Farmhouse Ale brewing questions

[YellaDog]

I am about to make a farmhouse ale all grain and would just like some input on my process/recipe.

5gallon

7lbs Pilsen
1lbs Vienna
1lbs flaked wheat
1 oz roasted wheat
1lb honey
1oz hallertauer 50min
0.5oz Sorachi ace 15min
0.5oz Sorachi ace 5min
1oz Sorachi ace flameout
White labs saison yeast

I used a little under 9 gallons of distilled water adding 4 grams of baking soda, 5 grams of gypsum, and 5 grams of calcium chloride

My main question is if I'm using distilled water and adding these salts is that okay? And also I want to have a lower pH (~5.2) I have 50% phosphoric acid and was wondering what amount would be appropriate to add at first and test if my pH is too high. Really any help would be appreciated I normally just use tap water but where I am at now the tap water pH is over 8 so I went with distilled this time.

 

[ricshayne]

the salt additions seem like a lot to me but i don't know your water profile, Bru n Water is a great resource for water chemistry and is, imo, a must if you are going to start messing with your water. I don't believe the starting PH of your water matters, its the room temperature mash PH you need to look at.

Grain bill and hops schedule look good to me, make sure you boil 90 minutes with the Pilsner malt

A good starting point for Saisons is:

Ca-52
Mg-17
Na-35
SO4-107
Cl-20
HCO3-350

 

[JonM]

Do not add any baking soda or anything alkali. That will jack the pH way up and you need to be bringing it down.

And 5.3-5.4 is a good range for this kind of beer.

 

[ricshayne]

5.3-5.4 is a good range for this kind of beer.

yes, and the acid needed to bring the PH to this level is beneficial to the style as well!

 

[ricshayne]

Let the primer be your guide:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460