My Ward Lab Report came in-- HELP?

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Leblais

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SO I know that its sorta important to balance out water but I am not sure really where to start.
I have a well and decided to get the ward homebrewers lab report, as follows:

pH - 8.0
tds (est ppm) - 146
electrical conductivity - 0.24
Cations/anions me/L - 2.1/2.2

ppm for the following:
Na- 8
K- 4
Ca- 27
Mg- 4
CaCO3- 84
NO3-N- <0.1 (safe)
SO4-S- 8
Cl- 11
CO3- <1.0
total HCO3- 87
total P- <0.01
Total Fe- <.03


So-- what is this good for and what is it not good for? What chemicals do I use to balance it out? Any other suggestions at all? As you can tell, I have not read the book WATER and do not have a chemistry degree BUT I do want to learn about it and adjust according to beer styles. I am making a late hop addition pale ale on (lighter in color) on Saturday and would love to try and do some water tinkering!
Thanks as always for the help!
 
You could try plugging the numbers in your water report and the ingredients in your recipe into EZ Water Calc. That will allow you to play around with what to add to the water to bring it closer to what you want for the style you are making.

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/
 
Thanks for that tip. I did that and i see that if I add 7 oz of aciduated malt then it gets my mash ph in the "green". But then I see that my "Effective Alkalinity and Residual alkalinity -111 and -132 respectively. Is this ok? AND it shows that my Ca, Ng and SO4 numbers are low. Is THAT ok?




jkovac said:
You could try plugging the numbers in your water report and the ingredients in your recipe into EZ Water Calc. That will allow you to play around with what to add to the water to bring it closer to what you want for the style you are making.

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/
Click to expand...
 
Check out Bru'n water.

Plug in the numbers making the appropriate corrections outlined in the software

Go through each step and be sure to check out the learning section. You don't need to be an expert but an understanding of the basics sure does help.

I am very much a non-expert but learned a great deal from Bru'n water. Working up from a nil knowledge base leaves lots of room for improvement I found.
 
That's pretty nice water. Just a little alkalinity that can be managed with lactic or phosphoric acid. Bru'n Water will quickly get you into the ballpark for good mashing hygiene. Supplement with gypsum, calcium chloride and you can do most styles. For well water, that's Amazing!
 
Nice water. I recommend reviewing the Water Knowledge page on the Bru'n Water website to help guide you as to the what and why of brewing water treatment. A good brewing water calculator can assist you with the 'how' of water treatment.
 
I added 3oz of aciduated malt on my last batch to get me to the desired PH range. Do you guys suggest lactic or phosphoric acid over the acid malt ? If so why?
 
Acidulated malt can vary in acid strength. Using lactic or phosphoric acid in a container allows you to work with a 'known' strength acid, leading to more precise mash PH calculations.
 
Yes, the 'strength' of sauermalz can vary. Here are the data measured by me (first one) and Kai Troester (second two) on three samples, two of which, note, are from the same maltster. The first number is the DI mash pH. The second is the buffering (mEq/kg•pH) in the vicinity of the DI mash pH. The third number is the proton surfeit from each if 0.05 pounds of each is used with 5 lbs of Maris Otter in a mash with water of alkalinity 1 mEq/L (50 ppm as CaCO3). Each sauermalz is 1% of the total grist weight and, with this water and this base malt, results in a pH estimate of 5.5. Note that even though the bufferings differ dramatically the proton surfeits are pretty close.


Weyermann Sauermalz 3.62 -292.09 -7.797935778 -0.064633344 5.49
Sauermalz .................3.43 -138.8546256 -6.528229193 -0.054109356 5.52
Sauermalz Weyermann 3.44 -158.4955752 -7.415666971 -0.061464901 5.50

More important to the question as to uncertainty in mash pH produces by variance in sauermalz properties is the data in the 4th column of numbers. This is the amount of pH shift produced by the addition of the sauermalz. Within 0.01 pH of each other. The final column of numbers is the estimated mash pH for a mash using this base malt and only one of the three sauermalz types. The range is 5.49 - 5.52. Not exactly enough of a range to cause concern in my mind.

This doesn't, of course, mean that there isn't some super sauermalz out there (and I've seen some mumbles about such a thing) and a sample set of 3 isn't exactly a universe of sauermalz but just based on three random grabs I'd say that sauermalz variance isn't much of a problem in mash pH prediction especially when put up against uncertainties of 0.2 or more in base malt DI mash pH's.

