Bru'n Water - Check my additions?

[normonster]

I’m about to adjust my water for the first time and I was hoping someone could verify what I’m doing is correct (in terms of setting up Bru’n Water for my recipe).



Grain Bill: 18 lbs 2-row, 4 lbs Rye Malt, 2 lbs Crystal 10L, 1/2 lb Acid Malt

Post boil batch size: 13 gallons

Total Mash Water (using RO and setting dilution to 100%): 11 gallons

Total Sparge Water to be treated (actually sparging with less but want the water level to be above my sightglass when I finish – use the rest to clean): 12 gallons



Trying to hit the built in “Amber Malty” profile after treatment and aiming for a mash pH of 5.4.

Indicated additions to mash water are: Gypsum 3.3g, Calcium Chloride 5.5g

Indicated additions to sparge water: Gypsum 3.6g, Calcium Chloride 6g, Lactic Acid .9mL

Indicated mash parameters: Est pH 5.4, Hardness 139, RA -26, Alkalinity 13, So4/CI Ratio .67



I’d post screen shots but Bru’n Water says not to reproduce in any form.



What do you think?

 

[mblanks2]

Without plugging everything into the spreadsheet myself. I would assume that you've got everything.
The copyright portion does allow for screenshot posting. Just FYI, so if you want post portions of your sheet we can delve deeper into ti to determine if you modified it correctly.

 

[normonster]

OK, thank you mblanks2. Here are the screenshots:

 

[stpug]

Your stated Acid Malt in the OP indicates 1.2lb
Your screenshot indicates 0.5lb
Rectify this before brewing otherwise your pH will be way off one way or another.

Also, if your base 2-row happens to be Rahr then it's best to use an Lovibond color of 5 in Bru'N to account for it's increased acidity. If it's not Rahr then 2L is good.

Otherwise, it looks good to me.

Edit: Out of curiosity, why "Amber Malty" as opposed to 'Yellow Malty or Balanced'. Also out of curiosity, what kind of beer is this? Saison w/ crystal?

 

[normonster]

Hey stpug! Sorry, typo in op...half a pound of acid (corrected).

I wasn't sure which one to pick honestly...the beer is going to be a rye pale ale tho (if that is even a beer..I just made it up to try out rye and to have something to put in my new whiskey barrel for its maiden run). Yellow malty you think? I'm open to change it up but in two more days it'll be done (barring heavy rain).

I'll check my base grain mfg tonight. Thank you guys for the pointers!!!

 

[stpug]

Hey stpug! Sorry, typo in op...half a pound of acid (corrected).

I wasn't sure which one to pick honestly...the beer is going to be a rye pale ale tho (if that is even a beer..I just made it up to try out rye and to have something to put in my new whiskey barrel for its maiden run). Yellow malty you think? I'm open to change it up but in two more days it'll be done (barring heavy rain).

I'll check my base grain mfg tonight. Thank you guys for the pointers!!!

Great! Then the Brun screenshots above are most accurate.

As for what minerals to include/notinclude is purely personal (as is nearly everything in brewing), but often times 'pale ales' are helped out by some increased sulfate levels. While these levels can go upwards of 300ppm for some folks, I would recommend 100ppm as a starting point (i.e. 100ppm sufates) with about 50ppm chloride. This should be pretty closely matched with a yellow or amber 'bitter' profile in brun. I personally like ~125-150ppm sulfates in my pale ales, but this is just starting to get to the realm of 'easily noticable' which is why I suggest slightly lower to begin with.

You lucky dog! You got one of those 5 gallon whiskey barrels! Paint me jealous. :fro:

 

[normonster]

Thanks pug! Yes Sir, lucky indeed! Kinda expensive for how few "good" uses you get but my BIL tried and loved an aged rye at a brewery so he paid for the barrel. Good times!

 

[stpug]

Thanks pug! Yes Sir, lucky indeed! Kinda expensive for how few "good" uses you get but my BIL tried and loved an aged rye at a brewery so he paid for the barrel. Good times!

