I made a beer with 1 oz chinook at 30 min and 8 oz of mosaic from flameout to dry hop and no hops flavor at all. actually pretty poor beer. Im drinking it but only because its all I have ready. Ill probably dump it. This is the IPA I expierimented with oyster shells Im wondering if the calcium muted the hops. The hops where 2021 but they were nitrogen packed and freshly opened. Thoughts?
Seems the ration sulfite to chloride may be the clue? Since the clams… crusty-oceans (
) are as you say, calcium, and I’m thinking calcium chloride… but then I could have my head way up my arse…
Sneezles61
its actually calcium carbonate according to my research. It goes extremely well in my stout which has very little hops. It really acentuates the roasty chocolate flavors. Ive read about it in pilsners but never IPA now I know why.
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Isnt this the ionic thingy… positively charged ions, so too many and some one gets ran over…
Then the negatively charge will bond and hag out with the positive ones… they really like their friendship…
Sneezles61
Interesting. Usually higher levels of Calcium carbonate will result in a harsh bitterness.
added all the hops late so to keep the IBU down but no aroma or flavor at all. Im thinking of throwing in another bag of the mosaic as dry hops because why not. Im very leery of making another beer with them anyway and if it gets oxidized no big deal since I was going to dump it anyway.
I would save the Mosaic for another beer to give it a better chance to shine. I concur with your thoughts on the clam shells. Perhaps dose a glass with some chloride. Maybe table salt and see what happens.
Yeah you’re right I’ll save the hops. Im brewing an IPA today I’ll use them in. Its not a full keg so no great loss. Won’t be the first test batch that didn’t make the cut. I would lnt have used the shells in a regular IPA but thought it might mute the bitterness for an NE
Delayed response and taking a wild ass guess…
I wonder if the pH of your beer is too high. The pH of the beer after CO2 is removed I think should be 4 to 4.3. It would be 4.3 to 4.6 for a darker beer like a stout but you are not brewing that. Throw 12 oz beer in blender to degas then measure pH. I suspect the calcium carbonate in shells may have raised pH. If it is higher than 4.3 after degassing, use the degassed beer sample and do a titration with phos or lactic acid to figure out how much to add to 12 ounces of beer. May have to make a dilute acid soln before adding to beer. Then do a pour of carbonated beer sample with appropriate acid addition as determined by your titration. If the flavor improves then dose the keg with the appropriate amount of acid.
I know you are an experienced brewer so I know you got the mash pH in right range.
well the PH was adjusted for the mash but didnt check after fermentation I’ll could try adding some lactic acid. The beer doesnt taste bad it just doesnt have the hop aroma or flavor
This link shows Scott Janish thoughts. A Look at pH in Hoppy Beers - Scott Janish
cliff notes-pH impacts flavor. A lower pH sometimes may help, sometimes it may hurt.
most succinct version “I don’t know” 
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my ph meter is screwed up orderd a new one will be here monday but in the meantime I added a bit of lactic to the glass and accentuated the bitterness a bit but did nothing for the aroma or flavor.
The aroma and bittering was thrown out with the baby’s bath water!!! LMAO!
Sneezles61
EDIT: Lemon Juice also makes acid aid.
after reading the article not a road I want to travel. I dont track the final ph in my beer and dont treat my beer only my brewing water. I track my ph in my next couple beers just out of curiosity though
I disregarded your advice and tossed in another dry hop charge and I can say it made a noticeable difference. In a good way
Not sure my meter is dialed in yet but im reading 3.6 with a bit of carbonation. Ill leave a bit out then check the calibration and see were we are. Definitely not high though
That said I’ve been drinking this since its all I have on tap. After the dry hop dose settled in not that bad. Just need to call it a imperial pale ale because its strong for a Pale Ale. I guess its still an IPA then🤔
