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A Brief History and Look at Future Trends in US Craft Beer

“Beer is more important than armies when it comes to understanding people.” – Alexei Vranich

An Early History of Craft Beer

Early American beer started with ales from the British settlers; porters, stouts, and pale ales (once kilning took hold as general practice in 1703). It is common knowledge that most of the founding fathers were homebrewers, with George Washington being one of the most famous of them. One thing that many people don’t talk much about is the role of women in early American brewing. These brewing maidens many times managed their own operations, brought communities together, and many were also typically bakers as well. They kept cats as house pets, and hung their brooms outside their houses to signify that beer was flowing. Recognize anything familiar? These women were demonized by Puritan settlers to promote staunch temperance, and thus the “witch” was born.

Once German settlers started arriving in the later 1700s and 1800s, lager beers came into the forefront. What we saw after that was a hybridization of style—basically a blend of the lager and pale ale (especially in the warmer climates)—this is where the California and Kentucky common came from, as well as the cream ale. These were the standard beer menu items almost any domestic brewery carried. Locality had a lot to do with it. Just as it always has been in brewing, you use what’s fresh and what you can get your hands on. This is the reason the American adjunct lager became the popular method for brewing lager in the US, because local American 6-row Barley didn’t have the same gravity potential as European 2-row, so corn and rice were added to increase the available sugar content in the beer without changing the flavor too much. There are various research papers from the time that praised this innovation, which allowed everyone to continue drinking their favorite bubbly beverage. Around this time also (pre-18th amendment America), there were just a couple hundred breweries less than there are today. You could say it was in its own hey-day. Macro breweries had been at a disadvantage during this period, as the local brew pubs were the ones with the freshest selection and lower price that the larger players couldn’t compete with. Prohibition is what allowed for the large breweries to take over, they were the ones that invested in canning lines, distribution (trucks, etc.), and large facilities. They also brewed low alcohol/zero alcohol beers to stay afloat during that time or did things like selling malted milk to candy companies. I don’t really need to spend much time on what happened after that. One thing that is quite notable, however, is that even through this time, there were pub and brewery owners truly honoring the craft. This helped to create an underground community that eventually assembled the American Brewer’s Association which helped establish specific protections for independent breweries, and today is the driving force in beating back the macros of the world, creating a niche for these brands that are truly “craft.”

There really was a shift when the Cold War ended. The early 1990s saw people like the pioneers from Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head come along and helped to truly reshape what American beer is, basically by saying, “this can’t be all there is…” They doubled down on their beliefs, and decided that the way to make it was not to do a better version of the American Light Lager, but to do something completely different. They followed the Henry Ford methodology, giving people something that they had no real expectation for nor basis of judgement- “If I had asked the customer what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse”. In today’s market, these same companies are working tirelessly to stay relevant and compete with the up-and-comers, who seem to have a strong pulse on the changing palate of the American beer drinker. Because of this innovation, the US is now the best place to try and taste new beers, according to Randy Mosher. Between 2015 and 2017, almost 1,000 breweries were opened, and in 2017 craft beer surpassed 10% of overall US beer market share (BeverageDynamics). People have come to demand new and local, something that Big Beer has been tapping into with their Shock Top/Blue Moons and Goose Island/Kona brands- falsely representing brands as craft when they are just as “big” as Budweiser itself. Certain large craft brands have also been seen adding products to the shelves to compete in the smaller craft brew space, e.g. Tropical Torpedo (Sierra Nevada), Voodoo Ranger/Citradelic (New Belgium), Rebel IPA and now a New England IPA (Sam Adams) to name a few. This is the one thing that makes me excited about the future of beer, as if these pioneers are basically a step behind now, where can this industry really go? Authenticity and taste will always seem to trump craft no matter how you define the word. We’re basically seeing history repeat itself- just with different flavors and style trends- and way larger marketing budgets.

There’s a lot of speculation of what’s to come. If 2018 is anything like 2015 or 2017, we’ll likely see another huge acquisition that blows everyone’s minds and makes the buy-outs of yester-year feel like a drop in the bucket. The one refreshing aspect of all of this is how gracious the beer drinking community is. Yes there are people who have had their egos get far too overinflated, but the fact remains that this culture is one based on trust and comradery. For every 10 new breweries, there is at least one homebrew store opening, and soon local malt houses will start to be a staple in the industry as up-and-comers look to distinguish their malt taste, reminiscent of what the French have coined “terroir”. One of the most interesting pieces I got my hands on was a research paper talking about the role that wasps will play in the future of beer taste, as wild yeasts can breed and mutate within the stomachs of wasps. Some larger craft breweries have been experimenting with “brewing history into the glass,” and I’m fascinated to see what type of concoctions brewers will continue to bring to the table in this “ancient” vein. Heck, I heard of a beer that was brewed from a yeast isolated from the brew master’s beard! Now that the science is more specifically understood, there will be some amazing flavors hitting the market that might make our hoppy berliners of today look like finger paintings next to these flavor Picassos. I just saw a well-produced social media ad for sour beers claiming they’re incredible for digestive health. I can see the marketing campaigns already… “So you like Kombucha… Then you’ll love this beer”- they’re already selling 7% abv Kombucha… so why not?

2017 in Craft Beer

Some Big trends that 2017 saw: sour beers, dry hopped wild beers, fruity/juicy IPAs, New England IPAs, and milk in everything. Even though people have loved to hate some of these trends, they’ve come about from brewers responding to feedback from their customers, by just giving the fans what they want. A very stark advantage that these up and coming breweries have is not being chained to successful brands, which frees up tap space for more seasonal brewing, and allows the brewers to pay more attention to their customers. Some tap houses have gained market share by never carrying the same keg twice.

One trend that seems to be gaining momentum is the alternative grains movement. In 2015, Business Insider listed gluten-free beer FIRST on its list of 4 trends to look out for in the coming years. I’m making no large, overarching comments here, but that could be the reason I was chosen to write this article (being a glutard myself). Certain breweries like Ghostfish and Glutenberg have gotten their flavors profiles down so well that we might see a day when gluten-free is no longer just for those with sensitive stomachs, or who are health conscious, and is lumped in with the rest as just down right good beer. It’s still made with water, malted grains, hops, and yeast. Speaking of the Reinheitsgebot, many countries, like Germany, are drinking 30% less beer per capita, and “health reasons” is the main driving force. Take this into account. The same year that the USA was rated the fattest country in the world (2007), Germany was rated as the fattest country in Europe. Gluten is an inflammatory protein. There’s not really any way around that, and gluten-reduced beer just carries chopped up gluten protein pieces, from which I personally still experience inflammation in the form of brain fog, sore joints, and worse hang-overs (think hangover turned flu-like), so there is a chance that gluten-reduced might not be a long-lived trend in beer. Lacking those inflammatory proteins, the path forward may include a growing number of gluten-free breweries, where grains that have typically been on the periphery will now take center stage, like millet, buckwheat, rice, sorghum, quinoa, oats (that are certified gf), corn, amaranth, sweet potatoes, beets, dates, and various of other malt-able grains and sugars. By no means has barley seen it’s day, but there is a massive potential for this industry to take flight considering that according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, as many as 18 million Americans may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).

Other Trends to Watch For

I’m very excited to see that barrel aging has gained so much popularity in beer. The next few years will likely see every commercial barrel used for any spirit being used to beer aging- Tequila and Rum barrels especially- the bourbon barrel/taste is starting to play itself out. Also, I’m starting to see less shaker pint glasses serving my favorite golden elixirs- which means that the education about what beer can be is getting out to the masses.