I neatly solve the problem of variance by buying 25 kg of the stuff and putting it in a Vittles Vault. Since I only use a couple of pounds in a mash that sack lasts over many brews.

So no, I don't suggest the liquid acid(s) over the sauermalz because I like the additional subtle complexity that sauermalz lends and mash pH variance due to strength variability doesn't appear to be a problem. Remember that the second half of the word is 'malt' - it is a specialty malt. I'm not sure that it is suited to British beers, for examples, but in the lagers I like it seems to work very nicely.
 
Hmm... interesting. What is a "Vittles Vault"? Also, you are using a few LBS per batch??? WOW that seems like a lot.

I used it my late hop pale ale ,so I dont think the flavor profile of a few ounces will come through, but perhaps it will.


ajdelange said:
Yes, the 'strength' of sauermalz can vary. Here are the data measured by me (first one) and Kai Troester (second two) on three samples, two of which, note, are from the same maltster. The first number is the DI mash pH. The second is the buffering (mEq/kg•pH) in the vicinity of the DI mash pH. The third number is the proton surfeit from each if 0.05 pounds of each is used with 5 lbs of Maris Otter in a mash with water of alkalinity 1 mEq/L (50 ppm as CaCO3). Each sauermalz is 1% of the total grist weight and, with this water and this base malt, results in a pH estimate of 5.5. Note that even though the bufferings differ dramatically the proton surfeits are pretty close.


Weyermann Sauermalz 3.62 -292.09 -7.797935778 -0.064633344 5.49
Sauermalz .................3.43 -138.8546256 -6.528229193 -0.054109356 5.52
Sauermalz Weyermann 3.44 -158.4955752 -7.415666971 -0.061464901 5.50

More important to the question as to uncertainty in mash pH produces by variance in sauermalz properties is the data in the 4th column of numbers. This is the amount of pH shift produced by the addition of the sauermalz. Within 0.01 pH of each other. The final column of numbers is the estimated mash pH for a mash using this base malt and only one of the three sauermalz types. The range is 5.49 - 5.52. Not exactly enough of a range to cause concern in my mind.

This doesn't, of course, mean that there isn't some super sauermalz out there (and I've seen some mumbles about such a thing) and a sample set of 3 isn't exactly a universe of sauermalz but just based on three random grabs I'd say that sauermalz variance isn't much of a problem in mash pH prediction especially when put up against uncertainties of 0.2 or more in base malt DI mash pH's.

I neatly solve the problem of variance by buying 25 kg of the stuff and putting it in a Vittles Vault. Since I only use a couple of pounds in a mash that sack lasts over many brews.

So no, I don't suggest the liquid acid(s) over the sauermalz because I like the additional subtle complexity that sauermalz lends and mash pH variance due to strength variability doesn't appear to be a problem. Remember that the second half of the word is 'malt' - it is a specialty malt. I'm not sure that it is suited to British beers, for examples, but in the lagers I like it seems to work very nicely.
Click to expand...
 
Leblais said:
Hmm... interesting. What is a "Vittles Vault"?
Click to expand...

http://www.gamma2.net/size50.htm

Leblais said:
Also, you are using a few LBS per batch??? WOW that seems like a lot.
Click to expand...

Yes, I typically mash 75 - 100 lbs of grain. Three percent of that is 2.25 - 3 lbs.

Leblais said:
so I dont think the flavor profile of a few ounces will come through, but perhaps it will.
Click to expand...

Some who use it say they don't notice anything from it in terms of flavor. Others do. It is subtle.
 
The thing about the Vittles Vault is that it has an O-ring that seals moisture in (or out) and seals insects and mice out. You can store grain in them for years and it doesn't go slack.

No, I'm not a pro. I just don't brew that often.
 
@AJdelange

Wow AJ. No wonder you are so passionate about the finer details of brewing. (I for one am very glad you are). You have a lot of ingredients (money) going into each brew. It no doubt make nailing the details and the chemistry all the more important. Would love to see a picture of your brewing setup. Just curious to see how it looks compared to my puny 5.5 gallon batches.

How can you ever decide what to make. I just arrived at my inlaws yesterday only to be shown a smorgasbord of German beers. Weissens, Dunkelweissens, and lagers, both dark and pale. Immediately I am mentally adding items to my wanna brew right away list.

I haven't even had a dunkelweissen since a summer in Munich many moons ago. I had forgotten how delicious they are .
 

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