understanding sulfate to chloride ratio

[abrewer12345]

can someone just explain to me how to come up with the sulfate to chloride ratio. our base water is below, along with the target (NEIPA) and final. thanks for any help!!

base water :

NEIPA Target :

Final Water :

getting there with 4g of gypsum, 4g of calcium chloride and 2g of epsom salt- add in a campden tablet and 4oz of lactic acid and 2% acidulated malt to the grain bill. pH hits 5.41

 

[Beer666]

Do you mean 4ml of lactic acid not 4oz? Getting the results as expected. Brewers frind is saying Na+ is high at 173.

 

[abrewer12345]

Do you mean 4ml of lactic acid not 4oz? Getting the results as expected. Brewers frind is saying Na+ is high at 173.

ah! yes ml- sorry about that. and yeah, thats where it starts unfortunately- so i'm not sure how to get it down

 

[VikeMan]

The chloride to sulfate ratio is simply the Cl ppm divided by the SO4 ppm. In your case, your final water is showing:
184 / 105 = 1.75.

Or are you trying to figure out how to hit all the targets exactly? Unless you start with distilled water, it's often impossible to hit all targets exactly.

 

[VikeMan]

ah! yes ml- sorry about that. and yeah, thats where it starts unfortunately- so i'm not sure how to get it down

Dilution with distilled/RO water would be the way to get it down. But I'm not sure you really need to.

 

[McKnuckle]

Is this water from a softener system? The high Na and Cl are indicative of such. 173 ppm is excessive for brewing, and will likely make the rest of your adjustments moot.

 

[abrewer12345]

Is this water from a softener system? The high Na and Cl are indicative of such. 173 ppm is excessive for brewing, and will likely make the rest of your adjustments moot.

yes it is, we're working on opening a brewery nearby so we're trying to get the water as close to the same as possible. should we be avoiding the water softener?

 

[abrewer12345]

The chloride to sulfate ratio is simply the Cl ppm divided by the SO4 ppm. In your case, your final water is showing:
184 / 105 = 1.75.

Or are you trying to figure out how to hit all the targets exactly? Unless you start with distilled water, it's often impossible to hit all targets exactly.

perfect thank you! and what's ideal? 1.1? depending on beer style i suppose

 

[VikeMan]

perfect thank you! and what's ideal? 1.1? depending on beer style i suppose

Yes, it depends on the style and personal preference.

 

[VikeMan]

yes it is, we're working on opening a brewery nearby so we're trying to get the water as close to the same as possible. should we be avoiding the water softener?

I wouldn't even consider using water softener softened water for a lot of styles, much less as the base water for a comm'l brewery. That's going to be too much sodium in many cases.

 

[Jtvann]

I would think that commercial breweries either have very good stable base water to work with, or invest in a good RO system.