The public has spoken, as one-bottle wonders are typically a one-time sell. Some craft beer enthusiasts may be willing to pay extra for a beer that they’ve decided they’re going to try and check off their beer bucket list, but they’re not going to come back and buy your 18% ABV mother of all IPAs night after night. Session beers are making a strong comeback, especially as this local movement takes hold and breweries become communal gathering places again and not just destination visits for beer pilgrims. I also keep hearing about pilsners making the list at just about every brewery, so much so that even Robert Mondavi’s kid is opening a brewery that will specialize in just pilsners. Who would have thought? Either way, expect to start hearing from more Utah brewers to be leaders in this space (*throat clear* Jennifer Talley is a genius).

One thing that seems safe to say is that IPA’s are here to stay. Breweries will continue to have IPAs, and in some cases, have more than 4 IPA styles on their tap list (some are all IPA breweries and are not ready to admit it). In today’s climate, it’s almost expected. The number of new breweries being launched with an IPA as their flagship beer is almost staggering. To keep up with this demand, hop cultivars will continue to experiment and breed strains together to get the right chemical mixes and really make those flavors pop. We’ll be seeing some hop breeding relationships that will most likely blow people’s minds- think mixing two “not-as-popular” hops to create something far more desirable- this could change the taste styles we see.

Craft Beer Style Crossover

Speaking of breeding, beer styles have been getting it on so to speak; so much so that they don’t really have their own style category for judging. In fact, we’ll likely see so much style-creep that naming beers might become purely marketing. Cans are already starting to look like professional works of art with the labeling designs, and it’s working. Somehow asking for the bartender for a pint of the “Tropical Imperial Hazy Kolsch” just doesn’t seem like it’ll work in the long run. What do we really know anyway? Could the pilsner’s day actually be in its twilight of popularity? Whatever the case, quality will always win in the craft game.

“Tod Zum Reinheitsgebot” (Gluten Free India Dunkel Bock)

Notes:
Treat water with 2 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp gypsum. Mix all grains dry in bucket before pouring in, Stir in grains into 5 gal of strike water and add ½ tsp of amylase enzyme. Mash at 154⁰F for 1 hour, raise to 163 for 30 minutes, sparge out with 2.5 to 3 gallons of 170⁰F water with same ratio of calcium chloride and gypsum (In this instance you would use 3/5 of your original measurements- since we’re sparging with 3 gallons). You should have a pre-boil gravity of about 1.03-1.045.
Ferment 2 weeks at 55⁰F. I transferred to the lager fridge when gravity was 1.010. Dry hop three days before pulling the beer out. I let it lager for just about a month between 36-38⁰F.

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Brewing Water Basics – Putting it All Together

We’ve covered some of the basics of water chemistry in the last two articles, and now we are ready to put it all together.

The first step is to start with chlorine-free water of suitable quality for brewing and reducing the alkalinity if needed.

Once you have an understanding of targeting an optimum range for the mash pH and taken steps to use non-alkaline water for sparging, the next step is to consider using brewing salts in the water to further enhance the flavor of your beer.

Just as in cooking certain spices go well with certain foods, certain brewing salts can enhance certain styles of beers. Looking back at the list of our brewing salts, we can see what each of them brings to the table:

Calcium (in Gypsum and Calcium Chloride): Calcium is the primary ion that determines hardness of the water. It helps with lowering the pH during mashing, helps with precipitations of proteins in the boil (hot break), enhances yeast flocculation, and assists in preventing beerstone. Many lagers are made with very low levels of calcium, so it is not required but can be helpful in the amounts 50-100 ppm.

Magnesium (Epsom Salt or MgSO4): Also responsible for providing hardness to the water, it can provide a sour/bitter flavor to the beer in amounts of 30 ppm or more. It has a laxative effect in much larger amounts. Malt provides all of the magnesium required for yeast health, so it is not required as an addition unless adding sulfate in the presence of a high calcium level (using epsom salts, or MgSO4).

Sulfate: Sulfate is the ion that is used to accentuate hop bitterness by enhancing the dryness of the finish. Additions are normally avoided in continental lagers or only used in small amounts, often 30 ppm or less, and in most ales the ideal amount is 30-70 ppm. For highly hopped beers, the desired sulfate level may be much higher: 150-300 ppm for IPAs or west coast APAs. That will make the finish seem more crisp and dry. If using 150 ppm or higher, the chloride level should be under 50 ppm to avoid a minerally finish to the beer.

Chloride: Chloride accentuates a fullness or “roundness” of flavor in the beer, enhancing the malt sweetness. It is generally used in the 40-100 ppm range in many beers, but in the New England IPA style, the chloride is often over 100 ppm, up to 150 ppm.

Sodium (Non-iodized table salt or NaCl): Sodium rounds out the malt flavors, and can be used in modest amounts (under 150 ppm). A higher concentration can make the beer taste salty, and having a high sodium combined with a high sulfate level can create a harsh bitterness. It is generally recognized that keeping the sodium at 0-60 is a safe bet, and using brewing water sourced from a water softener is to be avoided.

Baking Soda (NaHCO3 or sodium bicarbonate): This is used if alkalinity is needed to raise mash PH, and also provides sodium.

Many of us can remember the older guy at the bar with a tap beer in front of him using a salt shaker to sprinkle salt in his beer. Looking at the list, we can see that the table salt consists of NaCl- both sodium and chloride. The sodium rounds out the malt flavor, and the chloride accentuates the fullness of the malt sweetness. We can do the same thing via these salt additions to the mash and/or preboiled wort.

Determining Brewing Water Additions

Adding the salts is done in very small amounts, typically grams. While it can be converted to other measurements (a teaspoon of calcium chloride is close to 5 grams), the amounts are generally very small so a scale that weighs to grams and/or tenths of a gram is very helpful. While it is easiest to just add a teaspoon or a half of a teaspoon of something to the mashing water, it’s best to look at a brewing spreadsheet showing the additions so you can see the results of adding the salts. There are also nomographs available and of course an enterprising brewer can calculate it by hand. The amounts are usually expressed in parts per million (PPM) and the spreadsheets themselves have guidelines on how much to add to avoid overuse. The salts are typically added to the mash, but can be added to the boil kettle in some cases. Make sure to never add baking soda or other alkalinity to the sparging water. In the rare case where you need to raise the mash pH, add the baking soda to the mash.

When deciding what additions are suitable for each batch of beer, consider what you want to bring out in the beer’s flavor. Also, keep in mind that “less is more” generally applies, until you know what you like in a certain beer recipe or style. For example, if you are making an American IPA you may want to use some gypsum (calcium sulfate), as the sulfate will help to provide a dry finish and a crisper mouthfeel to enhance the hops bittering. While some brewers will go up to 300 ppm of sulfate in these beer styles, you may want to start smaller at first to avoid perceptions of harshness. Since the easiest way to add sulfate to the beer is via gypsum which also adds calcium, this is commonly done. The other way to add sulfate is via magnesium sulfate (epsom salt), but it’s important to keep the magnesium level below about 30 ppm to avoid a bitter/sour flavor. Some brewers eschew the addition of epsom salts totally, feeling that the gypsum does the job without any issue.

For a beginning profile for something like an American pale ale or IPA, a modest addition of gypsum is may give great results. As an example, using 7 gallons of RO to begin the brewday for a 5 gallon batch, adding 7 grams of gypsum will provide 63 ppm of calcium and 148 ppm of sulfate. Looking at the list above, you can see that it is in a desirable range for both calcium and sulfate for a hoppy beer. Using a brewing spreadsheet, you can see that using this amount of gypsum in the mash is also likely to give an optimum mash pH as well, depending on the grainbill, so this is a great place to start. After the brew is finished and taste testing, a decision can be made for next time. You can even add a touch of gypsum to the glass, to see if you prefer the beer with more sulfate for next time. Starting with less than the maximum recommended generally gives satisfaction to the brewer.

