I got a water profile done just to see what I was working with: Sodium 11 Calcium 43 Magnesium 15 Sulfate 8 Chloride 23 pH 8.1 I live in a rural area and have a water softener. My last IPA was very creamy and smooth and the calculated IBUs were over 100 yet the beer is not that bitter. I read that a high Sulfate:Chloride ratio accents hops and makes them pop while a low Sulfate:Chloride ratio (which I have) subdues hops and lets the malt shine. For a bitter west coast style, should I add gypsum? From NB, gypsum adds 62 ppm Calcium and 147 ppm Sulfate per gram per gallon. Would it add too much calcium to my beer? I think I would just add half a gram per gallon to play it safe. Any thoughts?
I don't think adding sulfates is going to really make your beer taste more bitter. It may add "crispness" and accentuate hop flavors though. You mention calculated IBUs of over 100, but the standard Tinseth model isn't very good above 65 IBUs or so. The real world utilization curve starts going pretty flat at that point. You would have to use an obscene amount of hops to get 100 true IBUs.
To answer your questions, a gram of gypsum per gallon would not result in too much calcium. That would put your water right around the amount of calcium that was in my last batch, actually. People routinely go much higher. A half gram of gypsum per gallon would also be reasonable. You could also add some calcium chloride as well if you didn't want to swing too far in terms of the chloride/sulfate ratio. Is this all grain brewing by the way?
no it's extract. i've heard the water profile is much more important in all-grain brewing than extract brewing but i still like to try
Okay, so your malt extract will already have a certain amount of calcium and sulfate in it. I would take it easy, 1/2 gram per gallon is maybe a good place to start. You know, you can also try adding a small amount of gypsum in the glass to see if you can detect a difference. Maybe dissolve a known amount of gypsum in some water, dose your beer with it, and see what you think.
Unless you over do it...I speak from experience Harsh or brassy might be a better descriptor than bitter.
