Bru’n Water, am a doing this correct?

[North_of_60]

I used the data from the Fort Worth utilities web site for my existing water profile. The latest data is from 2016 and its spread across a large are so the accuracy is probably poor.

The grain bill is for a Blond Ale 5 gallons batch BIAB 8 gallons mash
1.53 OG
20.2 IBU
5.8% ABV
3.9 SRM

Bru’n Water gave my existing water an untreated pH of 5.98

After the grain bill it changed to 5.95

After additions it lowered to 5.49

To get a lower pH using Acid I get a negative Bicarbonate number.

If I lower the pH using salts the other numbers get high.

 

[jdauria]

Looks right to me, except Total Batch Volume should be your post boil volume, not final batch volume. If you hover over the box that says Total Batch Volume, it states that. Only other thing is if it were me, I would want my pH to around 5.3

 

[enkamania]

Change Cara-pils to crystal malt. I don't think it makes a huge difference

 

[North_of_60]

Looks right to me, except Total Batch Volume should be your post boil volume, not final batch volume. If you hover over the box that says Total Batch Volume, it states that. Only other thing is if it were me, I would want my pH to around 5.3

Thanks for pointing out the post boil volume, I’ll change that.

Is it better to get the pH down than to match the desired water profile? What are the best additio

Change Cara-pils to crystal malt. I don't think it makes a huge difference

Thanks, I was wondering about that.

 

[mabrungard]

Yes, pH is the top priority. The ionic content is secondary. If you can get the ionic content somewhere in the ballpark of the target values, you'll be fine. The calcium and bicarbonate values can be altered significantly as needed to reach your pH goal.

 

[ajdelange]

For this pale beer recipe he would be adjusting pH with acid taking note of the fact that calcium will have a minor effect on the resultant pH. One mEq of acid will pull the pH down 3.5 - 7 times more than 1 mEq of calcium and one mEq of bicarbonate will pull it up by as much as 1 mEq acid lowers it but with a beer such as this one no bicarbonate will be required.

 

[North_of_60]

Thank you. I made some adjustments and got the pH down to 5.31. Leaving today and I’ll be out of town for work for two weeks. I plan to brew this one when I return if you think this looks ok.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Looks right to me, except Total Batch Volume should be your post boil volume, not final batch volume. If you hover over the box that says Total Batch Volume, it states that.

HOw did you determine this? I am new to BW and am curious. Like how did you know that 5g wasnt his final batch volume. Did i miss something? thanks for the feedback!

 

[jdauria]

HOw did you determine this? I am new to BW and am curious. Like how did you know that 5g wasnt his final batch volume. Did i miss something? thanks for the feedback!

He mentioned in initial post that he was brewing a 5 gallon batch, thus his post boil volume would be larger than 5 gallons normally. For example, I do 5.5 gallon batches, my post boil volume is normally 6.25 gallons before losing some during chilling and transfer. In the paid version of the spreadsheet, assume in the free version too, if you hover over the box that says Total Batch Volume it pops up a message that says "enter the intended post boil volume" which is not the same as volume in to the fermenter.

Saying that, any number in there does not change the pH or mineral addition numbers. All that field is good for is the beer color estimate on the grain bill input sheet.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Just one concern: If previously (in a different thread) you were worrying about the flavor impact of lactic acid, why are you not similarly concerned with regard to the use of citric acid. It may prove to be well more noticeable (in a negative way) than lactic acid.

Admittedly, I've never used it in beer brewing, but I've made some rather off tasting wine by using it in very small amounts.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Change Cara-pils to crystal malt. I don't think it makes a huge difference

Just a thought. 1.5L Carapils has a nominal DI_pH of ~5.50 per a request with regard to it that I made to Briess. If a spreadsheet does not specifically have a malt selector for Carapils, it may apply too much acidity to it if classified as caramel/crystal due to the softwares potentially more acidic leaning math-model slope for caramel/crystal malts in general. In that 'potential' case, it would perhaps be safer to identify it as a base malt with a Lovibond of about 6-7 (guessing here), in an attempt to trick the software into applying the correct acidity range to it. That way, only the color of the batch is off. To get the correct color, set it back to 1.5 Lovibond.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

enter the intended post boil volume"

I thought that post boil and the amount going into the FV were one and the same. Maybe i have been way off for years...If a recipe is designed for 5g, wouldnt that be the amount in the FV? Then you would have losses if dry hopping, yeast settlement etc.
thanks again!

 

[jdauria]

I thought that post boil and the amount going into the FV were one and the same. Maybe i have been way off for years...If a recipe is designed for 5g, wouldnt that be the amount in the FV? Then you would have losses if dry hopping, yeast settlement etc.
thanks again!

Yes if you design a recipe for 5 gallons that's the amount that should be going into the FV. However, when you shut of the flame after the boil, you don't have 5 gallons, you (should) have more. which is the PBV. The wort shrinks as it cools, you lose some if using counterflow chiller or plate chiller, and unless you pick up the kettle and pour the wort into the FV, you lose some wort that's below your kettle valve.

If you use brewing software, like BeerSmith, this is usually factored in under Equipment Profile. Boil-off rate is a factor, then post boil BeerSmith standard is a 4% cooling shrinkage and then lost to trub/chiller which in my case is .25 gallons.

 

[North_of_60]

Just one concern: If previously (in a different thread) you were worrying about the flavor impact of lactic acid, why are you not similarly concerned with regard to the use of citric acid. It may prove to be well more noticeable (in a negative way) than lactic acid.

Admittedly, I've never used it in beer brewing, but I've made some rather off tasting wine by using it in very small amounts.

At the time I posted this I didn’t know one acid from another and just pulled citric acid out of thin air. After some additional reading on the subject I decided on either lactic or phosphoric acid.

 

[ajdelange]

In the early days of home brewing many recipes included a tsp of citric acid.

 

[mabrungard]

If your water has low alkalinity, it is possible to use citric acid successfully (without flavor impacts). For most tap water supplies, success is less likely.

 

[North_of_60]

Ya, my tap water is pretty high.