For beers that have a lovely malt flavor, calcium chloride is a common addition. Looking at the list again, you can see that calcium chloride will provide calcium to the mash as well as the chloride. Since chloride enhances the fullness or “roundness” of malt flavor, and gives a perception of sweetness to the malt, adding it to a beer recipe can bring the flavor to the next level. If you’re making an Octoberfest or brown ale, adding some calcium chloride would be a great move. Adding 3 grams to a 5 gallon batch of brown ale maybe be just the ticket to making a very good beer great.

For brewing lagers, especially European style lagers, less sulfate is desirable and often it is completely left out. It wouldn’t be unusual to brew a German pilsner without any additions to RO water at all, so keep in mind that adding brewing salts is not necessary and is a matter of the style of the beer as well as the brewer’s taste.

For a good basic “all purpose” water profile to start, consider something like this:

Calcium: 75 ppm
Magnesium: 10 ppm (more or less, but under 25 ppm)
Sodium: 0-50 ppm
Sulfate: 50-70
Chloride 50-70
Mash pH of 5.3-5.5

There are a couple of cautions when adding brewing salts to your water adjustments. Many brewers will refer to the sulfate:chloride ratio because that’s been discussed in older brewing texts. The theory is that keeping a ratio of sulfate to chloride will make a beer more “hoppy” or more “malty”- but this is not so. When discussing a ratio, remember that 80 ppm of sulfate and 40 ppm of chloride is a 2:1 ratio, and according to a brewing water spreadsheet available online (EZ Water) the text says “may enhance bitterness”. That’s great- but 800 ppm sulfate and 400 ppm of chloride is ALSO a 2:1 ratio- and it also says “may enhance bitterness”. Common sense dictates that one beer will be far different than the other, while the ratio is exactly the same. The first should be just fine, although not with a particularly dry finish, but the second will be “minerally” and undrinkable. When you are cooking and add too much salt to your spaghetti sauce ,you cannot erase that by adding more pepper. When brewing, you also can’t “erase” too much gypsum by adding more calcium chloride. Instead of targeting a sulfate:chloride ratio, look at the actual numbers in ppm and the recommended limits of each ion, and make the decision based on that.

Another pitfall is to be so consumed with the numbers of the ions is to forget that the mash pH is the most important aspect of delving into water chemistry. An appropriate mash pH will provide the most benefit to your beer, while the flavor ions are the “seasonings” in your beer. Starting with a good recipe and using good water and targeting an optimum mash pH will make a very good beer. Tweaking the recipe by adding some gypsum and calcium chloride (as examples) may take that very good beer to very, very good or even excellent beer. To compare brewing to cooking again, adding the perfect amount of salt and pepper to your spaghetti sauce can make your very good sauce something memorable, and adding a bit of rosemary may make it exceptional. So it goes with brewing- starting with a great base and adding your brewing salts in the right amounts can take it to the next level. Adding too much is more of a danger than too little, so be aware of that in your additions as you start adjusting your water.

Entire books have been written about brewing water and water chemistry for brewers, as the subject is complex. Further reading is highly recommended. Some good sources are listed below:

Here are a few links to additional reading, as well as some of the sources of this article:
https://howtobrew.com/book/section-3/understanding-the-mash-ph/reading-a-water-report
John Palmer, How To Brew
https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge
Martin Brungard, Bru’nwater
https://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Beer_color,_alkalinity_and_mash_pH
Kai Troester
https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/
Brewer’s Friend, water calculator

Water- A Comprehensive Book for Brewers John Palmer & Colin Kaminsky

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Brewing Water Basics Part 2

This article is a continuation of a three-part series. Check out part one here.

You may have heard that you have “hard” water, or “soft” water. Hardness in water is mostly due to the calcium and magnesium ions in the water. A low concentration of these is said to provide soft water, while high concentrations produce hard water. The hardness of your water varies regionally. In the Midwest the water tends to be hard, while in places like southern California and other coastal areas, the water tends to be soft. Neither type of water is inherently poorly suited to brewing, and both can be used successfully. In most cases, moderately hard water is ideal due to the need or desire for some calcium in the brewing water.

The hardness of your water is balanced by the alkalinity of the water. This is in the form of bicarbonates. Alkaline water is high in bicarbonates. In your water report, you should see “hardness as CaC03” in parts per million (ppm) or “alkalinity as CaC03” in ppm. The key to using your water is to determine its alkalinity and taking steps to provide the proper amount so that you can obtain a proper mash pH. The make up of the sparge water is important as well, and this should be kept in mind.

The pH of your starting water does not impact the mash pH as much as you would think. That is due to the buffering capacity of the water (the alkalinity) and the more acidic grains. Once the water is combined with the grains in your recipe, the mash pH will be determined. The mash pH is the important part of this—it determines many of the qualities of your beer (flavor, color, clarity) and is a factor in enzyme activity. These enzymes are what go to work to convert the starch in the malted grain to fermentable sugars. Providing a mash pH of 5.2-5.7 favors their activity, although the enzymes will work outside of that range. Narrowing the target mash pH to 5.3-5.5 will help to optimize the enzymes, and also enhance flavor. A higher pH will increase harshness in the finished beer, extracting more tannins and also increase the isomerization of hop oils so that the beer can come across as rough or coarse. To be clear, when we are discussing the pH during mashing, we are talking about the readings taken at room temperature. To check the pH, a very small sample (even a shot glass size) can be taken from the mash, cooled in an ice/water bath, and then checked when the sample is at 68-75 degrees. PH readings vary from mash temperatures to room temperatures, and any pH readings are always provided at room temperature. This also will help preserve the life of the probe on the pH meter. A good quality pH meter can be found for +/- $100 or so, and is highly recommended. There are pH strips available in the 5-6 pH range, but their accuracy is questionable and they can be very hard to read, especially with dark wort.

Sparge water should be acidified to have a pH of less than 6, to avoid tannin extraction as the gravity of the wort drops. Alternatively, water with minimal alkalinity can be used such as distilled or reverse osmosis water for this. Sparging with alkaline water can cause some harsh flavors as well as a puckering dryness in the finish.

Dealing with Alkalinity:

For some of us, the biggest challenge is dealing with high alkalinity in the water. For a moderate amount of alkalinity, some acid in the mash and sparge water can be an easy fix. For those with high alkalinity, there are options such as pre-boiling the water and racking off of the precipitate, lime softening, dilution with distilled water, or even installing a reverse osmosis system in your home to deal with this. Our article will discuss adding some acids to our brewing water to optimize the mash pH and sparge water alkalinity, and diluting your own water with distilled or reverse osmosis water.

For further information on reducing alkalinity with lime, please see: https://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Alkalinity_reduction_with_slaked_lime . The technique is easy, but far beyond the scope of this article. This works well for brewers with good but alkaline water, and is worth considering as it is inexpensive.

One of the easiest ways to estimate your probable mash pH is with a brewing water spreadsheet. There are several available online, and in some brewing software programs you may already have.  We recommend the Advanced Water Calculator at Brewer’s Friend here:  https://www.brewersfriend.com/?p=2959&preview=true .  Each calculator may differ some in the algorithms they use, but most are fairly similar. With your water report in hand (or using the default for reverse osmosis water if that is your supply), you enter the values into the software where indicated, along with the volume of water you are starting with and the batch size. The volume of water you may start with may be a gallon or two more than your batch size, due to boil off and grain absorption and there will be a box for this. Using the recipe input portion, you add the amounts of the grains you are using in the current batch. The spreadsheets will then give you a projected estimate of the mash pH.  The water calculator in Brewer’s Friend is easy to use with a very small learning curve.

