Hefeweizen Water Profile?

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agentbud

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Anyone have a good target water profile to shoot for when brewing a bavarian hefeweizen?
Calcium:
Sodium:
Magnesium:
Chloride:
Sulfate:

Thanks, Mike
 
The boiled Munich profile in Bru’n Water is typical of the water quality across southern Bavaria and it is what many German brewers use for Weizen brewing.

Yes it does have low calcium content. Fortunately, malt provides ALL the calcium needed for yeast nutrition. None is needed from the water. And since Hefeweizen is a cloudy style, the clarifying effect of calcium in the water is not needed and not wanted.

It is what you want in terms of water profile. The other critical factor is to bring the mashing pH down to about 5.4. This helps create a bright presentation. An additional saurergut addition at the end of the boil to bring the wort pH down into the 5.1 to 5.2 range is what many German breweries do to make sure the beer is crisp and bright tasting.
 
Thanks Martin. I am not familiar with "saurergut addition". Can you explain what that is?

Mike
 
Saurergut is soured wort and it’s an accepted process in traditional German brewing. I wouldn’t worry too much about using it, but do take measures to bring mashing pH down to the proper range.
 
So mash Ph at 5.4 then bring it down to around 5.2 at the end of the boil. Would it work to use a little lactic acid to do that end-of boil drop?
 
To get the best possible hot break you want to be at a room temperature measured 5.1-5.2 pH with about 10 minutes remaining in the boil.
 
The boiled Munich profile in Bru’n Water is typical of the water quality across southern Bavaria and it is what many German brewers use for Weizen brewing.
When I look at the Boiled Munich profile in Bru'n Water, I do not see a Ph listed. How do I determine the starting Ph for this water?
 
Since the buffering capacity of the malts (grist) more than vastly dwarfs the buffering capacity of your water, your waters pH becomes highly irrelevant. What matters are your waters Calcium, Magnesium, and Alkalinity valuations. But for sparge water acidification purposes I would just set the boiled and cooled/decanted water to pH 7.5.
 
revisiting this conversation

Is my tap water too hard to build the Munich (boiled) profile?

Calcium (ppm)Magnesium (ppm)Sodium (ppm)Chloride (ppm)Sulfate (ppm)Alkalinity (ppm)
51.06.017.045.012.091.0

I see the target Chloride (8ppm) and Calcium (12ppm) is already below my native water levels. Do I need to boil and decant? Or dilute with RO water from the store?
 
Your water analytical doesn't seem to yield a very good (plus requisite) cation/anion mEq/L balance. Is this an averaged water analysis? Perhaps seasonally averaged, and/or multi-source averaged?
 
That tap water should work for Hefe brewing, but you will need to neutralize that alkalinity in order to produce a desirable result. Don't worry about adding any other salts to the water.
 
no, single source. this is the report I got from Ward Labs
water.png
 
That tap water should work for Hefe brewing, but you will need to neutralize that alkalinity in order to produce a desirable result. Don't worry about adding any other salts to the water.

I plan to add lactic acid to get the pH down to 5.4 . Otherwise proceed as-is?
 
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