IPA without adjusting Ph

Isn't it strange how easily we dismiss the impact of what is the largest ingredient in brewing? It's easy to think of water chemistry as a process and not an ingredient. I see that even brulosophy categorizes it as the former. If you think of it as the latter then it makes perfect sense why it comes out as significant every time.

 

Yes, but for a Belgian IPA, there are a lot of significant contributors, and I would say yeast is the biggest, even though hops should surely dominate in any IPA...imhdo

 

Based on your grain bill and your use of Ozark Spring Water (which is about a close to distilled as you can get without distillation), I estimate a mash pH of 5.67. This pH is not awful, but not ideal either.

However, you really should have some more Ca in the water (50 ppm min typically recommended). For your beer a reasonable amount (for a British IPA, anyway) of Ca salts will get your mash to a better place without any acid or acid malt. For example, if you were to mash with 4.5 gallons of strike water with 3 gm of CaCl2 and 10 gm of CaSO4 added, I estimate a mash pH of 5.41, the generic sweet spot for mash pH. If you were to sparge with 4.5 gallons of untreated Spring Water, then the concentration of ions would be equivalent to about 95, 49, and 169 ppm Ca, Cl, and SO4, respectively. It might be that these ion level are a bit high for a Belgian IPA; I don't really know as I've not investigated the style.

I suspect you LHBS would order some Ca salts for you if you asked.

Cheers!

 

I think it is because no matter where your water is from it is 99% identical H2O, I mean 100 PPM is just .1%. The fact that water is the largest ingredient by weight isn't "why" it is important. Water itself is an ingredient, water treatment and adjustment is a technique.