WalkingStickMan

Recipes 

So, based on this water report, and the fact that AJ Delange considers this almost comparable to RO water, I will be adding 1/2 a teaspoon of calcium chloride per 5 gallons of water and 3% sauermalz total to my Belgian Wit that will be brewed this weekend.

These numbers come from AJ's recommendations in the primer for what to add to a hefeweizen (or other "soft water beer") when using RO water. The additions of the sauermalz seems especially important when brewing this wheat beer, because as I understand it wheat will push the ph of the mash even higher. Since it seems as if none of these numbers in the NYC water report are of any considerable amount, I'm considering our NYC water as essentially RO in character.

AJ, or anyone else, does this assumption and the resulting additions seem correct?

ajdelange

Recipes 

That's what I would do but I'd check pH with a meter too (you knew I was going to put that in my response).

diggins

Recipes 

As a fellow Brooklyn guy, +1

I've also spoken with the 6 point guys and the Brooklyn brewery guys and they've both said that they use straight tap water in their beers with no treatment.

I've also always used tap water in my brews also.

WalkingStickMan

Recipes 

Thanks for the reply AJ!

And thanks for the info, diggens! So, does that mean that any mash ph considerations that these breweries have are recipe related, i.e. adding sauermalz, etc. to adjust for ph? If not, AJ, can you see our water as not posing any ph issues for standard recipes of most beer styles? I would assume that if our water needed any kind of treatment, that these breweries would be doing it.

WalkingStickMan

Recipes 

And not to be a pain in the ass, but AJ I've read on this forum that you're not sure what kind of flavor contribution (whether negative or positive) sauermalz has on an ale, only that lagers tend to benefit from a minor addition.

Should I not be worried about a flavor contribution at 3% of the grain bill anyway? And I'm even more curious why the flavor contribution is known to be positive in a lager, but unknown in an ale?

And lastly, what sort of flavor contribution, if any, does the calcium chloride add? If I were to decide against using it, could I still use the sauermalz, or would the additions then be out of balance?

Thanks again for all of the help!