Water adjustments for hefeweizen

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im322305

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Hey everyone. Im brewing up EdWort's Bavarian hefeweizen tomorrow and need some advice with adjusting my water for it (Grain Bill = 7 lbs Wheat & 4lbs Pilsner). I'm still fairly new to adjusting my water. My plan of attack is to dilute 40% of my city water with distilled water to help bring down the bicarbonates (all distilled water will be used in the mash plus .25 gallons of city water). Then I plan to use 4 ml of lactic acid in the mash along with 4 g of CaCl2 and 1 g of MgSO4. Mash water amount is 4.25 gallons and sparge amount is 5.5 gallons. Using EZ water spreadsheet I'm at an estimated room temp mash pH of 5.56 and an RA of -341. I understand that the spreadsheet is a useful tool but is not the end all be all.

City Water:

Ca = 30.5
Mg = 8.8
Na = 19
Cl = 18
SO4 = 28
Alkalinity (CaCO3) = 80


Adjusted Water:

Ca = 47
Mg = 8
Na = 11
Cl = 63
SO4 = 27
Cl/SO4 ratio = 2.33

1. How does everything look? (water additions, profile, etc..)

2. The RA given by the spreadsheet seems very low to be brewing with and I'm wondering if this is cause for concern.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
That approach appears fairly sound. I wouldn't bother with the Epsom salt addition, since there is no need for additional magnesium in the water. The malt provides all the Mg that is needed.

The lactic acid addition seems appropriate. I would not worry about the RA value. Its only the mash pH that matters. My experience is that the mash pH is not that different when wheat malt is used. I note that EZ assumes that wheat's pH effect is markedly higher pH. I'm not sure that I believe that. That might cause you to overacidify. Fortunately, I find that having a Hefe turn out a little more tart is a good thing.

Enjoy!
 
That approach appears fairly sound. I wouldn't bother with the Epsom salt addition, since there is no need for additional magnesium in the water. The malt provides all the Mg that is needed.

The lactic acid addition seems appropriate. I would not worry about the RA value. Its only the mash pH that matters. My experience is that the mash pH is not that different when wheat malt is used. I note that EZ assumes that wheat's pH effect is markedly higher pH. I'm not sure that I believe that. That might cause you to overacidify. Fortunately, I find that having a Hefe turn out a little more tart is a good thing.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. I too was wondering why they put wheat's pH higher than the other base malts. Do you feel that I should lay back on the lactic acid to prevent a mash thats too acidic? Certainly don't mind a little tartness in my hefes but dont want it to be too overpowering either.
 
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