brewbeerry
Well-Known Member
Hi, I used BrauKaiser's tutorial for the at home water test (not as detailed as a Ward's test since I dont have sulfate info, etc) but it gave me a good starting point. My pale beers come out tasting the same, with a harshness. Tomorrow I am planning an Imperial Porter and would like to ask a few questions.
Here is the grain bill:
1 gallon
2.297 lbs 2 row
.4 lbs special B
.153 lbs black patent
.077 lbs chocolate malt 350L
Here is my starting water according to the test and using the Excel sheet:
Low in Ca and Cl, which is supposed to promote roundness, flavor, stability, and hot break/clearing. This next image shows the predicted mash pH and grist information, followed by an image with my proposed water treatment (partially).
I think I should add 1 gram of baking soda to increase mash pH to 5.2, getting bicarbonates up to 189 ppm (in the middle of the 150-250 range for dark beers), then add 2 grams of CaCl to the boil to increase calcium and chloride without dropping the mash pH- so I wont have to use as much baking soda.
If I were to add 2 grams CaCl and 1 gram NaHCO3 to the mash, it would give me an estimated pH of 5.09. Then, if I were to bump the baking soda up to 2 grams, it raises bicarbonates to 269 and mash pH to 5.3.
Does this seem like the right move? Also, am I calculating the % roasted grains right? Im putting the percentage of the grain bill they take up, but on the Excel sheet there is a more confusing formula that calculates what looks to be relative percentage of roasted grains.
I am using water filtered through an on tap Brita filter. I am in Henrico VA and was surprised to see other Richmond water profiles with significantly lower amounts of bicarbonates than what my at home test showed. I guess I am in a different county though. I want to improve my beers and adding CaCl to every beer seems like the right move, then acidulated malt for paler ones and sodium bicarbonate for darker ones to get into the right pH range. Surprisingly, with this same water I got a 1st place medal for a cream ale at the 2013 Dominion Cup and a 3rd place at the Beer Blitz for a wheat wine.
Thanks for any assistance with this! I just started looking into water treatment and am pretty much shooting in the dark.
Here is the grain bill:
1 gallon
2.297 lbs 2 row
.4 lbs special B
.153 lbs black patent
.077 lbs chocolate malt 350L
Here is my starting water according to the test and using the Excel sheet:
Low in Ca and Cl, which is supposed to promote roundness, flavor, stability, and hot break/clearing. This next image shows the predicted mash pH and grist information, followed by an image with my proposed water treatment (partially).
I think I should add 1 gram of baking soda to increase mash pH to 5.2, getting bicarbonates up to 189 ppm (in the middle of the 150-250 range for dark beers), then add 2 grams of CaCl to the boil to increase calcium and chloride without dropping the mash pH- so I wont have to use as much baking soda.
If I were to add 2 grams CaCl and 1 gram NaHCO3 to the mash, it would give me an estimated pH of 5.09. Then, if I were to bump the baking soda up to 2 grams, it raises bicarbonates to 269 and mash pH to 5.3.
Does this seem like the right move? Also, am I calculating the % roasted grains right? Im putting the percentage of the grain bill they take up, but on the Excel sheet there is a more confusing formula that calculates what looks to be relative percentage of roasted grains.
I am using water filtered through an on tap Brita filter. I am in Henrico VA and was surprised to see other Richmond water profiles with significantly lower amounts of bicarbonates than what my at home test showed. I guess I am in a different county though. I want to improve my beers and adding CaCl to every beer seems like the right move, then acidulated malt for paler ones and sodium bicarbonate for darker ones to get into the right pH range. Surprisingly, with this same water I got a 1st place medal for a cream ale at the 2013 Dominion Cup and a 3rd place at the Beer Blitz for a wheat wine.
Thanks for any assistance with this! I just started looking into water treatment and am pretty much shooting in the dark.