Hello everyone,
*
Well, I hate to be yet another person who posts the what to do with my water thread, but Ive encountered a particularly interesting situation my water is high in Na and Cl, but has overall low alkalinity and is relatively soft.* Up to
this point, the few light color batches that I have brewed have had a noticeable twang while the amber and darker batches have turned out much better..* Ive only used filtered tap water, no RO/DI dilution.* I am on city water, so this is not from a water softening
system.
*
Here is my report from Ward:
*
Sodium, Na 94
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 10
Magnesium, Mg 8
Total Hardness, CaCO3 58
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 9
Chloride, Cl 179
Carbonate, CO3 3
Bicarbonate, HCO3 9
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 13
*
Ive been using the EZ water calculator to set up my profile, but I have some confusion as to the order of operations based on Palmer in an episode of brewstrong, he really puts emphasis on the RA value being within limits for the color
of the brew, but to accomplish that, I need to add a bunch more salts, namely chalk or baking soda, one of which is an unknown and the other which would raise my already high sodium.* Some of the very respected posters on here seem to indicate less emphasis
on the RA.* Should I, in this order:*
1.******
Taget mash pH
2.******
Evaluate my minimum ion concentrations per Palmer
3.******
Get the Cl:SO4 ratio correct for the bitter/malt charater
4.******
(optionally) adjust RA for the style?
*
Finally, lets say I want to brew a Bavarian hefe.* Would you suggest dilution with RO to bring the Na and Cl down to <50 ppm or thereabouts?
*
Thank you in advance for any help.
*
Well, I hate to be yet another person who posts the what to do with my water thread, but Ive encountered a particularly interesting situation my water is high in Na and Cl, but has overall low alkalinity and is relatively soft.* Up to
this point, the few light color batches that I have brewed have had a noticeable twang while the amber and darker batches have turned out much better..* Ive only used filtered tap water, no RO/DI dilution.* I am on city water, so this is not from a water softening
system.
*
Here is my report from Ward:
*
Sodium, Na 94
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 10
Magnesium, Mg 8
Total Hardness, CaCO3 58
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 9
Chloride, Cl 179
Carbonate, CO3 3
Bicarbonate, HCO3 9
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 13
*
Ive been using the EZ water calculator to set up my profile, but I have some confusion as to the order of operations based on Palmer in an episode of brewstrong, he really puts emphasis on the RA value being within limits for the color
of the brew, but to accomplish that, I need to add a bunch more salts, namely chalk or baking soda, one of which is an unknown and the other which would raise my already high sodium.* Some of the very respected posters on here seem to indicate less emphasis
on the RA.* Should I, in this order:*
1.******
Taget mash pH
2.******
Evaluate my minimum ion concentrations per Palmer
3.******
Get the Cl:SO4 ratio correct for the bitter/malt charater
4.******
(optionally) adjust RA for the style?
*
Finally, lets say I want to brew a Bavarian hefe.* Would you suggest dilution with RO to bring the Na and Cl down to <50 ppm or thereabouts?
*
Thank you in advance for any help.