Blind gypsum addition

[somerandomguy]

Hello all,

So I am planning a brew day for this weekend and looking over my notes I have consistently had lower efficiency on my paler beers (IPA's) whereas my darker beers I usually hit my OG within a point or two. I have also noticed in my IPA's that they seem to lack that bitterness that I am always seeking. I am confident that this comes down to a water chemistry issue. Being the broke graduate student that I am I have not yet ponied up the money for a detailed water report. (I know it really isn't that much for a ward labs test, but seriously I am barely making enough to pay rent and brew at the same time!)

Anyway, I plan to add a little calcium sulfate to my mash this weekend to both balance the carbonates in my water to lower mash pH, and add some sulfate for bitterness. Unfortunately the water report from the municipality where I brew (north tonowanda, NY, http://www.northtonawanda.org/Department Information/Water Department/Water Report 2014.pdf) is rather limited in what a brewer seeks to know. What little I can tell seem to gather is…

Na = 9.5 ppm
alkalinity = 94 ppm

Not much to go on right?! Anyway I just put together a rough 5 gallon recipe a few minutes ago and it is shaping up to be something like the following…

11# pale 2-row
1# crystal 40L
1oz warrior 60min
1oz simcoe 10min
1oz centennial 5 min
1oz centennial 1 min
1oz cascade dry hop

So my question is, without knowing much about my water chemistry, how much gypsum would you add to the mash if you were in my situation? Beersmith is currently recommending I add 3.3g gypsum and 0.3g epsom salt to get me in the ~50ppm Ca and ~150ppm SO4 range. I am thinking of skipping the epsom salt and going with ~3g gypsum and see where it gets me. Sound reasonable until I can come up with the cash for a water report?

Cheers

 

[ajdelange]

I'd cut the water 1:1 or 2:1 with RO water and follow the guidance in the Primer as to salt additions.

 

[stpug]

Here's a water report that's from nearby that might give you a starting point from which to work in regards to mineral additions for various style:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/initial-raction-my-water-report-buffalo-new-york-422548/

Edit:
Also, looking at the Tonawanda water report you can glean some information about pH and chloride that is likely to be similar in your water. Supplementing with an aquarium Gh/Kh kit you can probably figure out (close enough) what your mineral content is and work forward from there.