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I haven’t found that the smoke phenols change the mash pH. Base your pH estimate upon the grain color.

Very hard??? I don’t think it’s that bad. An ale should probably always be brewed with water that hard. The only thing that concerns me with that water is the magnesium level. It’s fine, but I’d be cautious about adding more. That’s a good brewing water.

If I'm not mistaken, that Primo report says there is 8 ppm sodium. The fact that there is more sodium and chloride compared to most other ions is due to them being monovalent ions that pass through the RO membrane easier than divalent or polyvalent ions. With that said, the RO profile...

Don't be too paranoid about sodium in your beer. Sodium doesn't 'taste' salty until its concentration gets around 250 ppm. Seawater is in the parts per thousand range and you probably know how salty that tastes. I find that dark beers provide plenty of flavor that further obscures any...

After the reaction with hypochlorite or chloramines, the sulfurous compounds in SMB or KMB are converted to sulfate ions. You can read about that on the Water Knowledge page of the Bru'n Water website General 5 | Bru'n Water When those SMB or KMB molecules aren't reacted in the water, they do...

The pH of a mash is quite variable during the early stages of a mash. The pH of the mashing water initially dominates the indicated wort pH until the buffering of the grain is slowly released and attained. With that release, wort pH goes toward it's long-term (equilibrium) pH value. If you...

Depending on the brew, the alkalinity needed for mashing and sparging water can be VERY different. Treating all your brewing water to the same spec can lead to disappointing results. That's why Bru'n Water has separate calculators for mashing and sparging water. Its needed.

When we were writing the Water book, John Palmer did his own experiments with sodium in beer. He confirmed that sodium in beer is not a detriment to flavor. You can have well over 100 ppm sodium and still have a very tasty beer. In fact, sodium doesn’t start to taste “salty” until it’s...

Interesting! You have the most amazing water since a carbon filter doesn’t have the ability to remove the typical inorganic molecules in potable water. If the result is factual, you have some potentially problematic organic molecules in your water. To anyone not familiar with the chemistry...

If you're using a grist without any pils or lightly kilned malts, you should be able to shorten the boil time and still avoid DMS when brewing near sea level. If you reside at high-elevation, then you may have to boil longer to achieve effective DMS volatilization. The other reason that this...

I'm a bit surprised that the little motor in a Riptide has bearings instead of bushings. The bushings on my March 809HS have been in use for about 150 batches and they're nice and quiet and free-spinning. I just apply a couple of drops of the light machine oil every few years. If the Riptide...

It sounds like you need to set that Suite to auto recalculate. What you're describing sounds like its set to Manual recalculation.

That recipe does have an inordinate percentage of dark crystal and roast grains, but they’re needed to some degree in a good Baltic Porter. I’m not terribly surprised by the predicted bicarbonate need in the mash, but it is a lot! I agree that a combination of baking soda and pickling lime is...

A permeate pump is indeed a useful addition to those that discharge to a pressure tank. However, they aren't without problems. They are quite noisy with a clunk, clunk, clunk note. The other problem that I experienced, is that the pumps contain a strong stainless steel spring and the spring...

Oh, I understand that feature. I'm telling you that it is incapable of protecting the wort from scorching. The unit needs to be in full PID mode and calibrated to the heating and flow characteristics of the system, to have any hope of avoiding scorching. PWM mode will still scorch the wort.

You won't get anything useful out of asking what other people's water is like. Water can vary substantially depending on where it originates from. Somebody could get their water from a well and someone else could get their water from a river or reservoir. The water quality and suitability for...

Hmm? 5.2 is a bit low for many styles, so I caution using that target. The other thing that you are seeing, is the very low initial wort pH. That is normal, but it's not what you should observing or reacting to. The grains that we use in our mashes are very effective buffers, but it takes...

You shouldn't be controlling a RIMS tube with power modulation. The tube should have a temperature sensor located immediately downstream of the heating element and the element control should be via your PID controller. The temp sensor can't be located in the mash since it can't accurately...

On a geologic time scale, chalk is completely soluble. Unfortunately, none of us mash for millennia. So functionally, chalk is a useless addition in mashing chemistry since there is little acidity available to dissolve it in a reasonable time in ANY mash. To confirm that point, I can point to...

Don't forget that the usable capacity of a pressure tank is about half the tank's volume. So if you have a tank that's big enough to hold 20 gallons, the actual volume that can come from the tank is about 10 gallons. The other half of the volume is the air space within the tank. I have a 20...