As for the question on water volume, the calculator is setup to account for minerals going into the kettle before the boil. That is how it would be done if source water needed no alteration (like burton on trent water). So, yes, add your mash and sparge volumes together. For a 5.5 gallon batch, it might be somewhere around 7.5 gallons to account for boil off, dead space in the mash tun, and other equipment losses.
Right now I am batch sparging. I don't bother to add salts to the sparge water. I add all the salts into the mash (by adding to my HLT while it is warming up). I suppose a more perfect method would be do split up the salts accordingly. I think it would end up being a very minute difference, at least for levels of ions I am dealing with. It can't hurt!
In other methods, such as fly sparging, brewers do need to pay closer attention to the pH when draining to the kettle as the mash is continually dilted. In that case, I would definitely split it up.
Really excellent in every way, but could you add acids to the amendments?
Thanks for the kind words and feedback. Its been a joy putting this site together and getting such comments.
Being from an area with ion levels practically nil in the source water, I have no experience using acid adjustments for brewing.
As I understand it, acids are not involved with flavor ion balances. Instead they are used to adjust the pH of the mash, and influence mash efficiency. The tool can handle this expansion without a problem. It could even recommend an acid addition if the pH is too high.
What water profile are you working with? What kind of acid and how much of it do you add?
Larry, oooops, I see what it is now, the negative charge sign on the Cl is a little close to the l, which makes the l look like an r so it reads at a glance as Cr instead of Cl. My mistake.
Hello to all, I am new to the forum and new to brewing so I am always reading and asking questions.
I ran across Larry's calculator and I really like it and am looking forward to using it.
My question is about the calculator's lines 8 and 9.
While trying to "match" Burton on Trent water I recieved a harmful symbol at just 258 for calcium.
Burton's profile states 270 for calcium! I know the numbers are guidelines but I am a little confused. I am obsessed with perfection so I may be reading too much into this so please forgive me.
Anyway, just throwing this out there.
You guys are all awesome and I am grateful to be a part of this community!
Indeed according to various sources, including John Palmer 'How To Brew', Calcium levels above 250ppm can be harmful to beer. I am not sure what the level is that makes it harmful to human health. 270 is close to the 250, so its a boarder line case. Try drinking a true English Ale imported from the Burton on Trent region, you'll note the mineral taste. It could be considered a 'defect' in some circles. For this style of beer it can also be seen as a regional signature. I got a nice bottle of ESB from the local European market (Edelweiss in PDX) for around $4 and my ESB is darn close. It was close enough to have a friend of mine from the UK say it tasted like home.
By the way I love the 0.5L size of bottles from Europe. I end up saving those for bottling my home brew.
In terms of brewing English style beers, make sure to shoot for grains, hops, and yeast from those regions (Marris Otter malt, Kent Goldings or Northern Brewer Hops, and of course British Ale Yeast or some such strain). Water chemistry does play a role, but clean water, good brewing techniques, and the right ingredients will get you most of the way there. Expect to slowly perfect this over your lifetime.
Larry, thank you!
I agree with the idea of using "local" grains and hops. I just makes sense if you're creating the water profile you would also need to match the other ingredients.
Thank as well for the Edelweiss reference. I will be visiting them soon(not just for the beers either)!
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I want to use this sheet, and I contacted my water supplier for current mineral composition, however I have a question. I run my water through a 0.5 micron carbon filter before I use it as brewing water. What does that do to my minerals? (ie does it only filter out the chlorine?)
That is a great question. I know carbon filters capture some of the undesirable mineral content (like lead). The manufacturer of the filter would probably have specific information about what minerals pass through.
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