Bru'n Water help

[FatNerdBrewing]

Hi,

I just recently got a water analysis report and downloaded Bru'n water for the first time. Totally new to water adjustments. I was playing around with the Bru'n water excel file and had a question.

I've entered all of my info from the water report tab #1, which included a water ph of 7.7. However, when I flip over into tab #4 for mash acidification and clear out the grain bill in cell G27 "Estimated Room-Temperature Mash pH" reads 5.7.

Considering I haven't added any adjustments into tab 3 and there is no grain on the bill... shouldn't that read a ph of 7.7? I can't see how that cell is calculating to know why it's giving me a different answer than my water report input. Before I use this I just want to make sure I understand and I've not entered something incorrect.

For additional info, here were my water analysis results:

pH 7.7

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 85

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.14

Cations / Anions, me/L 1.3 / 1.3

ppm

Sodium, Na 8

Potassium, K 2

Calcium, Ca 15

Magnesium, Mg 2

Total Hardness, CaCO3 46

Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)

Sulfate, SO4-S 8

Chloride, Cl 7

Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 33

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 28

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[mabrungard]

That pH value on the Water Report Input sheet is only used to convert an alkalinity measurement into its corresponding bicarbonate and carbonate ion concentrations. That pH is NOT used anywhere else and has no effect on the program.

 

[Natdavis777]

You sure got some purdy water

 

[FatNerdBrewing]

That pH value on the Water Report Input sheet is only used to convert an alkalinity measurement into its corresponding bicarbonate and carbonate ion concentrations. That pH is NOT used anywhere else and has no effect on the program.

Thank you! Just wanted to make sure I had a vague understanding of what I was looking at. Appreciate your help and the great work for the community!

 

[FatNerdBrewing]

You sure got some purdy water

Is it? Good! Now to figure out how to adjust it not spike other things too high! From what I understand for some of the IPA recipes I've looked at call for 100-150 ppm calcium.

 

[Natdavis777]

Is it? Good! Now to figure out how to adjust it not spike other things too high! From what I understand for some of the IPA recipes I've looked at call for 100-150 ppm calcium.

I would worry about trying to hit 100 or 150 ppm for your Ca. As long as you have 50ppm of Ca you are good. It wont hurt to get up to 100ppm of Ca, but with an IPA your main ion concentration you should focus on is your sulfate (helps with perceived dryness and accentuates the hops). Start off around 150ppm to gauge your taste and work your way up or down from there. I personally like 200ppm for my IPA/IIPAs. Others prefer 100ppm to 300ppm. It is all about personal preference.

Hitting 150ppm of sulfate using CaSo4 (gypsum) will put you above 50ppm of Ca. If you want to raise your Ca up more you can use some CaCl. For a hop-forward beer though, you dont want a lot of Chloride, so use lightly. 30-50ppm works (per my experience) in hop-forward beers.

Obviously if you raise your concentration of sulfate with CaSo4, you will also raise your Ca levels. You dont need to worry about adjusting your Mg or Na levels. And you never need to add chalk unless your grist is contributing so much acidity that it drives the mash pH down too far. To finish, please to not worry about the sufate:chloride ratio. Pretend it doesnt exist. The actual ppm values are what's important, not a ratio.

 

[PeteNMA]

You'll get calcium from the malt too which should help you hit targets even if you can't measure it

 

[FatNerdBrewing]

I would worry about trying to hit 100 or 150 ppm for your Ca. As long as you have 50ppm of Ca you are good. It wont hurt to get up to 100ppm of Ca, but with an IPA your main ion concentration you should focus on is your sulfate (helps with perceived dryness and accentuates the hops). Start off around 150ppm to gauge your taste and work your way up or down from there. I personally like 200ppm for my IPA/IIPAs. Others prefer 100ppm to 300ppm. It is all about personal preference.

Hitting 150ppm of sulfate using CaSo4 (gypsum) will put you above 50ppm of Ca. If you want to raise your Ca up more you can use some CaCl. For a hop-forward beer though, you dont want a lot of Chloride, so use lightly. 30-50ppm works (per my experience) in hop-forward beers.

Obviously if you raise your concentration of sulfate with CaSo4, you will also raise your Ca levels. You dont need to worry about adjusting your Mg or Na levels. And you never need to add chalk unless your grist is contributing so much acidity that it drives the mash pH down too far. To finish, please to not worry about the sufate:chloride ratio. Pretend it doesnt exist. The actual ppm values are what's important, not a ratio.

Thanks!! Plugging in 0.86 grams/gal of gypsum gives me a 150 PPM sulfate and bumps my calcium up to 68 ppm. For a very hoppy IPA do you think that would suffice? Would it help to add 0.3 g/gal of chalk to bump up my calcium to 100 PPM? It looks like I could then add a very nominal amount of lactic acid (less than 1 ml/gal) to get my ph to where I want it based on the grain bill?

Will probably pick up some ingredients this weekend so just figuring it all out.

 

[PeteNMA]

Don't add chalk it doesn't dissolve. Stop worrying about the calcium. You need to hit your chloride and sulfate levels, so long as you don't have a ton of sodium in your water or something like that the sulfate and chloride are all that you need to target

 

[FatNerdBrewing]

Don't add chalk it doesn't dissolve. Stop worrying about the calcium. You need to hit your chloride and sulfate levels, so long as you don't have a ton of sodium in your water or something like that the sulfate and chloride are all that you need to target

Great thanks!

 

[Natdavis777]

Thanks!! Plugging in 0.86 grams/gal of gypsum gives me a 150 PPM sulfate and bumps my calcium up to 68 ppm. For a very hoppy IPA do you think that would suffice? Would it help to add 0.3 g/gal of chalk to bump up my calcium to 100 PPM? It looks like I could then add a very nominal amount of lactic acid (less than 1 ml/gal) to get my ph to where I want it based on the grain bill?

Will probably pick up some ingredients this weekend so just figuring it all out.

Looks good for a hoppy IPA. Dump the chalk. No need to add alkalinity when still need to augment acid to get you to the proper pH. 68ppm of Ca is within range.

Again, you can brew the same beer with different amounts of sulfate to get to your personal preference. You may find that you like 100ppm or 300ppm sulfate opposed to 150ppm. You will just have to experiment with different concentrations. I am sure you will be happy though with 150ppm sulfate.

 

[brewkinger]

You sure got some purdy water

Yup