You will notice that almost all of the mash pH projections for light to amber colored beers will be higher than desired. That is where the acid additions come in. The acids of choice for brewers are lactic acid and phosphoric acid in the US and often CRS in the UK. There are others available, but many (such as citric acid) may have an undesirable flavor impact so lactic acid and phosphoric acid are more widely used in the US. Lactic acid may have a flavor impact in large amounts as well, so if you have more than moderately alkaline water you may wish to use phosphoric acid which is more flavor neutral. Make sure to look at the strength of your acid. Lactic acid usually comes in 88%, while phosphoric acid can be 10% or 88%. The spreadsheets have a place to add the acid of choice (with the strength) on them, and then recalculate the mash pH of your batch.

Since the grains have a natural acid content, when mixed with water the pH of the mash will naturally drop. Dark roasted grains are more acidic than pale grains, and will drive the mash pH lower without adding acid to the mash. Unless you are brewing a very dark beer, many water supplies will require some acid however, and pale beers most of all. Using a soft water with low alkalinity is a key to success with beers such as pilsners because of this, while brewing a stout will require some alkalinity to balance the acidic grains. That is where the spreadsheets can be helpful, so that the acid content of the grains is estimated and then balanced against the alkalinity of the water. Target a mash pH of 5.2-5.7, ideally 5.3-5.5, for best results. Don’t forget that readings are always done at room temperature. It is highly recommended to do a test mash- that is, a very small batch of the recipe you are using, with the same volume of water per ounce of grain, and to check the pH. You will then know how the entire volume will react, and can make adjustments to your acid additions as needed when making the batch.

In rare cases, it may be necessary to add alkalinity to your water. For example, if you are starting with soft water with low alkalinity, the darker grains used in a porter or stout may drive your pH too low. Unless you have naturally high sodium in your water, baking soda is the addition of choice. Calcium carbonate (chalk) has been used routinely in brewing, but because of its limited solubility, it does not dissolve well in the mash unless extraneous measures are taken, and should be avoided.

It is also important to treat the sparge water if you have alkaline water. If you adjust your sparge water to have a pH of 5.5-6, and avoid any additions of alkalinity like baking soda, you should be all set. Many brewers will choose to sparge with 100% distilled or reverse osmosis (RO) water in lieu of acidifying the water, and that works well. To acidify the sparging water, lactic acid or phosphoric acid can be used. Often, this is very little acid especially if you are using 88% lactic acid so a pipette or dropper is very helpful. To avoid flavor impacts, using phosphoric acid is recommended if more than 5 ml of lactic acid in 5 gallons of water is required for the necessary pH drop. If you do not have a pH meter, the sparge water tool in the brewing water spreadsheets can be used.

To check the mash pH, a small sample of the mash can be taken out and cooled to room temperature (72-75 degrees or so) and the reading taken with a freshly calibrated pH meter. A small shot glass cooled in an ice batch works well for this. The pH of the mash does change as the mash proceeds, however slight, and so the first reading should be taken within about 10 minutes of mashing in. If it is fairly close to the projected desired pH, it should be left and notes taken for next time as chasing pH can be futile if adding acid and then alkalinity to try to hit the target. If the mash pH is wildly off from the projected pH, a new reading should be taken before attempting any fix.

For many brewers, mash pH adjustments may seem overwhelming, at least at first, so further reading is recommended. This article attempts to break water chemistry down into the simplest methods and this is a very complex subject.

If all of this still seems very difficult at first, one of the quick and easy ways to get a likely acceptable mash pH is to start with 100% reverse osmosis (RO) water and add a bit of lactic acid or acidulated malt to it. That will be appropriate for most light/pale beers, although not as precise as targeting a mash pH with the water additions and grist in the recipe. Using RO water for the mash and sparging water, and using acidulated malt in the amount of 1-2% of the grainbill (usually 2-4 ounces in an 11 pound 5 gallon batch) will often get you quite close. For a stout or other beer recipe with 1# of dark roasted grain like roasted barley or black malt, leave out the acidulated malt.  This should result in an acceptable end product without worry.

We will talk about more specific steps to make water chemistry easier for you in the next article of our series.

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Brewing Water Basics – Part 1

For many brewers, water chemistry is treated as the last frontier of homebrewing. Oftentimes, it is ignored or at least not something homebrewers want to think about. The old adage “if your water tastes good, it’s fine to brew with” may be repeated, and believed. The brewer may work on refining recipes and take great pains to provide fermentation temperature control, but ignore the water used in brewing.

This is a mistake because the largest component of beer is the water. Managing the pH of the mash and the flavor contributions of the water can take a good beer to a great beer. While it’s true that poor tasting water will make poor tasting beer, the inverse is not always true. Great tasting water out of the tap may not be well suited to brewing. Additions to the water by the water supply company such as chlorine, or the more stable form called chloramine, keep your water supply safe for drinking but chlorine can negatively impact the flavor of the beer. In some areas, the water out of the tap may be high in bicarbonate or iron which can also negatively impact your beer. If you wish to not delve into water chemistry at all, it is advisable to use reverse osmosis water from the water dispensers at grocery stores or distilled water as it would be a blank canvas to start with. Even so, better beer can be made with paying attention to a few water additions and mash pH that will be discussed in this article series.

Where to Start With Brewing Water

Getting a water report from your water company, if using municipal water, is a great place to start. They should have all of the information available, but you may not get all of the information you need from them at first. They are required to test the water for safety, and will report contaminants and pesticides, but will not always give you the components that brewers are looking for in a water report. You can ask brewers around you about the water, but often the easiest way to get a report on what you need is by ordering a household minerals test from a testing company. If you have a well, this is likely the only way to get a report. One of the dangers will dabbling with brewing water is to add items per a recipe without knowing what you are starting with, so the report is crucial before beginning. A popular company is Ward Labs, but there are others out there. A basic test should run under $35 for what you need. You will require sodium, calcium, magnesium, sulfate, chloride, bicarbonate, and total alkalinity.

It’s also important to find out if your water company uses chlorine or chloramines for disinfection of the water. In order to use any water for brewing, this is a steadfast rule: the water must be chlorine free. Chlorine will off-gas and/or boil off, but chloramine is a more stable form of chlorine and will not easily boil off. It can be removed via campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) easily. One tablet crushed and dissolved into 20 gallons of water and stirred well will remove chloramine (and chlorine) in most cases. Removing the chlorine, or purchasing reverse osmosis or distilled water should be the first step in dealing with water.

Understanding Minerals

The results from your water test will give you the ion concentrations in parts per million (ppm) or mg/l. These minerals are important for brewing water, because they can affect the suitability for use in brewing and have a flavor impact.

If you have iron in your water (look for discoloration in plumbing such as rust spots), it is generally poorly suited for brewing as it is detectable in very small amounts in the finished beer as an unpleasant metallic or even blood-like flavor. Iron should be under 0.1 ppm in the water. If you have sulfide flavors and aromas in your raw water (rotten egg-like smell), it will not be suitable for brewing. If you have some sediment, a filter will often help. Just be sure to send the water after filtering for testing if that is what you plan to use.

The major mineral ions will we be working with are as follows:

Calcium: Calcium is the primary ion that determines hardness of the water. It helps with lowering the pH during mashing, facilitates precipitations of proteins in the boil (hot break), enhances yeast flocculation, and assists in preventing beerstone. Many lagers are made with very low levels of calcium, so it is not required but can be helpful in the amounts 50-100 ppm.

Magnesium: Also responsible for providing hardness to the water, magnesium can provide a sour/bitter flavor to the beer in amounts of 30 ppm or more. It has a laxative effect in much larger amounts. Malt provides all of the magnesium required for yeast health, so it is not required as an addition unless adding sulfate in the presence of a high calcium level (using epsom salts, or MgSO4).

Sulfate: Sulfate is the ion that is used to accentuate hop bitterness by enhancing the dryness of the finish. Additions are normally avoided in continental lagers or only used in small amounts, often 30 ppm or less. In most ales the ideal amount is 30-70 ppm. For highly hopped beers, the desired sulfate level may be much higher: 150-300 ppm for IPAs or west coast APAs. That amount will make the finish seem more crisp and dry. If using 150 ppm or higher, the chloride level should be under 50 ppm to avoid a “minerally” finish to the beer.

