Help with Stout water profile/additions?

[ALExanderH]

Hi,

I have been using Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Lactic Acid to control SO4/CI ratio and pH of my mash but now I'm going to brew a Russian Imperial Stout.

After reading and listening to more information about water chemistry I noted that for darker beers more alkaline(or residual alkalinity) water was recommended... so I started wondering...

I added a few screen shots where I was playing around in Bru'n Water(great program Martin!)

I'm going for the black malty profile which is as follows:
60 Calcium
5 Magnesium
20 Sodium
29 Sulfate
41 Chloride
155 Bicarbonate

So a few questions:

What is the recommended pH for a Russian Imperial Stout?

Should I meet the ppm levels of sulfate and chloride and therefore lower calcium or add more and get calcium up to around 60 and keep the SO4/CI ratio of 0,7 from the profile?

Baking soda...
Should I add just enough to get to the ideal pH?
Should I add more to get close to levels of sodium and raise bicarbonate a little bit?
Should I add even more and go above the profiles ppm level of sodium and closer to the bicarbonate? While keeping pH in check ofcourse!

Thank you in advance!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

In my opinion, you should only add enough baking soda to get your grain bills mash pH up to 5.3.

 

[mabrungard]

Boosting the mash pH into the 5.4 to 5.6 range does improve roast flavor. Using baking soda is a good choice since sodium adds desirable flavor in dark beer. Don't be afraid of sodium.

It's a mistake to use a chloride dominated water profile in a big malty beer. Using a balanced or dry profile will actually help dry the finish of malty beers. Sulfate does not make beer bitter.