Style Profile would be better

Yeah, I'm another pH noob! :rockin: And let me tell ya, I've been reading so many posts on water profiles that my right eye has begun to twitch! I have my water profile, I have a basic understanding of what I need to do. What I do not have is a guide that tells me what targets to aim for for certain styles. Sure, if I wanted to make a mainstream Belgian there are several water profiles to choose from, but what if I want to make a simple American wheat. Where would I find the target #'s to aim for after I plug in my own water's #'s.

I mean is there no chart that says, hey you want to brew a American Wheat you need a water profile with range of X to X for Ca, a range of X to X for Mg, etc etc etc.....

I've tried to use that namograph with a SRM of 5, I plug in my #'s and add 1 gram of CaSO4 & CaCl for 7 gals of water would get me there. So then I go to brewersfriend and use their calculator with the same additions and it still tells me its a very bitter beer, not at all what I would want a Wheat to be. (muttering....) I'm sure once I get the hang of it, its easy. But right now its making my head swim!

the nomograph does not consider the sulfate to chloride ratio. Brewers friend does (as does palmer's spreadsheet) and that can be tweaked to align with your desired style. Of course tweaking those minerals can alter your residual alkalinity which will change the range of color you were shooting for, so it takes a bit of playing with the spreadsheets/calculators to get what you want.

I think the brewersfriend calc takes SO4:Cl2 balance a little too literally. ISTR Colin Kaminski saying that his water profiles' sulfate:chloride ratios range from 2:1 for malty beer to 8:1 for bitter.

944play said:

I think the brewersfriend calc takes SO4:Cl2 balance a little too literally. ISTR Colin Kaminski saying that his water profiles' sulfate:chloride ratios range from 2:1 for malty beer to 8:1 for bitter.

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I don't have enough evidence to agree or disagree, but personally if I had not used their calcualtor by chance and come across that ratio, I would have been doomed to an eternity of crappy beer.

By using the brewers friend calcualtor and by paying attention to the sulfate to chloride ratio I was able to literally fix my beer. So I take that metric pretty seriously - and there are some posts from other people who had a similar experience.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/attention-all-extract-brewers-harsh-bitterness-aftertaste-128731/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/help-me-understand-chloride-sulfate-ratio-117953/

Like I said I don't have enough information to know whether or not the calcualtor is completely accurate, but I have found the ratio to be a very real thing. My tap water has a 2:1 sulfate:chloride and it made very bitter beer for recipes that were intended to be malty/sweet. When I went to a 1:2 ratio of sulfate:chloride it allowed me to actually brew a malty/sweet beer (in fact, probably a little too sweet).

I have been coming to the conclusion lately that water is more important than just mash pH. The various minerals in your water also effect flavor.

Although some beer styles have associated water profiles, not every one does. So what I do is I use the "Brewing Range" of each mineral description in chapter 15-1 of How to Brew to come up with a target range based on the intended flavor of the beer I will be brewing. Then I plug my tap water profile and my target profile into the Brewers Friend calculator and adjust accordingly. In addition to the mash pH and residual alkalinity I also pay attention to the target color and flavor on the bottom to make sure I am creating the correct water type.

For example, if I was making an Irish Red I would target a malty dark/amber beer. If I was making an IPA I would target a light bitter beer. But the target pH for both would always be in the 5.2-5.8 range.

The point is when it comes to your water you should not only be thinking about mash pH, but also flavor.

I might be taking the long way around, but for me it seems easier if I start with Palmers spreadsheet to get a basic plan of action, then fine tune it with brewers friend calculator to make sure my ratio's are right. Until I get better at this, thats my plan.

Give this spreadsheet a try...

EZ_water_adjustment.xls

-TH- said:

Give this spreadsheet a try..

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Dude, that sheet is awesome. Simplicity at its finest!