Chloride: Chloride accentuates a fullness or “roundness” of flavor in the beer, enhancing the malt sweetness. It is generally used in the 40-100 ppm range in many beers, but in the New England IPA style, the chloride is often over 100 ppm, up to 150 ppm.

Sodium: Sodium rounds out the malt flavors, and can be used in modest amounts (under 150 ppm). A higher concentration can make the beer taste salty, and having a high sodium combined with a high sulfate level can create a harsh bitterness. It is generally recognized that keeping the sodium at 0-60 is a safe bet. Using brewing water sourced from a water softener is to be avoided.

Bicarbonate: Bicarbonate plays a huge role in water chemistry for brewing. It raises the pH of the mash, so should be kept under 50 ppm for pale/light colored beers. An amber colored beer could use a bicarbonate amount of up to 150 ppm (depending on the grainbill). A very dark beer with roasted grains (like a stout) could easily go up to 200 ppm or even a bit more, as more bicarbonate is needed to balance the acidity of the dark roasted malts. As such, there is no ideal range for mashing water except that what is needed to achieve an appropriate mash pH. In sparge water, low bicarbonate water is desired to avoid tannin extraction from the grain. This will be discussed at length in our next article on water and mash pH.

Brewing Salts

The common brewing salts are gypsum, calcium chloride, epsom salts, chalk, sodium chloride, and baking soda. These are available at the homebrew supply store, or can sometimes be found at your grocery market.

Gypsum  (CaSO4 or calcium sulfate) is used in brewing to bring calcium and sulfate to the water. This can reduce the mash pH, in a small amount as can calcium chloride.

Calcium chloride (Pickle crisp or CaCl2) is used to add calcium as well as chloride, and epsom salt (MgSO4 or magnesium sulfate) is used for the magnesium and sulfate contribution. Plain old non-iodized table salt (NaCl2 or sodium chloride) brings sodium and chloride to the table.

Chalk: (CaC03 or calcium carbonate) has been traditionally used to raise mash pH in cases where it may be needed, but it doesn’t dissolve well without extraneous measures and is to be avoided in general.

In those rare cases where the mash pH should be raised, baking soda (NaHCO3 or sodium bicarbonate) is most useful.

Lactic acid or phosphoric acid are the most common acids used to lower the mash pH if needed.

A helpful comparison to brewing salts may be seasoning salts in cooking. Just as making chicken soup with a great recipe and fresh ingredients can be improved with a bit of salt or some bay leaf, a great beer base can be improved with a bit of tweaking of brewing salts. Too much salt in the chicken broth can ruin the soup, however; and too much of a brewing salt can ruin the beer. Using more conservative additions with the “less is more” idea is a great way to approach adding brewing salts to your homebrewing repertoire. You don’t want a “minerally” or harsh beer in the end after all your hard work!

There are brewing spreadsheets and books available to help you decide where to target your ideal concentrations of those ions, and Brewer’s Friend has both a basic and advanced water calculator to help you reach your goals.   We have given you give a range, and it is recommended to stay at the lower end of the range until you know what you like. You can always add more next time, but you can’t take it out. One pitfall that many brewers fall into as they delve into water chemistry is finding a water profile from a historic city, and set that up as a target. That can be problematic, as it may not be what the breweries themselves actually used, as they may have preboiled the water to drop the bicarbonate, or used water from another source. If a profile seems to have very high numbers, and you’d still like to make an authentic London porter, dig a bit deeper into what the breweries in that area did with the water before brewing with it. Brewing water with less than your ideal ion targets may seem a bit bland (think of the chicken soup seasoning analogy) but won’t be undrinkable as it would be if you add far too much of a good thing.

A good way to see what the brewing salts may do to your beer is to try it out. Pour a pint of your beer, and add a dash of table salt to it to see what chloride brings out. Next time, add some gypsum, to see what that brings to the beer.

If you are just starting in water additions, you can get by with gypsum, calcium chloride, baking soda, and lactic or phosphoric acid. We will discuss using those items as we discuss mash pH and delve deeper into water chemistry in the next article.

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Aspects of Brewing a Wheat Beer

Hefeweizen, weissbier, witbier, white ale… Whatever your preference; wheat beers are abundant, effervescent, and different. They can be served with a slice of orange or lemon, with all the yeast “mit hefe” style, with raspberry syrup, or filtered crystal clear. They vary in color from the light witbier to copper-brown versions of weizenbock. They can smell and taste of: bananas, clove, coriander, bitter orange, and even bubblegum. These refreshing, mostly session strength ales are usually associated with summertime sunshine. However, there are a couple of higher ABV styles that would pair well with a cold evening by the fire.

Wheat Beer Grain Bills

The typical wheat contribution to the grain bill can be as high as 70%, with rare exceptions like grodziskie (an oak smoked wheat beer) making up 100% of the grist.

Wheat beers nearly went extinct in the 1500’s due to the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law. The Reinheitsgebot stated that only barley, water, and hops could be used as ingredients to produce beer and thus prohibited breweries from using wheat, or other grains such as rye. According to a Brew Your Own article from 1999 the original purpose of the law is somewhat debatable. Certainly it was a consumer protection law to ensure people were in fact getting beer when they went to the local watering hole, but some sources claim it was meant to prevent a shortage of bread. Further down the rabbit hole of conspiracy is the idea that the pale white beers were only brewed by, and for, the nobles and clergy and not for the common man, who was left drinking the dark swill of the lower class. The law was later amended to include yeast, after its discovery.

Wheat beers have become somewhat of an American spring and summertime tradition. They often were considered to be the jumping off point for those interested in expanding their palates to include more than mass produced lagers but lately it seems like that is more the space of the mass produced IPA . Be that as it may, for those of us who live in the permanent summertime of California, we still enjoy a nice crisp, refreshing wheat beer in the sun year round. If big beer had any sense they would take a hint from Corona and show Shock Top or Blue Moon being happily consumed on beach volleyball courts by freakishly tall men and women, at high noon.

Styles of Wheat Beer

As long as we are on the subject of Belgian Wit and American summers let us take a look at Allagash White:

According to the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), the standard guidelines for homebrew beer styles, Allagash White, along with Hoegaarden Wit, are prime examples of the wit style. Belgian Wits are generally brewed with 50% unmalted wheat and a light base malt like pilsner or 2 row pale. They can include oats to add to the haze and body. Noble hops are used to add a light bitterness, but nothing too noticeable, or overwhelming. Allagash White includes the traditional spice addition of coriander seed, which is the seed of cilantro that smells strikingly similar to Trix cereal. Allagash also uses the traditional curacao orange peel, which adds to that zesty zing in the aroma and flavor. I tried putting an orange slice to my pour and it was totally unnecessary. It added nothing to the beer and was ultimately just an obstacle in the drinking process. The beer is delicious on its own. Light, refreshing, nicely carbonated, and extremely flavorful.

I did a side by side with the macro produced Shock Top and it was comparable to watching a cover band at the local dive bar trying to fiddle their way through a Led Zeppelin song. On paper they are the same. Belgian style beers brewed with coriander and orange peel, but the difference between the two is painful. My suggestion, as far as adding an orange for garnish in the Shock Top, is to disregard the beer, and eat the orange. Also, for anyone learning about off flavors, the Shock Top tasted like cardboard. Paper and cardboard are aromas and flavors commonly associated with oxidized beer. If you have a buddy that insists on drinking this farce of a Belgian Wit I suggest you sneak some Allagash White into his/her cooler at the next outing. They will thank you later.

Have you tried the Hefe?