While a barrel's quick impact on the beer may be few, the life of the barrel is quite long (50+ years). Once you've extracted the quick character from the barrel, you can continue to extract slow character by utilizing either high abv or stabilizing agents (or both), and when you've truly extracted anything easily identifiable you can continue to get subtle nuance from the barrel (mouthfeel, tannins, sweetness, etc); finally you end up with a neutral barrel which can easily be used for aging sour beers (flanders, lambics, etc). Don't forget, for those so inclined, you can remove a head, scrap down to fresh wood, rechar, and you're ready to put some more whiskey in there

...of course, there's always the "end table" or "flower pot" idea too

 

[normonster]

....



...of course, there's always the "end table" or "flower pot" idea too

Nice...I was thinking outhouse for the cabin. [emoji38]

Also, an observation after having treated my water for the first time. I picked up a significant amount of efficiency, which was really welcomed since my efficiency before was pretty low (using RO without additions). Is this a known relationship? That between water treatment, pH balance and efficiency?

 

[stpug]

Nice...I was thinking outhouse for the cabin. [emoji38]

Also, an observation after having treated my water for the first time. I picked up a significant amount of efficiency, which was really welcomed since my efficiency before was pretty low (using RO without additions). Is this a known relationship? That between water treatment, pH balance and efficiency?

Certainly between pH and efficiency, and probably to a much lesser extent the mineral makeup of the water. Enzymes work best within their own respective pH ranges so targeting those ranges while balancing everything else is the end goal. There's always a little give and take though.

 

[bmbigda]

subscribed. I'm planning to transition from Palmer's spreadsheet to bru'n water. And am also brewing a hoppy rye. Let me know how it turns out!

Have people pretty much stopped caring about Mg as a yeast nutrient? I've seen several threads like this one with 0.

 

[bmbigda]

i guess folks are just letting the Mg come from the grist itself

 

[normonster]

i guess folks are just letting the Mg come from the grist itself

Yep...I guess there's plenty of it in most average grist.

I'll let you know how it turns out. The wort was strange in a good like sweet yet spicy way. If it turns out as good as I hope I'll gladly divulge the rest if the recipe.

 

[bmbigda]

Yep...I guess there's plenty of it in most average grist.

I'll let you know how it turns out. The wort was strange in a good like sweet yet spicy way. If it turns out as good as I hope I'll gladly divulge the rest if the recipe.

4 lbs of rye in a 10 gal batch isn't anything off the charts but is enough that you'd taste it in your hydrometer sample

 

[normonster]

4 lbs of rye in a 10 gal batch isn't anything off the charts but is enough that you'd taste it in your hydrometer sample

Little over 15% of the grist...coming up on the recommendation limit I believe. I know the taste of 2row and a little crystal in a grain bill so Id say the rye here is definitely detectable in a big way.

 

[stpug]

Little over 15% of the grist...coming up on the recommendation limit I believe. I know the taste of 2row and a little crystal in a grain bill so Id say the rye here is definitely detectable in a big way.

US (Briess) Rye malt by chance? I've heard that it's much more distinct (in the "rye spice" way) than it's German counterpart, which is what I usually get. I've found the flavor contribution of german rye (avangard and weyermann) to be underwhelming, at best; mouthfeel is another matter - all forms of rye seem to have that "thick" (viscous) factor to it.

 

[normonster]

US (Briess) Rye malt by chance? I've heard that it's much more distinct (in the "rye spice" way) than it's German counterpart, which is what I usually get. I've found the flavor contribution of german rye (avangard and weyermann) to be underwhelming, at best; mouthfeel is another matter - all forms of rye seem to have that "thick" (viscous) factor to it.

Yep, Briess malted rye from Morebeer in concord. That is interesting info to consider man. The variation between maltsters.

 

[stpug]

Yep, Briess malted rye from Morebeer in concord. That is interesting info to consider man. The variation between maltsters.

Good to know. You seem to confirm what I've read elsewhere, that US Rye malt is where it's at when it comes to that classic "rye spice" character that's always referred to. I need to get my hands on some of that I guess because I always feel a bit let down with my rye beers that utilize german rye malt (it's the only things local brewshops around me carry) and I've gone pretty heavy at 20% a few times trying to get that rye character. I guess it's time for a special order

 

[normonster]

Where are you Pug?