What is the "main" goal of doing water adjustments?

Is it getting the mash pH to settle into the room temp range of 5.3 - 5.5? Is it to end up with an RA level that is appropriate to the SRM/style of beer? Is it to provide some minimum level of ions in the mash tun? Keep the amount of bicarbonate to a minimum? Setting the sulfate to chloride ratio? Something all together different?

My gut feeling is that getting the pH right is the primary goal as other additions to adjust flavor, sulfate to chloride ratio and assuring the recommended minimum amount of ions can be made to the boil kettle. Yet, when I use either Bru'n Water or EZWater I don't see a way to designate that a salt is to be added to the boiler only - it must be made to the mash tun or mash tun and sparge water. So, maybe mash pH isn't the primary goal after all but simply one of a number of sometimes competing goals.

In no way am I criticizing either Bru'n Water or EZwater. I think both have helped me brew better beer in the absence of having a pH meter. I'm simply trying to gain some more insight about water adjustments.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

Read this, it answers all your questions.

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jmf143 said:

Yet, when I use either Bru'n Water or EZWater I don't see a way to designate that a salt is to be added to the boiler only - it must be made to the mash tun or mash tun and sparge water.

Click to expand...

The "sparge" additions are the ones that (can) go into the boil kettle. Sparge water isn't usually treated, other than some acidification if necessary. That's what I use 5.2 for - it seems to keep the sparge from exceeding a pH of 5.8 very reliably.

Of course, if you add a lot a flavoring salts, those would go into the boil as well so that they don't mess up the mash chemistry.

OK - I'm no Einstein but here's my Grand Unified Theory of Brewing Water Chemistry . . .

1. Use acidulated malt / lactic acid or pickling lime in the mash tun to lower/raise the pH as needed.
2. Treat sparge water with lactic acid if needed in order to lower the alkalinity of the sparge.
3. Make all other flavor additions in the boiler.

It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.