Comments on my profile for Pliny clone?

[danio]

Hello all - Sorry if this has been answered before. I found a few threads on the subject but no one really seems to have posted a definitive answer. I'm looking for a decent guideline for building up RO water for a pliny the elder clone. It doesn't have to be RRB's exact profile (although that would be fine) I just want to get an idea of where I should be approximately. People reference Tasty's profile for his brew that was based on the Pliny and won awards. He uses a lot of sulfide! I think it also aligns with Mosher's IPA profile. Something like Ca 110, S04 350, Cl 50. Would a profile like that be holding true to the original Pliny? I've never had it so I'm doing this 'blind.'

Mostly I'm hoping to keep it simple and just balance CaCl2 and Gypsum. This has been my approach since starting to use RO water and I've been happy with the results. Using just those minerals I can't exactly hit the above profile. I'm thinking for a 5 gal batch something like 14g gyp and 5g of CaCl2. That puts me around 217 SO4, 126 Ca, and 67 Cl I think. So...enough for a bit of malt backbone and lots of S04 for hop accentuation. Reasonable?

Thanks for any input\critiques!

Dan

 

[afr0byte]

You didn't mention what your alkalinity is. That has an effect on your course of action too (if you care about pH).

 

[danio]

I'm starting with 100% RO water. I don't know the grain bill yet (AHS pliny kit...saw their free shipping and decided to try their recipe.) If I plug in a sort of 'typical' grain bill I end up around 5.49 pH at room temp according to EZ Water with 14lb 2 row and 1 lb Crystal 40l with the additions I mentioned (14g gyp and 5g cacl2). So that seems ok. I can always adjust on the spot.

 

[mabrungard]

I think you'll appreciate a profile that has fairly substantial sulfate to accentuate the hopping and bitterness while helping dry the finish. The Pale Ale profile in Bru'n Water has substantial sulfate without being excessive. Many commercial brewers brew their pale ales in the 200 to 300 ppm sulfate range. I've heard several commercial brewers say they avoid sulfate levels much greater than this due to excessively sulfury taste and aroma.

 

[danio]

OK - Thanks for the feedback. I haven't used Bru'n water yet but I am checking it out now. Based off the pale ale built into the eXcel file it looks like I'm gonna be more around 20g Gyp and 4g CaCl to my strike which is a lot but I'm willing to try!