Water Chemistry. Mash & Sparge?

Yooper said:

That seems ok, but I'd go lower on the sulfate for the first time. I dislike beers with more than about 100 ppm sulfate, and while you may prefer more you can save that for next time. I'd probably cut the CaS04 in half.

I don't understand the HDNS- is that hardness?

Your mash pH could be very high if you have a very high level of bicarb.

I sparge with 100% RO water. You want low alkalinity for your sparge water.

You can treat all of your water the same, but check the alkalinity of the water.

Have you tried using EZ water or brunwater? I prefer Bru'nwater, but there is a bit of a learning curve with it! Brunwater has a sparge water calculator to help you acidity your sparge water appropriately, so it would be very useful for you I think.

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Harvestsmiles said:

First off, as your first all grain, don't get too overwhelmed with water chemistry. You will still make an awesome beer if you pay no mind to the water. But as you are interested I will pass on what I just learned about this.

From reading in Gordon Strong's -Brewing better beer- A high ph in sparge water will pull out tannins. The gypsum will only lower the ph in the mash reacting with the phosphates in the grain so use it there. Gypsum in sparge water doesn't do much in the way of dropping the ph. Adding 1/4 tsp of phosphoric acid to 5 gallons of water will lower a 6.7 ph to 5.7 ph. Sparge water is best at 5.8 or lower (a good aim is 5.5)

If you have a way to measure ph great, then adjust as needed. If not, no worries you will be fine. so to answer you question, distilled or tap water... measure ph of both and go with whichever is closer to 5.5 or I would use the distilled if you already have it one hand...

Again, have fun with it either way and good luck on your first all grain!

Click to expand...

Harvestsmiles said:

First off, as your first all grain, don't get too overwhelmed with water chemistry. You will still make an awesome beer if you pay no mind to the water. But as you are interested I will pass on what I just learned about this.

From reading in Gordon Strong's -Brewing better beer- A high ph in sparge water will pull out tannins. The gypsum will only lower the ph in the mash reacting with the phosphates in the grain so use it there. Gypsum in sparge water doesn't do much in the way of dropping the ph. Adding 1/4 tsp of phosphoric acid to 5 gallons of water will lower a 6.7 ph to 5.7 ph. Sparge water is best at 5.8 or lower (a good aim is 5.5)

If you have a way to measure ph great, then adjust as needed. If not, no worries you will be fine. so to answer you question, distilled or tap water... measure ph of both and go with whichever is closer to 5.5 or I would use the distilled if you already have it one hand...

Again, have fun with it either way and good luck on your first all grain!

Click to expand...