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Exactly! If the raw water creates scaling or staining problems, that water is likely to reduce the longevity of RO membranes. Using the softened water is substantially better for the machine and since it’s already available, it’s the right alternative.

Using only manufactured lactic acid will work, but the result will not be a sour that most would find interesting. It will be too monosyllabic with a single acid note. A natural souring produces a range of acids and flavors.

Nope. Not totally true at all. But those are good reasons why your mashing water should have some calcium in it. Ale brewing should almost always employ water with that range of calcium since it aids flocculation and beer clarification. But that phenomena is not necessary or desirable when...

Remember that the sensor element on a pH meter is a ‘wear’ element and you should expect to replace it occasionally. Consider the element cost carefully in your meter purchase decision.

Okay, 3.2 is almost certainly a low enough pH for a sour beer. I find that a pH of about 3.5 is where a sour is notable and moving a few tenths lower is okay. But how sure are you of the measurement? If you’re sure it’s correct, I would leave it alone for a week if it’s young.

The elemental contributions from the grain are several orders of magnitude greater than what the water provides. In addition, much of that content is entrained in complex molecules that are 'ripped' apart during the laboratory analysis. The typical analysis uses either inductively-coupled...

Those aren’t water proflies. They are useless for planing NEIPA water adjustments.

Well, in many cases zero isn't correct either. For pale styles, the bicarbonate content actually needs to be less than zero (that means no bicarb and some excess acidity is present). For dark styles, its likely that the bicarb content needs to be well above zero. With respect to brewing...

The bicarbonate content in ANY water profile is only a starting point. It’s NOT a target. I’m not sure how other resources handle bicarbonate, but the content that’s quoted in Bru’n Water is only a placeholder that “balances” the profile. A Bru’n Water user should plan on adjusting their mashing...

Functionally, sodium hasn’t really changed, so don’t worry about that. It’s level is fine. I wouldn’t add any more, though. There is modest amount of bicarbonate in there, so you will have to acidify somehow. The rest of the ions are modest and usable.

The bicarbonate value in a water profile is just the starting point for the raw water. Ignore it with respect to mashing water. You'll alter that bicarb value as necessary to achieve your mashing pH target.

An important detail is that both mild and strong boiling are still tools that brewers can and should use. A period of strong boiling is probably needed when your grist included a large proportion of pils malt (necessary to strip DMS), but mild boiling is otherwise sufficient. Less heat stress on...

Here is a short article on a likely reason brewers have trouble with getting enough body in their dark beers. Adding Body to your Stout | Bru'n Water Brought to you by Bru'n Water, be sure to check out the other brewing articles on the site.

That is almost certainly RO water. It's a good starting place for brewing water. Do add a bit more ion content for brewing.

A properly operating and maintained RO machines are going to produce somewhat similar water quality, even with differing source water. The RO profile that is included in the Bru'n Water program represents what results from pretty mineralized (but fully softened) raw water. You can expect that...

You didn't tell us what the alpha acid percentage was and that has direct impact on the bittering imparted to the brew. That other thing is that Hallertau Blanc tends to impart a perception of sweetness. There are plenty of other new hop varieties that tend to give that sweet perception, so...

You have a curious case there. To have a decent chance of producing the targeted pH, you HAVE to enter the actual mashing water volume that will be added to the mash. You can’t include that ‘extra’ unused water volume or it will throw everything off. To get around this issue, enter the actual...

I’m hoping that the intelligent readers realize that ppm is a mass of material divided by a volume of solute. mEq or Eq is just a mass (okay, it also involves the ionic charge, but that disappears since we’re comparing the same salt in either comparison). The reason that typical brewing...

Yes, a SMB user should consider the amount of sulfate that addition produces and any other sulfate salt additions might need to be dialed back. The good thing is that the sulfate contribution of the typical SMB addition is pretty low and not much adjustment is needed.

I believe you’re probably in a decent range for SMB addition, so don’t fret too much. The main thing I found with excessive dose is the increased dryness in the beer due to the added sulfate. But another thing that a LODO brewer should understand is that it’s not suited to all styles. It’s...