I've been wrestling with water chemistry for a while, and just when I think I've got something figured out, I read another thing that throws me off. I would love to get people's thoughts on my local water and the questions I have. Here are my tap water numbers:
Calcium: 88 (ppm)
Magnesium: 9
Alkalinity as CaCO3: 200
Sodium: 18
Chloride: 40
Sulfate: 56
pH: 7.5
My water turns out to be pretty solid for darker beers (porters, stouts, really anything over 18 SRM, but I'm wondering the best way to adjust this profile for lighter colored beers, and especially how to do this in lighter colored beers that are high in IBUs. I'm trying to find the right balance for the mash pH and to keep the bitterness "soft" in styles like an IPA.
So I'm making a Saison later today. I'll tell you what I'm planning to do with this water profile based on the numbers above. The SRM of this beer is a 4 or 5. I'm shooting for a Residual Alkalinity of around -30.
I'm planning on diluting my mash water by 75% with distilled and adding 5 grams of gypsum and 5 grams of calcium chloride. (this is an 11 gallon batch).
This brings my adjusted numbers for the mash to:
Calcium: 106
Magnesium: 2
Alkalinity as CaCO3: 50
Sodium: 5
Chloride: 90
Sulfate: 106
Effective Hardness: 77
Residual Alkalinity: -27
Est. SRM Low: 3
Est. SRM High: 8
Sulfate to Chloride Raitio: Balanced
Am I in the right ballpark? If not, please tell me how you would make adjustments to my water. Also, how would you go about treating this water for an IPA with an SRM of 10 or 12 and 60-70 IBU's. Thanks in advance!
Calcium: 88 (ppm)
Magnesium: 9
Alkalinity as CaCO3: 200
Sodium: 18
Chloride: 40
Sulfate: 56
pH: 7.5
My water turns out to be pretty solid for darker beers (porters, stouts, really anything over 18 SRM, but I'm wondering the best way to adjust this profile for lighter colored beers, and especially how to do this in lighter colored beers that are high in IBUs. I'm trying to find the right balance for the mash pH and to keep the bitterness "soft" in styles like an IPA.
So I'm making a Saison later today. I'll tell you what I'm planning to do with this water profile based on the numbers above. The SRM of this beer is a 4 or 5. I'm shooting for a Residual Alkalinity of around -30.
I'm planning on diluting my mash water by 75% with distilled and adding 5 grams of gypsum and 5 grams of calcium chloride. (this is an 11 gallon batch).
This brings my adjusted numbers for the mash to:
Calcium: 106
Magnesium: 2
Alkalinity as CaCO3: 50
Sodium: 5
Chloride: 90
Sulfate: 106
Effective Hardness: 77
Residual Alkalinity: -27
Est. SRM Low: 3
Est. SRM High: 8
Sulfate to Chloride Raitio: Balanced
Am I in the right ballpark? If not, please tell me how you would make adjustments to my water. Also, how would you go about treating this water for an IPA with an SRM of 10 or 12 and 60-70 IBU's. Thanks in advance!