Hey everyone,
I've been brewing for a few years now and figured I'd start exploring water chemistry. My beer hasn't been bad, but I know there is room for some improvement. So I've been doing a lot of reading, talking to a guy at my local LHBS, and I obtained a copy of the Chicago water report. Below is a pic of the EZcalculator with some information added. I chose a very simple recipe to start off with. 6.5lbs 2-row, 6.5lbs pale wheat, 1oz hops at 60min, Safale-04 yeast w/starter. You can see the calculator below with the Chicago water info, my recipe, and my salts, lactic acid, and acidulated malt additions.
My questions are:
1)First off... am I on the right path? I feel like I'm taking shots in the dark here since I have never done this before and don't have any brewing friends who have.
2)For the salts, per the calculator, I add 1g of CaCl2 and MgSO4 to the mash, and 1.2g of each to my sparge? the calculator says (add to boil)... So I was just curious what I add it to.. the sparge water that sparges the grain, or the boil?
3)Guy at the LHBS said to add the Lactic acid to the sparge water, not the mash. He said this is because I'm already adjusting the mash water with the acidulated malt and the salts... Which is it? mash or sparge water?
4) For the "Flavor Ions" (Results on the calculator) I have no idea if I am correct... I just adjusted things until I got in the recommended ranges and the style said "balanced".
5) where can I find MgSO4? The brew store did not have it.
Thank you all for helping another new guy. It's very appreciated.
I've been brewing for a few years now and figured I'd start exploring water chemistry. My beer hasn't been bad, but I know there is room for some improvement. So I've been doing a lot of reading, talking to a guy at my local LHBS, and I obtained a copy of the Chicago water report. Below is a pic of the EZcalculator with some information added. I chose a very simple recipe to start off with. 6.5lbs 2-row, 6.5lbs pale wheat, 1oz hops at 60min, Safale-04 yeast w/starter. You can see the calculator below with the Chicago water info, my recipe, and my salts, lactic acid, and acidulated malt additions.
My questions are:
1)First off... am I on the right path? I feel like I'm taking shots in the dark here since I have never done this before and don't have any brewing friends who have.
2)For the salts, per the calculator, I add 1g of CaCl2 and MgSO4 to the mash, and 1.2g of each to my sparge? the calculator says (add to boil)... So I was just curious what I add it to.. the sparge water that sparges the grain, or the boil?
3)Guy at the LHBS said to add the Lactic acid to the sparge water, not the mash. He said this is because I'm already adjusting the mash water with the acidulated malt and the salts... Which is it? mash or sparge water?
4) For the "Flavor Ions" (Results on the calculator) I have no idea if I am correct... I just adjusted things until I got in the recommended ranges and the style said "balanced".
5) where can I find MgSO4? The brew store did not have it.
Thank you all for helping another new guy. It's very appreciated.