Evan Kingsbury
Active Member
- Joined
- May 27, 2018
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Hi all-
I haven't had much luck finding the answers I need on the forum or online. I'm planning to brew an all grain batch of NEIPA tomorrow (7/17/22). This will require me to dabble in water chemistry for the first time. After hours of online research and tinkering with water calculators-- I feel like I'm going in circles. I'm looking for some advice. The easier the water profile the better, in my opinion.
This is the primary source I've been reading: The Best Water Profile for NEIPA (New England IPA) Homebrew Beer - Learning to Homebrew
Here's what I've got so far...
Grain bill for beer:
Batch size is 2.75 gallons. However, I'm planning to prep 5 gallons of water in total. My plan is to use the same adjusted water for the mash and sparge. (Again, hoping to keep this as easy as possible.)
Water Profile so far...
However, as you can see above, I have 0 Magnesium and 0 bicarbonate. I've read that Magnesium isn't really needed for a NEIPA. But I'm totally unsure what to do about bicarbonate. I've read that bicarbonate isn't something you target, it "just is what it is."
To complicate matters, when I use Beersmith's water tool, it's telling me I only need 4g Calcium Chloride (aka 0.8g/gallon), 1.6g Gypsum (aka 0.32g/gallon), and 1.10g canning salt to reach the same/very similar target values.
Questions I'm hoping to have answered:
1. Is a magnesium value of 0 acceptable for this recipe? If not, what value should I target?
2. Is a bicarbonate value of 0 acceptable for this recipe? If not, what value should I target?
3. Which of these two water tools (i.e., Brewers Friend or Beersmith) should I use? The salt additions vary. (I already looked at Bru'N Water; it was over my head.)
4. Given the information above, should I be concerned about PH? (either during or after the mash?) (I have PH test strips but not a meter.)
Thanks in advance for any guidance you're able to offer!
I haven't had much luck finding the answers I need on the forum or online. I'm planning to brew an all grain batch of NEIPA tomorrow (7/17/22). This will require me to dabble in water chemistry for the first time. After hours of online research and tinkering with water calculators-- I feel like I'm going in circles. I'm looking for some advice. The easier the water profile the better, in my opinion.
This is the primary source I've been reading: The Best Water Profile for NEIPA (New England IPA) Homebrew Beer - Learning to Homebrew
Here's what I've got so far...
Grain bill for beer:
- 5.5 lbs Golden Promise
- 0.7 lbs Flaked oats
- 0.7 lbs Flaked wheat
- 0.25 lbs Carapils
- 0.50 lb light DME added to boil for additional gravity points
Batch size is 2.75 gallons. However, I'm planning to prep 5 gallons of water in total. My plan is to use the same adjusted water for the mash and sparge. (Again, hoping to keep this as easy as possible.)
Water Profile so far...
- 100% distilled water (can't find RO in my area)
- Targeting 100ppm Calcium
- Targeting 200ppm Chloride
- Targeting 70ppm Sulfate
- Targeting 35ppm Sodium

However, as you can see above, I have 0 Magnesium and 0 bicarbonate. I've read that Magnesium isn't really needed for a NEIPA. But I'm totally unsure what to do about bicarbonate. I've read that bicarbonate isn't something you target, it "just is what it is."
To complicate matters, when I use Beersmith's water tool, it's telling me I only need 4g Calcium Chloride (aka 0.8g/gallon), 1.6g Gypsum (aka 0.32g/gallon), and 1.10g canning salt to reach the same/very similar target values.
Questions I'm hoping to have answered:
1. Is a magnesium value of 0 acceptable for this recipe? If not, what value should I target?
2. Is a bicarbonate value of 0 acceptable for this recipe? If not, what value should I target?
3. Which of these two water tools (i.e., Brewers Friend or Beersmith) should I use? The salt additions vary. (I already looked at Bru'N Water; it was over my head.)
4. Given the information above, should I be concerned about PH? (either during or after the mash?) (I have PH test strips but not a meter.)
Thanks in advance for any guidance you're able to offer!