Help using Bru'n Water for BIAB please

[camonick]

Hello all,
I recently got my well water report from Ward Labs. I intend to start BIAB brewing using full volume mash and no sparge. I downloaded the free version of Bru'n Water and have started entering my values from the water test. I am struggling trying to understand brewing water chemistry and am even more confused after entering some values in the Bru'n water spreadsheets. Is Bru'n water suitable to use for the BIAB method? I'm not sure how to ask for help without creating an awkward thread that others may not want to read. I entered a sample recipe that I'd like to try to make and I guess I'm not understanding how to use the program to my advantage. I suck at chemistry and really don't know what is needed to manipulate my water... I thought the program would tell me everything I need to do, but I'm obviously not imputing the correct information. Would anybody be willing to help me try to get a handle on this program using some of my parameters?
Thanks so much
Nick

 

[SanPancho]

You don’t really need to know the chemistry to make things work and get your mash ph set.

Basically you need to get your water test results into the sheet. Pretty straightforward. Sometimes you may have to do a little math to convert your number to what the sheet wants. (Sulfates for example). Just read the footnoes and pay attention.

After that you just need to know a few basics. Pale malts are higher in ph than darker malts. Ca sulfate, cal chloride, epsom, etc and acids (lactic, phosphoric) make ph go down. Baking soda, lime, etc make it go up.

Dceide on a mineral profile and a mash ph and then massage the numbers to get to that spot.

 

[camonick]

You don’t really need to know the chemistry to make things work and get your mash ph set.

Basically you need to get your water test results into the sheet. Pretty straightforward. Sometimes you may have to do a little math to convert your number to what the sheet wants. (Sulfates for example). Just read the footnoes and pay attention.

After that you just need to know a few basics. Pale malts are higher in ph than darker malts. Ca sulfate, cal chloride, epsom, etc and acids (lactic, phosphoric) make ph go down. Baking soda, lime, etc make it go up.

Dceide on a mineral profile and a mash ph and then massage the numbers to get to that spot.

I will give you an example from my inputs.
I didn't have any problem entering my water values and the program agrees that my inputs are "balanced". On the Sparge Acidification page my Final Water Alkalinity is 22 ppm and the cell is green which indicates an acceptable number. I want to make Yooper's Fizzy Yellow Beer cream ale and used the grain bill of 7 lbs. of Vienna malt (3.5 SRM) and 3 lbs. of Pilsner (1.5 SRM). It gives me the result that my estimated mash pH is 6.55 and well out of range. Where I am the most confused is on the "Water Adjustment" page. What the heck do I do on that page to make my numbers work? I assumed the program would tell me what to do. I have no clue what to manipulate to make the numbers change into acceptable ranges.

 

[BobBailey]

This site will walk you through the software:
https://accidentalis.com/brun-water-spreadsheet-tutorial-free-edition/

 

[SanPancho]

Remember- some stuff makes ph go down, others make it go up.

Down- acid, acid malt, cal sulfate, cal chloride, mag sulfate.

Start by adding 0.5g of gypsum. Cal sulfate. That will bring down ph while adding calcium and sulfate.

Or you could do cal chloride, and add ca and chlorides.

As you adjust the mineral addition the ph will go up or down. Play around to get where you want.

This is a simplification but basically what i do is start by adding minerals. Once you get the right level of calcium, sulfates, chlorides, etc then you stop adding them and switch to acid if you still need to lower ph. The acid brings the ph down to where you want it without changing mineral profile. Most light, pale and even amber beers follow this pattern.

But dark beers can go too low in ph, so in that case you have to use the minerals that make ph go up. More tricky. But once you get the hang of it it becomes more obvious how to manipulate the numbers.

 

[camonick]

Thanks for the help. I played with the program for another hour and I think it's starting to make sense. I finally figured out that I have to dilute my own water with distilled and adjust the minerals and acid to hit the target profile and get my mash pH where it belongs. It's going to take some more playing around with different recipes but I think maybe it will get easier.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am trying to figure out this water chemistry thing and found these useful:

http://brulosophy.com/2014/09/18/a-pragmatic-approach-to-water-manipulation/

http://brulosophy.com/2014/09/29/brewing-water-primer-using-beersmith-and-brun-water/

 

[camonick]

I think I've got Bru'n Water figured out! I've spent some more time with it tonight and have entered a few more sample grain bills for recipes that I want to try. By manipulating the dilution rate for my own water and adjusting the minerals and acid when needed for the style profiles, I can get my mash pH into the acceptable green range easily now. Thanks for the help and simple explanations everyone.

 

[littlewashingtonbrewery]

I used to have a lot of trouble hitting target pH using Bru'Water. My fault not the spread sheet. I brewed yesterday and BW predicted 5.30 and that is exactly what I got using a high quality calibrated meter. I do full volume BIAB no sparge. What I found works for me - I use Libre office, make sure I enable Macros, I use all RO water but this is optional. I read in the footnotes someplace that best practice is to add acid (I use phosphoric) when the minerals are added to the strike water. Didn't entirely understand explanation but it seemed to help. Good luck! I also found that wildly off pH didn't ruin the beer so don't worry about it to much. Hope this helps!

 

[camonick]

I’m planning on brewing my first batch using BIAB and modifying my water this weekend. I have entered quite a few different grain bills into Bru’n water and feel like I think I know what to do now. I’ve acquired a selection of salts and a container of 88% lactic acid. According to the program I should have no problem using distilled water to dilute my tap water and add the recommended salts and acid to achieve the proper pH for the desired profile. We’ll see what the results are in a month or so when I get to pour a pint.