Please check my water additions

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

loetz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
119
Reaction score
4
Location
Vienna, Austria
I'm doing water additions for the first time, and I would like it if someone would check my work for me and give me some input.

Here in Vienna, the water report is fairly vague and it expresses the contents in ranges like this:

pH: 7.5 to 8.3
Total Hardness: 6-11 (German Hardness Degree)
Carbonate Hardness: 6-11 (German Hardness Degree)
Calcium: 43-58ppm
Magnesium: 6-16ppm
Nitrate: 4-8ppm
Sulphate: 9-12ppm
Chloride: 1-5ppm

I went with the averages of all of those ranges, so for a chloride content of 1-5 I used 3ppm, etc.
I also did an aquarium water test and a few conversions, and I think it's telling me that the water has a bicarbonate count of 140pmm
______________________________________________________________

There are two beers I would like to brew: one a slightly malty stout and the other a balanced pale ale.

Pale Ale:
12gal batch
24lbs pale
1lb cara40
40IBU/1.054OG = .73ratio
7SRM

I'm thinking about adding 21ml of carbonate reducing solution (CRS) and I think that should cut the bicarbonate down to about 30ppm. I imagine that it will lower my pH as well, but I don't know how much.
The calcium content here is a little low, but I don't know if I should add calcium chloride or epsom salts or both.

Stout
15gal batch
40lbs pale
4lbs oats
3lbs chocolate malt
2.2 roasted barley
1.6 black
1.3 cara40
58IBU/1.088OG= .65 ratio
For this I think I would keep the bicarbonate at 140. I think I should add around 5grams of calcium chloride which should bump up the calcium content to about 100 and the chloride to 83; This would give a ratio of 83chloride/10sulfate. That seems a little high to me, but I don't know.


So do any of you have any input on this? I appreciate the help!

Oh, and I plan on using campden tabs in both of those brews, but I don't think that effects any of the other additions, right?
 
Back
Top