Water profile for RyePA

So I'm new to water adjustments but it's very exciting to try new things... I feel even more addicted now! So really wanting to make a RyePA and after some research on HBT found that the general consensus is a Burton water profile. Here's what I have, using TH's EZ Water Adjustment spreadsheet

Tap water profile in ppm, converted from mg/L:
Ca: 14.4
Mg: 6.32
Na: 17
Cl: 13.5
SO4: 16.4
CaCO3:56

Surprisingly soft for a mountain town


Salts to be added in grams (Mash / Kettle):
Chalk (CaCO3) 10 / 5
Gypsum (CaSO4) 16 / 8
Epsom (MgSO4) 4.25 / 2.1
Baking Soda (NaHCO3) 2 / 1


Adjusted water profile in ppm (Burton equivalent according to EZ in parenthesis):
Ca: 351 (352)
Mg: 24 (24)
Na: 41 (44)
Cl: 14 (16)
SO4: 482 (820)
CaCO3: 325 (262)

RA = 60 (beer is expect to be 10.3 SRM)
Cl:SO4 = 0.03 (very bitter)


Now, I'm new to this but the profile of Burton-on-Trent seems ridiculous (and probably chewy) and it would appear I need to add a rather sizable amount of salts.

Couple questions:
1) Is this normal?
2) Will it be too astringent and not the right kind of bitter with that low of a Cl:SO4?
3) Is there anything I should be doing differently?


Thanks for the help in advance!

Is it normal that you have to add a lot of salts to reproduce burton water? yes.

The problem with putting all of that into the mash, which I'm guessing was your plan, is that if you had actual Burton water a bunch of stuff would drop out in the HLT. So adding the salts to your mash that would have produced burton water had you added them to the liquor is not the same thing at all as brewing with burton water.

That said, they don't make rye pale ale with american hops in burton, so I don't see the point in using burton water anyway.

Personally I would add gypsum to get a sulfate level you are happy with and leave it at that. The vast majority of hoppy american beers are made with sulfate levels much lower than burton.