What is the proper Ph for an IPA… assuming I like super hoppy IPA’s? I just bought the Five Star 5.2 Stabilizer for a batch I plan on making this weekend. Before anyone asks, I typically use reverse osmosis water and add burton salts. But my beers are missing a crispness for some reason. The water chemistry thing is tough on my brain. I’d really appreciate some advice.
The range of appropriate mash pH is the same no matter what the style of beer is, it’s the pH required for good conversion of the starches to sugars.
We’ll need a full recipe, as well as the amount of Burton salts you’re adding to the water, then we can talk about crispness. Everything from malt and mash temps to yeast and fermentation temps.
Very well said! Let’s break it down. Crispness might be as simple as carbonation volumes. IMO. 
Well… my last IPA had:
12 lbs 2-row
1 lb 40L Crystal
I can’t recall the hop schedule… but it was about 7 or 8 ounces total for a 5-gallon batch. I like my hops.
My yeast is WLP-001. I added two teaspoons of Burton Salts to 5 gallons of reverse osmosis water for the mash… 152 degrees for just over an hour. I sparged with 3.7 gallons and added a teaspoon of Burton Salts if I’m remembering right.
I did have a problem with a slow starting yeast… not sure if that would effect the “crispness” of the beer or not.
Thanks for all the advice!!!
The range for mash conversion is the same, and it’s pretty forgiving . However, the pH of the wort going into your fermentor has a flavor impact as well. A lower pH seems to impart a smoother bitterness and prevents wort darkening during the boil. On the other hand, beers like farmhouse saisons tend to have a higher pH pre-fermentation that lends a dry, slightly harsh bite. I’ve also had more success with the Saison Dupont yeast when aiming for a higher kettle pH.
My usual warning for the Buffer 5.2…don’t assume it’s working for you. If you use it, you should also check your pH to make sure it’s correct. depending on your water and your recipe, sometimes the stuff works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Like euge said, there’s several things you could do to improve crispness. The easiest thing I think is to remove 50% of the crystal from your recipe, that should improve the perception of dryness and make the beer taste more crisp. You could also add table sugar to dry it out more.
To me, the amount of crystal doesn’t seem excessive. You could try 1-2 tsp. of gypsum in the boil to accentuate the hops.
There’s already sulfate in the Burton salts, but I guess he could try adding more.
I’m not saying there’s too much crystal for an IPA, but if you want a crisper beer removing crystal is one way to get there.
Ditto. Most water works for most beer.
I hope that you are checking the pH of your mash. If not how do you know that you need the pH 5.2?
Why are you using RO water rather than your tap water?
Thanks for pointing that out, I missed it. But who knows how much sulfate is in there?
I agree, it would. I was pointing out another way to achieve that.
I’d like to look at some basics. Did you pitch enough yeast? What was the FG? Most IPA recipes are gonna need more than one tube of yeast, or a real good starter.
Also you should calibrate your thermometers. I mash IPA’s more at 149-150* to be sure they are very fermentable.(you’ll still have ‘body’ with the crystal malt) Target a FG closer to 1.010…maybe the dry finish of a low FG will provide the ‘crispness’ your looking for.
Just my $0.02
morebeer does ;D
30g will provide:
266 ppm Ca
63 ppm Mg
159 ppm Carbonate
631 ppm Sulfate
Other sources might vary, or might not. 
Got it 8)
Holy cow! That’s a metric buttload of sulfate! ;D
Yeah, it is
He’s using a tablespoon which is right around 30g, but some of that will be left in the mash. Still, there should be plenty of sulfate.
The salts used for water adjustment range from 1.8 - 4.5 grams per teaspoon, according to Palmer, so I doubt he used 30g. Maybe 10 - 15 g.
Also, the morebeer description doesn’t look quite right. Why is carbonate in there? I think they mean Chloride.
I appreciate everyone’s contribution to my beer education. This forum alone is worth the price of being an AHA member!
Regarding the mineral content of my tap water… I’m in Seoul, South Korea and I don’t read or speak Korean, so I don’t know what the composition of the city water is here. I work on the military base, so I don’t interact a lot with Koreans or speakers of the language. I’m sure I could find out though if I took the time to do so. What I’ve done in the meantime is use reverse osmosis water I buy in 2.5 gallon plastic jugs from the commissary, which to my knowledge has no mineral content. So I’ve been adding 2 teaspoons of Burton Salts to my mash water assuming that was enough. If I’m way off, please feel free to correct me as my knowledge of water chemistry as it relates to brewing is quite limited. Would it be wrong of me to presume I am a bit off on my mineral content for a hoppy, crisp tasting IPA? Most of my beers seem like they don’t have that edge to them that I’m looking for… in fact, the beer I’m trying to clone is the Green Flash Imperial IPA which has a beautiful hoppy crispness to it.
Thanks for all the help again.
Ok, I’m probably off. I was basing it on the density of the salts, and didn’t account for the shape and size of the grains which will leave a lot of air there. My bad.
I would worry less about the salt additions, and work on drying out the beer. What is your OG/FG?
My OG was 1.082… FG was 1.014… off the top of my head. It turned out to be a 8.6% ABV beer.