For the Hefeweizen (pronounced hay-fuh-vy-tsen) I chose the ultra-approachable Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier. According to them they are “the World’s oldest brewery” and the beer was brewed in accordance to “the purity law of 1516” which is slightly confusing considering the purity law clearly stipulated that barley was the only acceptable grain to brew with in 1516. This is how conspiracy theories get started. Give me a couple hours of online research and I’ll blow this whole Reinheitsgebot scam wide open! Further adding to the confusion, Randy Mosher in Tasting Beer stated that “Weis, Weiss, and Weisse all mean ‘white’ in German and have long been used to describe the pale, hazy beers containing wheat…” and “Weizen means ‘wheat’ in German and refers to the Bavarian or suddeutsch form of weissbier.” Even further: “hefe indicates Weissbier with yeast…” There is also a filtered version known as Kristalweizen…

The Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, however, is very good. I never realized there was such a striking difference between the Belgian Wit style and German Hefeweizen. I always assumed they were the more or less the same, but different in small ways, like English Pale ale and American Pale Ale. I was wrong. The hefeweizen is much less aggressive in its flavor and brewed with 50%-70% wheat. It is softer and seemingly more rounded. The 4-vinyl guaiacol which is responsible for the clove like aroma and flavor in the yeast is in the forefront while the beer also hits notes of banana with a hint of bubblegum on the nose and taste. There is little to no bitterness or hop presence and it is extremely drinkable.

American Wheat

American wheat is one of those styles of beer that will forever be burned into my brain as uncool for reasons I don’t remember, but I don’t care, as I like it. I have vivid memories of my first times drinking these non-lager beers, after turning 21, of course. While going out to dinner with my mom, or my dad, I was quietly exploring beer menus and learning about the life I would lead after 40oz. malt liquor stopped being the norm. This was before IPAs became a staple offering at most establishments and back when hefeweizen just meant beer served with a lemon or an orange added on the rim. My memories include copious consumption of Widmer Hefe and Pyramid Hefeweizen. Since Widmer Hefe holds a space in my heart I opted to try it again to make sure it was still worthy. Upon revisiting it, the beer seemed dulled down, non-threatening, and different than I had remembered. It smelled like a hefeweizen, minus the yeast aroma, which is basically all the aroma of a hefeweizen. I went to their website to research if the recipe had changed or if my memories were better than the truth. Then as I entered my date of birth, and accessed the site, I saw a picture of the Widmer Hefe with a lemon garnishing the glass. That’s when I realized what I was missing. Having no lemons I opted for the trusty orange. I could have gone back to the store, but I had already had a tough enough time finding the Shock Top for this tasting. None of my go to stores carry it! I spend all this time seeking out small breweries and then when I need the macro stuff I can’t find it, go figure. Needless to say the orange brought the Widmer Hefe right back to where it was when I killed an oversized pitcher of it, at a burger shack, with my future wife, my mom, and my step-dad.

This is one, of many, reasons American beer has had a bad rap for so many years. It is the dumbest dumbed down version of a true hefeweizen. The yeast is a clean ale yeast and everything about it is subdued. The BJCP states that the use of American hops and more hop character, in general, is desirable. Call me crazy, but with all these American hops floating around in our IPAs, there must not be much left for our American wheats, because even at 15-30 IBU’s they are gentle and lightly bitter.

And now for something a little different.

Dunkel weissbier is a dark German wheat beer that maintains the yeasty banana and clove flavor other German wheat beers while also having a toasted bread or caramel flavor from the use of darker Vienna and Munich malts. Traditionally a decoction mash was used. This is a process in which a portion of the mash is removed and then brought to a boil and then added back into the main mash to bring the mash temperature to different rests. Decoction mashing aids in the darker caramel flavors associated with caramelized sugars and the maillard reaction, but this is a method that is generally no longer used in commercial breweries. Low on bitterness and hop aroma, the Erdinger Dunkel is like a dark Hefeweizen with some additional bready and caramel aspects. Malty yet dry, it is a nice change of pace that is sure to please novice beer drinkers and nerds alike.

Hefeweizen on steroids

Weizenbock is an obscure style that doesn’t come up in conversation too much. It is a sleeper and I’m sure once American craft breweries discover it they will be brewing it for their yearly holiday beer. It is similar to a hefeweizen, but stronger, bigger, and, some would say, better. It is like banana bread in a glass and can come in light or dark versions. The extra malt usage adds to the higher ABV of anywhere from 6.5%-9.0% it has even more of that banana and clove flavor. Dark versions will utilize Vienna and/or Munich malt and can have more dark fruit character like plums, prunes, or raisins, and even a light chocolatey, but not roasted, flavor. I opted for the light version brewed by Weihenstephaner called Vitus. This is a good winter warmer for anyone looking to break from the traditional imperial stout or barley wine. I imagine it going great with some chocolate dessert by a roaring fire while the snow falls. Unfortunately, living in Los Angeles, I may never get to test my theory. I have, however, had an imperial stout on a cool 80 degree evening, so there’s that.

There are a few other beer styles to consider that use wheat as a fair portion of their grain bill

The classic Berliner Weisse, from none other than Berlin, is a low ABV sour that dates back to the 16th century. It is often served with raspberry syrup or with woodruff syrup to round out the mouth puckering tartness. The Berliner Weisse uses as little as 25% wheat in the grain bill, but at around 3.0% ABV. that is more than enough. During fermentation lactobacillus bacteria is introduced to create the tart, distinct sourness. It is an extremely low hopped beer in the single digit IBU range, which is evident in the lack of bitterness and hop aroma. These beers are around, but they are nowhere near as popular as they were at their peak. They are meant to be consumed young. Even with the recent interest in sour beers, some travel and effort may still be necessary on your part to find a prime example of a Berliner Weisse.

Lambic is spontaneously fermented wheat style that originated in Brussels region of Belgium. The beer utilizes hops that are 2-3 years old and an open overnight cooldown that exposes the wort to all the microorganisms that will do the hard work of fermenting, and souring the beer. Once cooled and exposed the wort is transferred into wooden fermenting vessels such as barrels where more wild yeast and bacteria are living and eager to feast on the fresh wort. They will remain in the vessels for at least one year and sometimes for several. Word on the street is one must travel to Brussels, specifically Brouwerij Cantillon, to try them.

After a few years in barrels older Lambic is blended with younger Lambic to create Gueuze. Which is bottled and then carbonated unlike the base beers, which are served with no carbonation. These highly sought after blends are still going strong in breweries such as Cantillon and can be found, in rare instances, on strong (read: STRONG) beer menus and at well curated bottle shops.

Fruit Lambic is another variation. Coming in varieties such as: kriek (cherry), frambroise (raspberry), or pomme (apple) as well as others, the fruit lambic is traditionally made by adding fruit to the year old Lambic and essentially creating a secondary fermentation which is then bottled and carbonated. Once again, look to Bouwerij Cantillon in Brussels for prime examples of this style. If you know someone who knows someone maybe you can secure a bottle for a rainy day, or better yet, a hot summer swelter.

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Brewer’s Friend Recipe of the Week!

We’re starting a new feature here at Brewer’s Friend, Recipe of the Week!

This is going to be based on views so only public recipes will be considered. If your recipe is selected as the week’s top recipe you will receive 1 year of supporting membership here on Brewer’s Friend! We’re going to do this once a week so that’ 52 chances a year to win a supporting membership!

If you posted your recipe anonymously and it is chosen for Recipe of the Week please be sure to contact me. I can see who submitted them, but since you might have decided to keep that private I’m going to respect your wishes, but I’m happy to upgrade you.

So, for the first Recipe of the Week we’re taking a look at Zombie Dust Clone submitted to us via an anonymous member.

Image courtesy of skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

The original recipe was originally submitted to HomeBrewTalk, but made it’s way to Brewer’s Friend in no time!

