As a sequel to the Ward Labs Mineral Analysis of Tree House Julius, I recently had Suarez Family Brewery Palatine Pils and Qualify Pils analyzed by Ward Labs!

After spending much of 2019 researching New England IPA, I shifted my focus to Pilsner for 2020. Despite never brewing a Pilsner and only brewing one Lager (way back in 2012), these days I find myself craving more and more Pilsner for its nuance, subtly and drinkability.

On my latest trip back east, I celebrated my birthday visiting several Hudson Valley breweries, including Suarez. After drinking Palatine Pils, Qualify Pils, State Pils, Hecto, Ms. Frank, Look No Further and Backroads on draft, I snagged cans of Palatine and Qualify to go. Currently, Palatine is ranked #2 and Qualify is ranked #4 on Beer Advocate’s German Pilsner list.

At the time of tasting the Suarez beers, I already had a working recipe of Mountain Pilsner in mind. At this point, I am adding the finishing touches to the recipe and like most recipes, I often end my quest with water chemistry. Traditional Pilsner brewing water is notoriously soft (fewer than 20 ppm of each mineral) and there is no shortage of recommend water profiles:

Sample Pilsner Brewing Water Profiles

Mineral Very Soft¹ Pilsner¹ Pilsen² PseudoBohPils² Yellow Dry² American Lager² Calcium (Ca), ppm 22 59 7 20 50 13 Magnesium (Mg), ppm 8 8 2 0 10 6 Sodium (Na), ppm 0 0 2 8 5 8 Sulfate (SO4), ppm 31 89 8 15 105 37 Chloride (Cl), ppm 39 63 6 35 45 13 Bicarbonate (HCO3), ppm 0 0 16 0 0 20 Alkalinity (CaCO3), ppm 0 0 13 0 0 17 Residual Alkalinity (CaCO3), ppm -20 -47 7 -14 -42 4

¹ Braukaiser

² Bru’n Water

After tasting the incredibly soft mouthfeel of Palatine and Qualify, I thought Dan Suarez may be doing something out-of-the-ordinary with his brewing water. Eager to investigate, I shipped one can of each to Ward Labs for water/beer mineral analyses. The results can be found below:

Ward Labs W-501 Brewer’s Test for Suarez Palatine Pils and Qualify Pils

Palatine Pils canned on 12/11/2019 and Qualify Pils canned on 11/12/2019. Purchased on 1/11/2020. Shipped to Ward Labs on 1/15/2020. Analyzed by Ward Labs on 1/17/2020.

Mineral Palatine Pils Qualify Pils pH 4.5 4.5 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 1511 1607 Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 2.52 2.68 Cations / Anions, me/L 34.2 / 11.4 39.5 / 13.0 Sodium (Na), ppm 27 26 Potassium (K), ppm 767 929 Calcium (Ca), ppm 80.5 86.1 Magnesium (Mg), ppm 112 123 Total Hardness (CaCO3), ppm 669 728 Nitrate (NO3-N), ppm 4.0 10.4 *Sulfate (SO4), ppm 72 69 Chloride (Cl), ppm 307 318 Carbonate (CO3), ppm < 1.0 < 1.0 Bicarbonate (HCO3), ppm 51 106 Total Alkalinity (CaCO3), ppm 42 87 Total Phosphorus (P), ppm 299.50 302.00 Total Iron (Fe), ppm 0.02 < 0.01

*Converted Ward Labs measured SO4-S to SO4 by multiplying by 3

Since the Ward Lab W-501 Brewer’s Test analyzes a lot of things, I trimmed the results down to the most pertinent brewing information and included the Tree House Julius results from 2019 as a reference.

Various Beers Analyzed By Ward Lab

Mineral Palatine Pils Qualify Pils Julius Calcium (Ca), ppm 80.5 86.1 64 Magnesium (Mg), ppm 112 123 185 Sodium (Na), ppm 27 26 32 Sulfate (SO4), ppm 72 69 474 Chloride (Cl), ppm 307 318 299 Bicarbonate (HCO3), ppm 51 106 172 Total Hardness (CaCO3), ppm 669 728 931 Total Alkalinity (CaCO3), ppm 42 87 141

Ignoring Julius for the moment, I was not too surprised to see the Palatine and Qualify results nearly identical. In fact, bicarbonate and total alkalinity were the only results with > 10% difference between the two beers. Bicarbonate is the main source of alkalinity in beer (total alkalinity is a calculation based on measured test results) and together they help raise the pH of the mash/beer. So why the large difference in bicarbonate/alkalinity between the Suarez beers? It may be due to a difference in grain bills (i.e wheat malt is less acidic than barley malt and therefore may require less sodium bicarbonate or calcium carbonate to target the appropriate mash pH.

Compared to Julius, the Suarez beers had higher levels of calcium and chloride. Calcium promotes protein coagulation and yeast flocculation while chloride enhances maltiness and a fuller mouthfeel in beer. Mike Tonsmeire‘s 2017 Brew Your Own experiment verified calcium levels decrease (36%) during the brewing process. We can expect the Palatine/Qualify brewing water calcium levels to be between 80 and 160 ppm (Tonsmeire’s brewing water). Surprisingly, the Suarez Pilsners had calcium levels higher than Julius, a prominent New England IPA! It is no coincidence that Suarez takes after Shaun Hill and his soft, pillowy beers – he worked closely with Hill at Hill Farmstead Brewery until 2013.

I can say with certainty that the Palatine and Qualify brewing water is much higher in calcium and chloride than the previously mentioned sample brewing water profiles. Despite the difference of ingredients and process used among Tonsmeire’s Cryo Lupulin NEIPA and Suarez Palatine and Qualify Pils, I thought it would be interesting to scale the finished beer profiles using the percent change found in the Tonsmeire experiment. Below is a possible brewing water profile for a Suarez-like beer: