Brewing up an ESB this week and wanted to run by my latest water profile I worked up for it. I tried the Amber Bitter profile for Brunwater last time for a special bitter and did not care for it. Looking at the Pale Ale profile (which I have used in AIPA’s before) and it seems a bit too over-mineralized for what I am looking for.
So, here is my adjusted water for this next one with a predicted 5.4 mash pH and RO water. 1.056 OG, 11-12 SRM, 45 IBU’s
61 ppm Ca
12 ppm Mg
30 ppm Na
130 ppm SO4
51 ppm Cl
These additions were made to help hit my target pH with the resulting adjusted levels above. Any thoughts or suggestions?
I think that looks good for an ESB with lower minerality. You may want to consider bumping the Cl a bit to boost the malt a little, but that’s your call. My ESB water profile looks pretty similar to yours, but with 100ppm Cl and 150ppm Sulphate (spelled with a “ph” since it’s an English ale )
I was considering bumping the sulfate a bit, but didn’t want it to accentuate the hops too much so that it totally overpowers the malt. I have about 45 IBU’s going into mine, how many IBU’s do you shoot for in your ESB with that sulfate level?
I find that the Bitter profiles work well with ESB’s, but there are some brewers from UK that feel that the mineral content (specifically chloride) is not high enough for their tastes. I have to admit that brewing with high sulfate and high chloride does impart a minerally flavor to the beer. If that is what you want, do boost the chloride over 100 ppm and keep the sulfate high too. If you prefer your beer to taste like beer, you may be happier with the Bitter profiles closer to their published values.
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