Pale Ale Brewing

Many brewers have found that they just can't produce that "Pop" in their hoppy brews that they sometimes find in commercial hoppy beers like pale ales. Water chemistry is critical to these hoppy styles.

The availability of inexpensive reverse osmosis water may contribute to this problem. For pale ales and IPA's, low water mineralization can tend to leave the beer somewhat flavorless. In addition, if some form of acid is not added to the mash, the mash pH is likely to be too high and the opportunity to extract tannins rises. John Palmer and I visited a brewery that used straight RO water with no minerals. Their IPA had the problems mentioned above.

The Pale Ale profile in Bru'n Water has proven to be a compliment to typical pale ale and IPA brewing. This profile is a compilation of water profiles devised by notables such as Mosher and McDole. As outlined in the Zymurgy article on Burton water conditions, it turns out that this pale ale profile with its modest (compared to Burton water) mineralization is more likely to be what Burton brewers used to craft their beers. The dilution of their groundwater with the River Trent water made the difference. Their pure groundwater was too minerally to make good beer.

While the dryness provided by the 300ppm sulfate content of the Pale Ale profile can be pleasing, some drinkers may prefer a less dry character in their beer. Experience suggests that a 100 ppm sulfate content is the lowest that might be considered suitable for pales and IPAs. 200 ppm may be a good starting point for many brewers.

Be aware that when you add a bunch of gypsum to low alkalinity water like RO, it is likely that you will HAVE to add some alkalinity to the mashing water to keep the mash pH from dropping too low. For hoppy beers, targeting a mash pH of 5.4 does improve the hop expression. If the pH is much lower than that, the expression WILL suffer.