state that what may be considered advanced for some is clearly not for others.
Also, I'm aware that there is a giant thread all about northeast IPAs, but it can be difficult to read through all 200+pages at times.
1. Water Chemistry: The common suggestion is approximately 2:1 chloride to sulfate with people usually targeting 200:100, 175:90, 150:75, etc...I've played with ratios and found that higher chloride tends to give me a slick kind of mouthfeel, and on occasion a mineral type quality. I have found that I personally prefer going higher on the sulfate. I find that it really makes the hops pop a bit more and brightens up the beer. High chloride tends to dull the hop presence for me. This is obviously just my preference but I feel it's worth mentioning because it seems everyone just agrees higher chloride is better.
The other thing I'd mention is that because most people simply focus on the chloride and sulfate additions, they're not rounding out the beers enough. What I mean is that typically only gypsum and calc chloride are used to achieve the target numbers. By doing so Calcium is typically elevated to around 100 or more, because both contain calcium. I've seen a few places having great results with extremely low levels of calcium in the 30-50 range...presumably because lower levels of calcium make the water "softer." Also by using only these 2 salts both magnesium and salt are being completely ignored. Here is the water profile that I've been using that I really like a lot..again, this is just my preference.
8 gallons of distilled water
4 grams gypsum
9 grams Epsom salt
3 grams canning salt
1.125 grams calcium chloride
Calcium: 41 ppm
Magnesium: 29 ppm
Salt: 39 ppm
Chloride: 78 ppm
Sulfate: 190 ppm
2. Mash PH: I shoot for 5.1. I find that the beers tend to be much brighter and less muddled when I mash this low. It's also been proven that large dry hop additions raise your PH, so starting low helps to ensure that after all the dry hops have been added, you will more than likely be in your desired range of 4.2 - 4.5. There are obviously other factors that come into play but starting low helps in your quest to not finish too high. If you don't account for this and do massive dry hop additions, you're destined for a pretty high final PH which will lead to potential harshness, astringency, etc..
3. To whirlfloc or not? I brewed about 20 batches of NEIPA and never once used whirlfloc as common wisdom will tell you you don't need to because they're supposed to be hazy. The beers all came out fine but I've started using it recently and I feel like the end result is just a little more polished. I know many brewers who always use whirlfloc and this is in no way advanced, but it is a simple tweak that I've recently made that has had a positive impact on the final product.
4. Polyclar (PVPP): Polyclar is a chemical that binds to polyphenols. One of the main culprits to hop burn, astringency, and that extremely unpleasant hop burn sensation is polyphenols. Some of the Australian and NZ hops are extremely high in polyphenols, more so than many American varieties. As of now most people will tell you that in order to get rid of hop burn, you simply have to wait for everything to drop out of suspension, which can take quite a while depending on what hops you've used and your setup. I haven't used polyclar but I've seen people claming it works really well. A common way to use it is to put in the last 10 minutes of the boil, and then do a very large whirlpool. Stir the whirlpool aggressively and because polyclar works by binding to polyphenols, they will clump or coagulate and be left behind. Think of it as a way to put in a ton of hops, yet remove all of the hot, unpleasant polyphenols. Seems very promising to me.
There used to be a product called BrewBrite I believe that was a mixture of whirlfoc and pvpp. I'm pretty sure it's discontinued though.
5. Carbonation with CBC-1: I typically force carb my kegs with CO2. The results are predictable and easily obtainable. With that being said ever since I learned about Treehouse likely carbonating and conditioning there beers with CBC-1 it has really got me interested. I've always heard people say that they can absolutely, without a doubt tell the difference between a beer that has been naturally carbonated versus a beer that has been force carbed. They claim the mouthfeel is definitely softer, more velvety, and has softer and smaller bubbles. Then there are the people that say CO2 is CO2...period. I'm going to be using CBC-1 to carb my next keg and am excited to see if I can perceive any difference.
At the risk of making this WAY too long, I'll stop there. One of the reasons that I love brewing this style of beer is because there are so many little tweaks you can make..it's a never ending pursuit of perfection that will likely never be attained.
If anyone has any tips, tricks, tweaks, or just things that work well for them, I'd love to hear them.
