Help with water profile for blonde ale

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JBrady

JBrady

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hey guys I'm making a blonde ale smash with haclyon and cascade hops. The cascades will be all late addition starting at 25 minutes. I've never brewed this style so I'm not sure how to attack the water salt additions. Its a pale dry beer so will a pilsen-esque water profile work? I build from distilled water, so I can stay as close to 0 minerals as I need which should be pretty decent for a dry pale crisp beer correct? I was just thinking of adding some epsom salt for yeast health and enough gypsum to get about 65ppm of sulfates to accenuate the hops. Doing this would put the RA right on target for optimum mash conversion. What to yall think? Will I be ok on this beer with no chlorides or calcium? Well the gypsum adds a little calcium, but you guys get what I mean. Thanks for any info.
 
bump...i'm fixin to brew this in a hour or so, hoping to get some feedback before I go ahead and do it my way.
 
Shoot for minimum 50ppm Calcium, 10ppm Magnesium and balance your sulfate/chloride ratio. Also watch your PH.
 
Agreed, 50ppm ca will allow the yeast to floc properly. Keep the balance between chloride and SO4. Keep the sodium down too, it clashes with the SO4. 10-15 ppm Mg as well. Around 50ppm bicarbonate. Yup, there's my 0.02
 
I'm sparging now, I'll go ahead and add a little chalk and CalciumChloride but I'm not going to balance the SO4/CL ratio. I'm still going to lean it a little toward SO4. Thanks for the info guys
 
Hoosier said:
chiming in a little late but you want to add gypsum not cal chloride bro. Hope it turns out great!
Click to expand...

I did add mostly gypsum and epsom salt, I just added enough cal chloride to up the calcium numbers and close the gap a little bit on the so4 chloride ratio. but it still favors so4.
 
This is in the beginners forum? Wow, i feel really dumb reading this thread!! For me it is a choice of getting the water from the hose or the sink!!
 
JBrady said:
The way I understand it is that the MG in levels between 10-20ppm act as a yeast nutrient.
Click to expand...

The malt supplies most of the magnesium the yeast need. If anything, the desirable minimum for Mg addition (especially for a light flavored style like Blonde) is about 5 ppm. Be very light with all the mineral additons for this and similar styles. Add only the Ca you need to get the concentrations in the water up to around 50 ppm and include a minor dose of chloride and possibly some sulfate. Neither of those minor doses should exceed around 50 ppm to avoid impacting taste too much.
 
mabrungard said:
The malt supplies most of the magnesium the yeast need. If anything, the desirable minimum for Mg addition (especially for a light flavored style like Blonde) is about 5 ppm. Be very light with all the mineral additons for this and similar styles. Add only the Ca you need to get the concentrations in the water up to around 50 ppm and include a minor dose of chloride and possibly some sulfate. Neither of those minor doses should exceed around 50 ppm to avoid impacting taste too much.
Click to expand...
What if I were to add like an apple puree and lactose to the double golden ale I'm making? would this change the salt profile at all?

Thanks sir for all your incredible knowledge!!
 
UltraAK said:
What if I were to add like an apple puree and lactose to the double golden ale I'm making? would this change the salt profile at all?
Click to expand...
I am not sure if Fruited Milkshake Double Golden Ales will be the next big thing, but... Are you asking if the additions would change the salts/minerals in the beer? Or if you should use different additions than discussed?

My opinion is that the advice in Martin's post would apply. If you are starting with RO, add some Gypsum and Calcium Chloride to get your Calcium level to around 50 ppm. You could go more heavy on the Chloride over Sulfate for the style you are brewing. Ignore Magnesium, or add 5-15 ppm (via Epsom Salt).

But:
1) this is really not a topic for the beginners brewing board
2) since your beer would be very different than the one asked about on this thread, it would have made more sense to start a new thread
 
well we have some wild beers here in Chicagoland - you'd be surprised...appreciate the info, but can do without the finicky ground rules and *ssholes with immature replies, thanks and cheers
 
CascadesBrewer said:
I am not sure if Fruited Milkshake Double Golden Ales will be the next big thing, but... Are you asking if the additions would change the salts/minerals in the beer? Or if you should use different additions than discussed?

My opinion is that the advice in Martin's post would apply. If you are starting with RO, add some Gypsum and Calcium Chloride to get your Calcium level to around 50 ppm. You could go more heavy on the Chloride over Sulfate for the style you are brewing. Ignore Magnesium, or add 5-15 ppm (via Epsom Salt).

But:
1) this is really not a topic for the beginners brewing board
2) since your beer would be very different than the one asked about on this thread, it would have made more sense to start a new thread
Click to expand...
https://untappd.com/b/phase-three-brewing-a-bushel-of-apples/3995309
 

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