Advice on water profile for chocolate cherry dessert stout

[agentbud]

Brewing a triple chocolate cherry dessert stout. Anyone have a tried and true water profile for this type beer?

currently looking at something like this (from reading up on what others have tried):
cal 50 ppm
mag 5 ppm
sodium 100 ppm
sulfate 50 ppm
chloride 125 ppm
bicarbonate 75 ppm
Ph 5.5
mash temp 155

Thoughts?

 

[VikeMan]

Notionally, that looks fine for the style. But a couple of things...

- The ions don't balance, which you would eventually have found out trying to build this. (There are too many cation charges (or not enough anion charges.) Ca, Mg, and Na are your cations here. The others are your anions.

- Bicarbonate should never IMO have target of its own. If it happens to be in the water, overcome it (usually) with added acidity. And don't build it unless you have to (e.g. by adding baking soda to increase mash pH).

 

[magno]

I have nothing to add regarding water profile, but am curious how you are adding chocolate and cherry...

I've made several versions of what seems like a similar beer with varying results... always open to input on these.

 

[mabrungard]

I'm not sure I would go that high with the sodium and the chloride level is fairly high too.

 

[agentbud]

I have nothing to add regarding water profile, but am curious how you are adding chocolate and cherry...

I've made several versions of what seems like a similar beer with varying results... always open to input on these.

Chocolate = 1 lb chocolate malt in mash, 8 oz. cocoa powder in last 5 min of boil and 1 lb cacao nibs in secondary.
Cherry = 49 oz can of cherry puree (vintner's harvest brand) in secondary

I have made a chocolate stout before with the malt and nibs and it just wasn't quite there so I am adding the cocoa powder this time. I have never brewed with cherry puree so this will be a first.

 

[agentbud]

I'm not sure I would go that high with the sodium and the chloride level is fairly high too.

Thanks Martin. My normal tap water is 188 ppm sodium so this is already diluted by half with distilled. If I upped the distilled addition to get sodium down to say 75, would that be better? I had read an article somewhere that sweet dessert stouts did well with higher (100'ish) sodium. Also, that same article recommended a 3:1 ratio chloride to sulfate. Would 75 sodium, 90 chloride and 30 sulfate be better or should sulfate remain in the 50 range?

 

[VikeMan]

I had read an article somewhere that sweet dessert stouts did well with higher (100'ish) sodium.

I've done a few "pastry" stouts with ~100 ppm sodium (on purpose... I build from distilled). I think it enhances the sweet flavors.

 

[agentbud]

I've done a few "pastry" stouts with ~100 ppm sodium (on purpose... I build from distilled). I think it enhances the sweet flavors.

Thanks - that's the same as what that article said - the sodium helped with the sweetness. Seems odd that sodium would do that but I am still very new to water chem.

 

[VikeMan]

Thanks - that's the same as what that article said - the sodium helped with the sweetness. Seems odd that sodium would do that but I am still very new to water chem.

Ever had salted caramel or salted chocolate?