Cheers!
Also, I'm aware that there is a giant thread all about northeast IPAs, but it can be difficult to read through all 200+pages at times.
1. Water Chemistry: The common suggestion is approximately 2:1 chloride to sulfate with people usually targeting 200:100, 175:90, 150:75, etc...I've played with ratios and found that higher chloride tends to give me a slick kind of mouthfeel, and on occasion a mineral type quality. I have found that I personally prefer going higher on the sulfate. I find that it really makes the hops pop a bit more and brightens up the beer. High chloride tends to dull the hop presence for me. This is obviously just my preference but I feel it's worth mentioning because it seems everyone just agrees higher chloride is better.
The other thing I'd mention is that because most people simply focus on the chloride and sulfate additions, they're not rounding out the beers enough. What I mean is that typically only gypsum and calc chloride are used to achieve the target numbers. By doing so Calcium is typically elevated to around 100 or more, because both contain calcium. I've seen a few places having great results with extremely low levels of calcium in the 30-50 range...presumably because lower levels of calcium make the water "softer." Also by using only these 2 salts both magnesium and salt are being completely ignored. Here is the water profile that I've been using that I really like a lot..again, this is just my preference.
8 gallons of distilled water
4 grams gypsum
9 grams Epsom salt
3 grams canning salt
1.125 grams calcium chloride
Calcium: 41 ppm
Magnesium: 29 ppm
Salt: 39 ppm
Chloride: 78 ppm
Sulfate: 190 ppm
2. Mash PH: I shoot for 5.1. I find that the beers tend to be much brighter and less muddled when I mash this low. It's also been proven that large dry hop additions raise your PH, so starting low helps to ensure that after all the dry hops have been added, you will more than likely be in your desired range of 4.2 - 4.5. There are obviously other factors that come into play but starting low helps in your quest to not finish too high. If you don't account for this and do massive dry hop additions, you're destined for a pretty high final PH which will lead to potential harshness, astringency, etc..
3. To whirlfloc or not? I brewed about 20 batches of NEIPA and never once used whirlfloc as common wisdom will tell you you don't need to because they're supposed to be hazy. The beers all came out fine but I've started using it recently and I feel like the end result is just a little more polished. I know many brewers who always use whirlfloc and this is in no way advanced, but it is a simple tweak that I've recently made that has had a positive impact on the final product.
4. Polyclar (PVPP): Polyclar is a chemical that binds to polyphenols. One of the main culprits to hop burn, astringency, and that extremely unpleasant hop burn sensation is polyphenols. Some of the Australian and NZ hops are extremely high in polyphenols, more so than many American varieties. As of now most people will tell you that in order to get rid of hop burn, you simply have to wait for everything to drop out of suspension, which can take quite a while depending on what hops you've used and your setup. I haven't used polyclar but I've seen people claming it works really well. A common way to use it is to put in the last 10 minutes of the boil, and then do a very large whirlpool. Stir the whirlpool aggressively and because polyclar works by binding to polyphenols, they will clump or coagulate and be left behind. Think of it as a way to put in a ton of hops, yet remove all of the hot, unpleasant polyphenols. Seems very promising to me.
There used to be a product called BrewBrite I believe that was a mixture of whirlfoc and pvpp. I'm pretty sure it's discontinued though.
5. Carbonation with CBC-1: I typically force carb my kegs with CO2. The results are predictable and easily obtainable. With that being said ever since I learned about Treehouse likely carbonating and conditioning there beers with CBC-1 it has really got me interested. I've always heard people say that they can absolutely, without a doubt tell the difference between a beer that has been naturally carbonated versus a beer that has been force carbed. They claim the mouthfeel is definitely softer, more velvety, and has softer and smaller bubbles. Then there are the people that say CO2 is CO2...period. I'm going to be using CBC-1 to carb my next keg and am excited to see if I can perceive any difference.
At the risk of making this WAY too long, I'll stop there. One of the reasons that I love brewing this style of beer is because there are so many little tweaks you can make..it's a never ending pursuit of perfection that will likely never be attained.
If anyone has any tips, tricks, tweaks, or just things that work well for them, I'd love to hear them.
Cheers!