Zombie Dust Clone – ALL GRAIN
Method: All Grain
Style: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min

Image Courtesy of Hockyplr of HomeBrewTalk

Batch Size: 6 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source: skeezerpleezer on Homebrewtalk.com

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
11.75 lb American – Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 81.7%
1.13 lb American – Munich – Light 10L 33 10 7.9%
0.5 lb German – CaraFoam 37 1.8 3.5%
0.5 lb American – Caramel / Crystal 60L 34 60 3.5%
0.5 lb German – Melanoidin 37 25 3.5%
14.38 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.75 oz Citra Pellet 11 First Wort
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 15 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 10 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 5 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 1 min
3 oz Citra Pellet 11 Dry Hop 7 days

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
22 qt Temperature 155 F 60 min

Yeast: Fermentis / Safale – English Ale Yeast S-04
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 59 – 75 °F
Starter: Yes

Image courtesy of Skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

So what makes this recipe so popular? Aside from being a clone from a very popular commercial brew this is a dead on clone. Many, many brewers have noted how their finished Zombie Dust clone taste like it was straight from the 3 Floyds Brewing Company itself. Although not an original recipe anyone who’s ever developed a clone will tell you that getting all the little nuances of a beer as popular as Zombie Dust is a challenge and one that SkeeterPleezer took on with great results.

From everyone at Brewer’s Friend I would like to thank you for being a member and checking out our newest feature, “Recipe of the Week!”.

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Q&A session with brewing author Stan Hieronymus

After reading and reviewing For the Love of Hops, I had some follow up thoughts.  Stan Hieronymus was very nice in replying to all my questions promptly in this interview style blog post.

Stan has authored several books on beer and home brewing and runs an informative beer brewing blog. He can be found on twitter as @StanHieronymus.

Hops Varieties:

Q: Do you think the number of new hop varieties that come out each year will continue to grow? When will we reach a saturation point and why?
Stan: In the short term I would expect the number to rise, because there are so many unique varieties under development and there is such demand. However the logistics of production will cap the number at some point. What may add to choice is the realization there are differences between varieties grown in different location, so there’s every chance brewers will begin to talk about the difference between Cascade grown in Oregon from that in Washington, then on a smaller scale in Michigan. The breadth of what is available will surpass the number of new varieties.

Q: Do new hop varieties go through any FDA approval, given all the exotic complex oils they contain? Aren’t the new hops tested heavily in brewing trials before they would ever make it to market for home brewers?
Stan: There is no FDA approval process for hops, but they go through a long trialing process before they are released (see the next answer). Brewers who dry hop, particularly with whole hops, should be concerned how those hops are processed. That’s just one of the reasons the craft brewers who have banded together to form the Hop Quality Group are important. They want to make sure, for instance, that hop kilns have netting so that birds are not, pardon my French, crapping your hops.

Q: How long does it take for a new hop strain to be available?
Stan: At least 10 years, usually a few more, to make sure a) the variety can be grown economically, b) that it is relatively disease free, c) it has aroma and flavor characteristics brewers want, and d) it remains consistent from one growing season to the next.

Q: Given the recent BRCA gene Supreme Court ruling, I was wondering if the patent on Amarillo hops might be technically invalid because it was “naturally occurring”?

Stan: I’m not expert in the law, everybody I talked to in Washington (the state) is certain the patent remains intact.

Hops for Home Brewers:

Q: What is the most accurate way to calculate IBUs for first wort hops? Our calculator currently treats it as a 20 minute addition, but we are considering changing this.
Stan: Like a 75 minute addition.

Q: How can home brewers get the most bang for their buck in terms of making hoppy beers?  Hop stands, dry hopping, double dry hopping, hop bursting? Which techniques require extra equipment, and which techniques can be done on a budget?  Pellets vs whole leaf hops?
Stan: All of the above. Seriously, first it depends what you are gunning for. Dry hop a beer and serve it fresh, that’s pretty dang efficient. Want something you can put in a bottle and enter in competitions, then late additions may be more effective because they are more stable. I love beers made with whole hops added to a hop back, and your can build one of those at home pretty cheaply (much more cheaply than your local brewery), for some hard to pinpoint quality and their stability. But they are not as efficient, or consistent than pellets.

Q: In terms of yeast’s impact on hop flavor aroma and bitterness, which yeasts mute this and which yeasts accentuate it?  Does yeast pitch rate or fermentation temperature impact this to any extent?
Stan: You might be asking about the next hop frontier. Or at least one of them. These are all experiments that need to be done. It isn’t just a matter of a yeast muting or accenting hop aroma, but how they change the odor compounds. Same with pitching rate and what oils yeast may drag out of solution during floculation. It is great to get laboratory analysis, but there’s a lot than can be done through sensory evaluation- and that means it can be done at the homebrew club level. Use the same hop-forward recipe varying only the yeast strain, for instance.

How Pro Breweries Do It:

Q: Do you have pictures you can share of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo setup and a HOPNICK? They sound pretty cool!

Stan:  Here is a photo of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo setup:

Here is also a link to the ROLEC DryHopnick brochure: https://www.rolec-gmbh.de/_engl/gfx/Info_ROLEC_DryHOPNIK_E.pdf

Interview text and photo used with permission of Stan.

Post by Larry

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Hops Squeezing and Hops Absorption – More Bitterness Please

Should we squeeze out the hops bag or not?

A recent IPA brew session called for 7 ounces of hops. The recipe is 110 IBU with a lot of late hopping.  For this brew, I did not squeeze out the hops bags and left them behind after draining the kettle. I then squeezed out the hops bags into a small bucket, and here is what I got:

The resulting beer wasn’t as bitter as I would have liked, maybe more like 80 IBUs, and I think the lack of squeezing is the reason.   I tasted what I collected, and holy moly was that bitter! It was like an IPA espresso!

There are claims floating around online that say avoid squeezing or else harshness will be extracted. That applies to the steeping grain bag, but NOT for the hops bags.  When it comes to hops – squeeze away!

On lighter beers with only an ounce or two I skip the squeezing step, but for IPAs I will be squeezing from now on.  A dedicated set of BBQ tongs work the best.  Sanitize them first along with the kettle lid and primary fermentor.  Don’t use dirty bare hands to squeeze, as this could infect the batch. Not to mention, wait for the wort to cool down if using an immersion chiller. If using a counter flow chiller or plate chiller, be extra careful about squeezing the hops, which will be boiling hot.

How the Brewer’s Friend recipe editor and brew feature handle hops absorption:

• The hops absorption amount shows up in the water requirements report (recipe tools -> water requirements). The result is based on the amount of hops in the recipe, and your hops absorption equipment profile setting. The system correctly excludes dry hops and mash hops from the hops absorption calculation.
• My profile was set to the default hops absorption rate of 0.15 quarts per ounce. At 7 ounces of hops, that comes to a little over 1 quart. In measuring what I got in the bucket, it is spot on. The default of 0.15 qt/oz was accurate in this case.
• Hops absorption negatively impacts brew house efficiency. This comes into play if your batch size target is set to ‘fermentor’ (which means brew house efficiency is the efficiency factor the recipe is working with). If your batch size target is set to ‘kettle’, then you are targeting ending kettle efficiency, and hops absorption doesn’t count against that.  Read more about efficiency here.
• For purposes of designing a recipe ‘to the fermentor’ that uses a lot of hops, if you are not squeezing out the bags, adjust efficiency down 1-2% to compensate for hops absorption.

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Brewing Water Treatment in 600 Words

It seems that over the last few years many more home brewers have taken an interest in understanding and modifying their brewing water. And there are good reasons to do so. Depending on the beer that is brewed and the water quality, modifying the brewing water can take a beer from great to excellent. The intent of this post is not to go into the details of water and mash chemistry but to provide an overview of what’s important and paint a high level picture of water treatment for brewing. For those counting, the first paragraph doesn’t count towards the 600 words.

