Adding Salts to RO Water

[Bayou Fatma Brewer]

I was wondering when building your own Brew water and adding "Salts’" to RO water if anyone uses a mid-way amount/scale that is between a Balanced Profile and a Balanced Profile II.
I was thinking this may be the best of "Both Worlds" when making your own water. To have a mid-range. I know it depends on the type of Beer that you’re brewing but was interested if anyone does this ? See below for the 2 profiles I’m talking about:
Cheers

https://www.brewersfriend.com/brewing-water-target-profiles/
[Removed All-Bold/All Italics formatting -Mod]

 

[VikeMan]

Building a water profile is a function of mash pH considerations and desired flavor/mouthfeel influence. And yeast flocculation support, if that's important to you (and to the yeast strain).

If what you think you need falls somewhere between two "standard" profiles, go for it. There's nothing really standard about those standards.

 

[AlexKay]

I don't much like Balanced II, which has 80 ppm Na+ and 220 ppm HCO3- for a "dark golden to deep amber beer." Balanced I -- 80/5/25 Ca2+/Mg2+/Na+ and 75/80 Cl-/SO4- will work well for most beers, except I'd ditch the 100 ppm HCO3-. (My opinion is that you should never add carbonate/bicarbonate to your beer unless you know for sure that your mash pH is going to be low, preferably because you brewed the beer before and measured it.)

 

[BeerAndTele]

I'm usually in the neighborhood of the "Balanced Profile 1" values, less the bicarbonate (I start with distilled and don't add any because I brew lighter styles and need to acidify). I've experimented with higher sulfate levels and found that my palate didn't love the perception of dryness on the finish ... but that's just me; your palate might be different, so good to experiment. Also, I don't tend to brew "robust styles" (Brewer's Friend's words), so the Balanced Profile 1 values work well for my beers. Cheers.

 

[jerrylotto]

As long as you stay within the ranges for each ion that are healthy for enzyme activity and beer fermentation you're going to get something drinkable. As @VikeMan already mentioned, the standards are just recipes so you should treat them as such and if you want to make changes, do.

 

[brewbama]

I only use CaCl and gypsum along with a bit of Ascorbic acid (as opposed to acid malt) to treat water. IMO less is more. It’s based on AJ DeLange’s recommendations.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/
https://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/02/water-chemistry-how-to-build-your-water.html

 

[jerrylotto]

I only use CaCl and gypsum along with a bit of Ascorbic acid (as opposed to acid malt) to treat water. IMO less is more. It’s based on AJ DeLange’s recommendations.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/
https://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/02/water-chemistry-how-to-build-your-water.html

That's CaCl2 iand I recommend phosphoric acid instead of ascorbic acid as it adds no flavor to the finished beer and if you can use a lot less (H3PO4 - triprotic!)

 

[brewbama]

That's CaCl2 iand I recommend phosphoric acid instead of ascorbic acid as it adds no flavor to the finished beer and if you can use a lot less (H3PO4 - triprotic!)

I have ulterior motives for the AA: kill two birds with one stone.

Ascorbic Acid is a proven antioxidant, though slightly less effective in solution at scavenging oxygen than NaMeta. However, enzymes exist within the malt that increase the effectiveness of AA as an oxygen scavenger. (Ref: http://www.germanbrewing.net/docs/On_Brewing_Bavarian_Helles_v3.pdf)

More importantly, it’s a weak acid that assists Ca to get mash pH in the desired range (5.2-5.4).

1 tsp in a 5 gal batch does not add flavor to the finished beer.

Cheers!