This works in my favor since I usually target higher chloride and lower sulfate in my NEIPA water profile. My water is naturally higher in chloride and low in sulfate. The figures we really care about are highlighted in yellow. It’s very easy to add minerals to water and more difficult to remove minerals.Ībove is my water report I obtained from Ward Labs. This means their water is naturally low in mineral content, allowing them to freely adjust upward as needed without too many constraints. Lucky brewers have access to very soft water. Go to Ward Laboratories and get yourself a water report. Why? because we need to understand how we can dial in our water profile/minerals to the desired level. If you’re serious about brewing NEIPAs, you need to understand the mineral makeup of your tap water. The good news is it’s really easy to take care of this step and one of the easiest variables to eliminate/troubleshoot right off the bat. Chloramines MUST be treated with Campden to remove.

Chlorine can be removed from water by simply letting it sit out for 24 hours or by pre-boiling it. I would strongly encourage you to always treat your brewing water with Campden at an absolute minimum. If your water comes from a municipal source, it was likely treated with one or the other.

More delicate styles, such as NEIPAs are more susceptible to these types of off-favors. Chlorine and chloramine can produce chlorophenols in beer that contribute plastic-like or medicinal off-flavors. Treating for Chlorine/ChloraminesĬhlorine is a NEIPA killer. This includes tap water that doesn’t taste right, has a distinct taste, or is treated with chlorine/chloramines (city water). But we’re talking about water right? Yes, imperfections in water are going to have detrimental effects on your hazy IPA. A more malt-forward and bitter beer with crystal malt is going to do a better job at hiding imperfections. They step aside to let the yeast and hops SHINE. I can’t say any combo of flaked oats, white wheat and 2-row are going to create an explosive beer on their own. NEIPAs are very light-colored beers with pretty basic grain profiles. At least that’s what I’ve found from my own personal failed trials and experiments. In fact, the delicate aroma-forward nature of the style can be easily overshadowed or clash with things that aren’t supposed to be there. Yes, these beers are brewed with a crapload of hops but not in the same way a big malty bitter beer is. Hazy IPAs are very sensitive beers where off-flavors have NO PLACE TO HIDE. But why is this exactly? I think it comes down to a few things. While this logic may work with some styles, it doesn’t work for producing great NEIPAs.

Good tasting water makes good beer, right? Not exactly. If you’re looking for a more in-depth overview of the style in general, check out this post. This post will touch on my personal experiences with NEIPA water treatment and everything I’ve researched up to this point. I’m still determining what exactly makes that true and what is 100% essential for the style. Many experienced brewers will tell you that water treatment is critical in producing the best hazy beers. Water chemistry is a very complex topic and something I am still learning and experimenting with myself.

Water profile beersmith