Czech Water

[jtp137]

I am brewing my first Czech dark lager this weekend I want to be traditional and use soft water. Can I use just RO water with no mineral additions? Or should I use blend of gypsum and calcium chloride to get total calcium up to 50 ppm?

 

[kh54s10]

My understanding of RO water is that it is pretty much stripped of all minerals so adding some to get an acceptable water profile is needed. I got a water report this year and have just started making adjustments so I am not a great source of info, though.

 

[JonM]

I've had good results with RO and just enough CaCl to get 15 mg/L of calcium.

 

[jtp137]

Looks like If I use RO and add 2 grams of calcium chloride and 2 grams of chalk I can get 40 ppm of calcium and PH of 5.41
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1473960675.134452.jpg

 

[JonM]

Something's off - You definitely do not want chalk in there. It'll drive the mash pH up and pils always needs the pH to go the other direction. I don't get why the predicted mash pH says 5.4 when there's no acid added.

 

[Denny]

Something's off - You definitely do not want chalk in there. It'll drive the mash pH up and pils always needs the pH to go the other direction. I don't get why the predicted mash pH says 5.4 when there's no acid added.

If it's a dark lager, he's gonna have dark malts in there which will raise the pH. My concern is using chalk...it's pretty worthless because of its insolubility.

 

[JonM]

Ah - dark lager. I missed that part. Somehow I had Czech Pils in my head.

 

[jtp137]

Ah - dark lager. I missed that part. Somehow I had Czech Pils in my head.

Yes 1.5 pounds of blackprintz in 10 gallon batch, never used it before

 

[jtp137]

If it's a dark lager, he's gonna have dark malts in there which will raise the pH. My concern is using chalk...it's pretty worthless because of its insolubility.

I actually have some pickling lime from when I used to make my own Belgian syrup. Would that work better? Its probably pretty old

 

[Denny]

I actually have some pickling lime from when I used to make my own Belgian syrup. Would that work better? Its probably pretty old

Likely so. Baking soda works great, too, as long as the sodium doesn't get too high.

 

[helibrewer]

I prefer pickling lime, it is very soluble and contributes to Ca instead of Na

 

[VladOfTrub]

"If it's a dark lager, he's gonna have dark malts in there which will raise the pH."

I am not sure how dark malt increases pH when dark malt is acidic by nature.

 

[Denny]

"If it's a dark lager, he's gonna have dark malts in there which will raise the pH."

I am not sure how dark malt increases pH when dark malt is acidic by nature.

You are of course absolutely correct! I was doing too many things at once.

 

[Denny]

I prefer pickling lime, it is very soluble and contributes to Ca instead of Na

That was my theory, too, for a long time. But once I tried the baking soda I found it was a very viable addition to the repertoire. As long as you keep total under about 25 ppm it won't really be noticeable. It's also useful for situations where your Ca is already high enough that you don't want to increase it any more.