So I am a partial mash brewer. Ive been having issues trying to make a good IPA. I first using water from my house (which I found was not good for beer). So I switched to using 100% distilled water and using some gypsum when doing the partial mash. However, my beers are still not coming out hoppy enough. I always do 60 minute addition of bittering hop, 10 minute addition, and then a 20 minute hop steep once I cool the wort to 175. When I do this method, it comes out hoppier than if I don’t. I was wondering if there is something else I am missing/doing wrong? Do I need other additives besides the gypsum? Should I post my next recipe I am going to do? Thanks in advance for any advice or help.
What is your calculated ibu for the 60? Where are your dry hops?
I always use Beersmith 2 for my recipe design and IBUs usually calculated around 80. I usually dry hop for 5 days before bottling.
Post your recipe and process. You could add a tad more gypsum to accentuate hop character (but I wouldn’t go over 2 tsp/5 gals). And you can always use more hops in the boil and/or the hop stand. Also, extending the amount of time you steep the hops makes a difference in hop intensity. Try 45 minutes next time, stirring every few minutes. Steve beat me to it about dry hops.
I do a FWH, whirlpool and dry hop and it works for me. I use the Bru’n water pale ale profile
I don’t know what he volume is, but I added about 15 grams of gypsum to my last IPA + 6 ish grams of Epsom salt. This is all-grain, so I don’t know about adding Epsom salt to partial mash
Yeah, he’d be better off to up the hops instead of more gypsum, given the partial extract. I saw it but it didn’t register. OP - does it need more bitterness? More late hop character? Both?
I tried Bru’N water and couldnt follow it lol
I used 16 ounces of hops in my last brew and it was lacking bitterness and hop character. Thats why I posted this. I will post my next recipe and try whatever is suggested
Partial Mash IPA 5 Gallon Recipe
Partial Mash Grain:
4lbs Golden Promise
0.5lbs Crystal 10L
0.5lbs Flaked Wheat
0.5lbs Vienna
1 tsp Gypsum
6.6 Pale Liquid Malt Extract
Hops:
60 minutes 1 ounce Warrior
10 minutes 1 ounce Amarillo
10 minutes 1 ounce Cascade
10 minutes 1 ounce Centennial
Cool wort to 175
2 ounces Amarillo
2 ounces Cascade
2 ounces Centennial
Dry Hop for 5 days
2 ounces Amarillo
2 ounces Cascade
Unfortunately, Bru’n Water is complicated enough to actually require a new user to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. After a user understands the flow of inputs and outputs, most say its very intuitive. You may need to spend more than 30 seconds.
Adding gypsum for an IPA is a good idea, but you do need to assess what the ending concentrations are. If you don’t add enough, the effect may be insignificant. If you add too much, it may be too drying and the beer pH may have been driven too low (also bad for hop perception).
You also have help comments in practically every cell
Ive read bru’n water several times and been confused by it still, especially since i use 100% distilled water.
That makes it even easier as you could skip ahead to tab 3. But I don’t know about using it with partial mash
Play around with it for about 30 minutes. Read the cells and instructions. Brew a beer with it. Adjust if needed. Repeat.
I agree. First time I just kinda winged it and hoped I got where I wanted to be. I was struggling to get everything as near to perfect as possible and after reading some on here. I rdwhahb’d it and loved my results. Get close on flavor and target the pH you want. After that, sample and plan out the profile for the next brew or the next iteration of that same brew. I use RO, so close to distilled. I have all the listed additions available to me, and really only ever use 2 ot 3 plus lactic acid if necessary. I don’t feel that I hit the Munich or the Munich boiled profile dead on, but close enough when talking about the tiny additions RO or distilled need. After several brews with it, I would not start a brew day without thinking about Bru’NWater again. Just my $0.02
Edit to add: the important thing is to get your inputs correct: volumes, weights, colors, etc
if it’s an issue with the final pH you could us some acid to bring the pH down a couple points and see if that helps the hops… pop. gypsum or epsom salts will also dissolve in cold beer so you could dose a sample with more sulfate and see if that helps.
I would think that recipe would make a pretty hoppy IPA.
Where does the FG end up at? Could there be an issue with too high of an FG? It may not be an issue for partial mash however I used to have to sub in some sugar when doing extract to make it more fermentable. You may want to do away with the crystal malt altogether. A drier finish may help the hops pop through more. Just a thought.
Ive spent more than that trying to figure it out and no luck with partial mash using 100% distilled water
I am going to try this recipe soon, but Im still not sure about the additives, I cant find anything for partial mash and 100% distilled. All I know is that what Ive been doing hasn’t worked and figure I need to try something different or need more additives.