When it comes to brewing water treatment there are 3 goals we brewers are trying to achieve:

• eliminate off-flavor causing water compounds: this is largely the removal of chlorine
• provide a water ion profile that supports the desired flavor of the beer
• provide a water and grist composition that settles at a desirable mash pH

What’s daunting for many brewers is not so much the underlying chemistry, which is easily handled by a brewing water calculator, but the many parameters that can be adjusted.

Chlorine, found in water as free chlorine or chloramine, needs to be removed from brewing water since it forms nasty chlorophenols in beer. Most brewers accomplish this through carbon filtration or Campden tablets (sodium or potassium metabisulfite). Another undesirable water compound is iron. The water’s iron level should be below 0.3 ppm to avoid a metallic taste.

Brewers care about 6 primary water ions that are able to affect the flavor of the beer. The electric charge of the cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺) needs to match the electric charge from the anions (Cl^–, SO₄^2-, HCO₃^–) which is why one cannot be added without the other. Here is a quick summary of what these ions do for the flavor or brewing process:

Calcium (Ca²⁺) is beneficial for the brewing process as it helps with yeast flocculation. It’s also fairly flavor neutral and a recommended minimum is 40 mg/l. The most common means of increasing calcium in water are gypsum and calcium chloride which also adds sulfate and chloride, respectively.

Magnesium (Mg²⁺) from water is not needed since malt provides lots of magnesium to the wort. Excess magnesium can cause a bitter taste. Should be kept below 50 mg/l.

Sodium (Na+) can lead to a salty taste and should be kept below 100 mg/l. Brewers don’t usually add sodium except when baking soda is used to add bicarbonate.

Chloride (Cl^–) creates a softer beer flavor and is desired in malt forward beers.

Sulfate (SO₄^2-) enhances hop bitterness and dries out the beer’s finish. It is desirable in hoppy ales and some brewers even go as high as 700 mg/l. Most hoppy ales should be fine with sulfate levels between 100 and 300 mg/l

Bicarbonate (HCO₃^–) does not affect the taste directly but can have an indirect effect through its ability to raise mash pH out of its desired range.

Mash pH is the result of the balance between pH active water ions, grist and any acid or salt additions that are made. In most cases we are looking for a mash pH in the 5.3 – 5.6 range. These numbers are for a cooled (25 C/ 77 F ) mash sample. Dark malts and acids are the primary drivers of lower mash pH while water alkalinity raises mash pH. Calcium and to a lesser extent Magnesium also lower mash pH but not enough that mash pH control should be done through adjusting calcium or Magnesium levels. In most cases mash pH adjustment requires the addition of acids (lactic or phosphoric are popular choices) to neutralize water alkalinity. Lighter beers may even need more acid to go beyond neutralizing the water alkalinity in order to get mash pH into the desirable range of 5.3-5.6.

To get started you need to find or get a water report for your brewing water, enter the water ion levels and grist information into the Brewing Water and Mash Chemistry calculator and see where you land. From there you can play with salt and acid additions. Target water profiles designed for various beer styles can guide you in your water adjustments.

Image of common brewing salts:

Notably, canning salt, and chalk are not pictured here.

Post by Kaiser

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Making Sense of Efficiency Definitions

When using brewing calculators like Brewer’s Friend brewers are inadvertently confronted with the concept of efficiency. While efficiency is an important tool in making the brewing process more predictable, there exists a lot of confusion around various definitions for efficiency. Let me clear up most of them.

In brewing, just like in any other field, efficiency is the ratio between output and input. This is where all efficiency formulas have to agree. The disagreement tends to lie in what is considered the input and what is the output.

Efficiency in brewing cares about soluble extract in wort, commonly referred to as sugars, even though what’s dissolved is more than just sugars. The amount of extract is determined by both the volume and gravity (extract content) of the wort. Gravity point based calculations express this extract as the product of gravity points (1000*(sg-1)) and wort volume in gallon. The volume and specific gravity need to be corrected to a standard temperature (generally 68 F / 20 C) and the result is simply referred to as points:

points in wort = 1000*(sg-1) * volume in gallon

In metric calculations the extract content can be calculated slightly more accurately by multiplying the wort volume with its specific gravity and extract content in Plato (see blog post about the relation between specific gravity and Plato). Since Plato is a percent number the result has to be divided by 100.

extract weight in kg = wort volume in liters * sg * Plato / 100

1 kg extract is worth about 100 points.

The input side of the efficiency calculation is commonly the extract potential of the grist. Extract potential is a key malt analysis parameter which is tested and reported for each batch of malt. The maltster’s lab grinds a malt sample very fine and uses a congress mass (special mashing schedule that is used by convention) to extract the malt’s soluble extract. That dissolved extract is then measured and reported as weight percent of the malt’s dry weight. The resulting number is referred to as DBFG, dry basis fine grind. Batch to batch variability tends to be low and working with default values for various grain types works just fine.

When determining the extract potential for a given grist we need to multiply the grist weight with the average extract potential in points or percent. The latter is the DBFG number multiplied by (1-MC/100) where MC is the moisture content of the grain. Considering the moisture content (generally around 4%) is important since it does lead to an inaccuracy of a few percentage points. In gravity point based calculations extract potential is expressed as points per pound per gallon (pppg or sometimes called ppg). An ingredient with an extract potential of 100% (table sugar, for example) has 46 pppg. This number can be determined through a thought experiment that dissolves sugar in water and calculates the resulting gravity and volume. Note that the volume, which matters, is not the volume of the water but the volume of the sugar solution.

Now that we established the input and output side of efficiency let’s look at different efficiency definitions:

Efficiency into the kettle or mash efficiency (Palmer) is the ratio between extract in the kettle at start of the boil and extract potential of the grist. This is the most useful efficiency definition for all grain brewers since it considers losses during mash conversion and lautering. Since no (significant) extract is lost between the beginning and the end of the boil it can be calculated with kettle full volume and pre-boil gravity or cast-out volume and post boil gravity.

Conversion efficiency has been introduced to asses the performance of mash conversion before lauter losses take effect. Since it is difficult to measure the volume of wort in the mash, this efficiency is best assessed by calculating the highest possible mash wort gravity based on grist extract potential and mash water amount and then comparing the actual mash gravity to it. The mash gravity test for conversion efficiency allows brewers to troubleshoot low efficiency by determining if significant efficiency is lost during the mashing step.

Lauter efficiency builds on the fact that efficiency into the kettle is the product of conversion and lauter efficiency. It can be calculated if both conversion efficiency and efficiency into the kettle are known. Lauter efficiency only counts losses due to dissolved extract being held back in the grain. i.e. it is the percentage of extract dissolved during mashing that was transferred into the kettle. To avoid oversparging and resulting negative beer quality effects, lauter efficiency in home brewing should be kept below 90%.

Efficiency into the fermenter is calculated using the wort volume collected in the fermenter. It is lower than the efficiency into the kettle due to wort losses in the hop trub. Many brewers rely on this efficiency for planning.

The definition for Brewhouse efficiency in literature and practice is rather ambiguous. Some brewers define it using cast-out gravity and cast-out kettle volume while others consider the volume collected in the fermenter. Brewer’s Friend notion of brewhouse efficiency is based on batch size in the fermeter.

This diagram illustrates where extract (i.e. efficiency) is lost starting with the grain and ending with the dissolved extract in the fermenter.

As a side note, German brewers generally consider the total grist weight as the input for their efficiency calculations. As a result the reported efficiencies tend to be much lower since in that calculation a ~80% number (the extract potential of the grain) represents the maxim.

More technical detail on efficiency calculations can be found in this article: Understanding Efficiency.

For details on how Brewer’s Friend calculates efficiency, see the following FAQs:
How is efficiency calculated in a Brew Session?
How is efficiency defined on the recipe editor?

Post by Kaiser

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