First brew with water build

[Nuggethead]

Today was my maiden voyage brewing with RO/Distilled and additives. My numbers are all verified using a TDS meter and MW102 PH meter.

The brew is a West Coast style Pale Ale @ 1.060 O.G and IBU's @48

The profile using Bru'n Water is CA=91 Sodium=8 Sulfate=148 CL=55 Bi Carb=16

TDS of RO water was 2 with a PH of 7.1

Mash/ 4 gal RO water with 4g CaSo4 and 1.6g CaCl resulting in a mash PH of 5.4

Sparge/ 6 gal of distilled water @ a PH of 5.8 with no additions

Pre-boil/ additional 6g CaSo4 and 2.4g CaCl for 8.5 gal PH of 5.4

End of 60 min boil = 6.5 gal PH of 5.28

The post boil taste was far better than in the past using spring water and flying blind.

Any comments on the numbers would be helpful.

 

[zwiller]

I like them numbers! Should be a good brew. Is your tap water bad? I think APA could be made with all but the worst of waters.

Gonna do my first all distilled soon, a hefe. Slight CaCl bump and a tiny bit of lactic acid. I am such a cheapskate it feels criminal to pay $1/G for distilled water...

 

[ajdelange]

With the pre boil additions you have a lot of minerals in there. If this is how you like your beer that's fine but at those levels I'd think it would be a little crunchy.

 

[mabrungard]

That should be a fine start for a pale ale water. The sulfate level is about half what I typically use, but it should help dry the beer out a bit and make the hopping stand out somewhat.

If you do decide to move up the sulfate content, you will probably need to increase the water's alkalinity a bit to keep the mash pH from dropping too low with all the extra calcium that would also be added to get the sulfate up. That is one of the very few problems with using low alkalinity water like RO. If your tap water tastes OK and you know its profile (and has high alkalinity), you might consider including a portion of that water for creating a high-sulfate pale ale water.

 

[ajdelange]

If you do decide to move up the sulfate content, you will probably need to increase the water's alkalinity a bit to keep the mash pH from dropping too low with all the extra calcium that would also be added to get the sulfate up.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Calcium's pH adjusting effect is pretty small as those who try to adjust mash pH by adding calcium salts figure out pretty quickly. A nominal mash using the proposed calcium salt additions, base and enough caramel malt at a water to grist ratio of 1.35 qts/lb to get pH 5.4 will have a buffering capacity of around -260 mEq/pH. At the proposed doses of calcium chloride and calcium sulfate adding another 4 grams of gypsum would double the sulfate to close to 300. The added calcium would shift pH by only about 0.05. I'm not saying this should be ignored - just pointing out that it is a minor factor.

 

[Nuggethead]

Thanks for the input. I am brewing an IPA today using the same profile except I'm raising the sulfate to 200. (small steps) The boil PH was a little low so I added a small amount of baking soda to increase the boil PH to 5.45 The Mash PH with the increased amounts held at 5.38Ph.

 

[Nuggethead]

This is all new to me, feel like a rookie brewer all over again.
I'm trying lower levels of additives with each recipe and then jumping to higher levels using the same recipe to see how the different amounts effect taste while figuring how to adjust Ph's without over corrections. Your inputs are very helpful and needed.. Thanks again...

 

[Nuggethead]

Also, to answer Martins question, I have bad well water, very high in Iron and Iron bacteria. RO/Distilled are my only options right now.

 

[beergutbrew]

With the pre boil additions you have a lot of minerals in there. If this is how you like your beer that's fine but at those levels I'd think it would be a little crunchy.

ajdelange, do you recommend postboil/boil additions? Last week was the first time I've read about boil additions of Gypsum to help with hop flavor/bitterness, or any additions added after the mash.
I thought about using 4g CaSo4 and 2gCaCl in the mash and 2g CaSo4 and
1gCaCl in the boil. RO water throughout, normal 10-14 lb grain IPA recipe.

 

[GotPushrods]

Thanks for the input. I am brewing an IPA today using the same profile except I'm raising the sulfate to 200. (small steps) The boil PH was a little low so I added a small amount of baking soda to increase the boil PH to 5.45 The Mash PH with the increased amounts held at 5.38Ph.

It is completely normal (and desirable) for the kettle pH to continue to lower into the low 5's (ish) by flameout. You didn't ruin your beer or anything, but I'd skip that adjustment next time. My pH going into the fermenter is always lower than the mash, no worries there.

 

[Nuggethead]

Yesterdays brew, the pre-boil PH was 5.4 and post boil to fermenter was 5.28.

 

[Nuggethead]

My prior brew days with these 2 recipes have had a constant 72% to 74% efficiency and I always fly sparge. Brewing with the water builds has raised me to 84% and 86%. I will probably have to tailor my grain bills now.

 

[ajdelange]

ajdelange, do you recommend postboil/boil additions? Last week was the first time

I don't do them so I don't recommend them but that doesn't mean that I am recommending that you don't do them. If they improve your beer then you should certainly do them and many brewers do. Adding additional calcium salts can lower kettle pH, for example, as, obviously, does adding acid to the kettle. If you wanted lots of sulfate for some reason but were afraid that the extra calcium might drag mash pH too low you could withhold some of the gypsum for the boil.

As I have no experience I can't give any advice more specific than that.

 

[zwiller]

Every IPA gets a post boil gypsum addition to arrive at a total 300ppm sulfate. Been doing it since I read Foster's Pale Ale in the 90's. Seriously, it is a must for IPAs. Dial in your mash and sparge pH, then "add salts to taste" to boil.

Nuggethead, I get similar efficiencies and yep, just scale the recipes back.