"my water" question

hello,

i am planing to brew an american pale ale (all grain) and i wanted to know
if my water profile is suitable for this style:

calcium-80 ppm
magnesium-16 ppm
sodium-5 ppm
chloride-170 ppm
bicarbonate-10 ppm

thanks

Are you sure you didn't mix up Cl2 and CO3? That's a crapton of chloride, which will make your beer taste soft, round and dull. APA demands a sulfate-dominant profile.

thanks for the response . i think i will use diffrent water and add some
epsom sallt(cant find any gypsum).

new water:

calcium (ca) - 26 ppm
magnesium (mg) - 18
sodium (na) -32
sulfate (so4) - 6
chloride (ci) - 24
carbo (hco3) - 198

ph- 7.8

do you think a tsp of epsom will make my sierra nevada clone more balanced, and if so ,do i add the epsom to the total 9 gallon brewing water i am heating?
here is my recipe :5 gallon

11 lb pale malt
0.5 lb dextrine
0.3 lb caramunich

0.5 oz magnum 60 minutes
0.5 oz hallertauer 30 minutes
1 oz cascade 10 minutes

1 oz cascade dry hop

yeast: wyeast 1098 brit ale

Epsom salt will help with the sulfate, but it won't add any Ca; gypsum really is preferred.
MgSO4 ought to dissolve easily in water, but a better habit to get into is adding salts to the mash, not the liquor. I'd go 2tsp in 9gal, but no more. Mg is a laxative.

I would say for APA, you want the Ca at least 50-100ppm, and the ratio of SO4 to Cl to be at least 2:1... like the man said, too much Mg will put you on the can for a while... look for gypsum... do two salt addition calculations: one for the strike water volume and the other to the remainder of the preboil volume (preboil volume - strike water volume); add in the mash and in the boil, not the HLT.

Oh yeah:
Brewing Water Chemistry Calculator | Brewer's Friend

thanks very much

also, Mash pH Nomograph
Java-powered version of John Palmer's nomograph
Caution... it is metric; 1 gallon = 3.78 L

could i just use Calcium Chloride (regular table salt) instead of gypsum(cant get any gypsum) to add more calcium?

you can, but the water profile will lend itself to a maltier beer rather than a hoppy beer...

FYI, NaCl is normal table salt, not CaCl... Na doesnt do much for you. Also, avoid iodized NaCl table salt; use kosher or pickling salt.

the ratio of SO4 to Cl should be SO4 dominate to accentuate hoppy beers, and Cl dominate to accentuate malty beers; 1:1 is balanced

thanks again.
little by little things start to make sense

i could also use this water:

ca: 80
mg: 16
na: 5
ci: 170
so4: 18
hco3: 10
ph: 6.8

i am brewing tomorrow and i only have epsom salt an regular table salt.
what would you recommend to add to my mash water (15 qt) sparge(5 gallon)

thanks

so, you only have MgSO4 (epsom) and NaCl (table)... no other sources of Ca (gypsum, chalk, calcium chloride)? I am assuming your total preboil volume is 7 gallons?

if this is the case, you will have one of two problems: if you go straight water with your profile, the Cl will dominate and hops wont shine; if you dilute (1/3 your water with 2/3 reverse osmosis/DI water) to get the SO4:Cl ratio balanced to hop dominate, your Ca will suffer, and you want the Ca to be at least 50 to help with yeast floc.

(posted a separate thread)


first of all a am sorry but i think i developed a slight OCD brewing problem.
i am brewing tomorrow and i have 6 kinds of water to choose from and only
epsom salt to adjust the profiles.
my big question is which water would you choose for an sierra nevada pale ale(with only epsom to work with):

water 1:

hco3: 354
mg: 25.8
na: 15.9
so4: 20.5
ci: 8
ca: 73.9
ph: 7.4

water 2:

hco3: 10
mg: 16
na: 5
so4: 18
ci: 170
ca: 80
ph: 6.8


water 3:

hco3: 236
mg: 31
na: 46
so4: 28
ci: 80
ca: 62
ph: 7.9


water 4:

hco3: 311
mg: 29.2
na: 6.3
so4: 4.1
ci: 2.4
ca: 50.1
ph: 7.45

water 5:

hco3: 260
mg: 16
na: 9
so4: 7
ci: 19
ca: 70
ph: 7.5

water 6:

hco3: 198
mg: 18
na: 32
so4: 6
ci: 24
ca: 26
ph: 7.8

hope someone could help me

water 6 has too low Ca; most of the others (except 2) have high HCO3 (typically you would want less than 125ppm, except in darker beers)

if I had these options and only had MgSO4, I would:

take 10 qts of water 2 and 5 qts of distilled/RO water and strike with that. add 3.5g of MgSO4 after you add the grains.... should take the chemistry to Ca:53, Mg:33, Na:3, SO4:103, Cl:113, HCO3:7

fill the HLT with the necessary amount of water for sparging to attain preboil volume; use the same ratio (2 parts water 2, 1 part distilled/RO)

if your preboil volume is 7 gals, then you need another salt addition for the makeup water (7gals - 15 qts [14.2L] = 13 qts [12.3L])... using the nomograph to hit the same numbers, add 3.0g to the boil to get similar water chemistry as the strike water.

the SO4:Cl ratio wont be hop dominate; it will be mildly malt dominate to balanced. the Ca is high enough not to cause problems; the HCO3 is sufficient; the Mg shouldnt be high enough to cause any gastrointestinal disasters...

hopefully, this helps

maxhavoc thank you very much for your help, i will try that