Water Profile Advice

[jlflorance]

Hi everyone,

I am finally making the leap into water adjustments. I received my water profile and was hoping for some feedback. I mainly brew IPAs and Stouts and am looking to start off with making small adjustments (assuming that is all I would need to do) as needed to improve quality while I continue to try and wrap my head around all of the information in the threads. A PH meter is next on my list. Thank you in advance!

Water Profile:

pH 8.4


Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 274

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.46

Cations / Anions, me/L 4.0 / 4.1

ppm

Sodium, Na 33

Potassium, K 2

Calcium, Ca 35

Magnesium, Mg 9

Total Hardness, CaCO3 125

Nitrate, NO3-N 0.4 (SAFE)

Sulfate, SO4-S 22


Chloride, Cl 50

Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 75

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 63


Total Phosphorus, P 0.01

Total Iron, Fe 0.01

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If I had this really nice water, I would first add about 1/4 of a pulverized Potassium Metabisulfite Campden tablet to each 5 gallons to remove chlorine and/or chloramines, and then:

For IPA's:
-------------
Add about 2.25% acid malt to your grist (by weight)
Add about 2/3 gram gypsum per gallon
Add about 1/5 gram calcium chloride per gallon
Acidify sparge water to pH 5.4 (add 4 mL of 10% phosphoric acid per gallon)

For Stouts:
---------------
Add about 1/4 gram per gallon calcium chloride
Acidify sparge water to pH 5.4 (add 4 mL of 10% phosphoric acid per gallon)

 

[RPh_Guy]

Your water looks pretty good to me.

Like anything else in brewing there's a hundred ways to do water adjustments.

I use RO water from a machine at my local Wal-Mart so I don't need to worry about alkalinity or fluctuating ion levels.

Basically you need three things:
1. Remove chlorine/chloramine (if applicable).
2. Add chloride and/or sulfate and/or sodium levels to style.
3. Adjust acid/base to hit mash pH.

I use Bru'n Water spreadsheet to estimate the acid/base adjustment needed.

Cheers

 

[jlflorance]

Thank you for the responses. Just to be clear. In the case of the stout additions, would I add the 1/4 gram calcium chloride to the mash and sparge water or just the water for the mash?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Thank you for the responses. Just to be clear. In the case of the stout additions, would I add the 1/4 gram calcium chloride to the mash and sparge water or just the water for the mash?

Mineral additions (to my way of thinking) go into both the mash and sparge water. That's how I do it.