Improve Mash Efficiency via Water Profile?

[DogFlynnHead]

We've used Spring water for brews in the past and have been told that spring what is basically mystery water. So this time for our Trippel, we're going to go with 25% tap water (water profile below) and 75% RO water. We're planning on adding Gypsum and Magnesium Sulfate.

For a 10 gal batch, how much Gypsum and Magnesium Sulfate should we add?

Will building our water and checking PH during mash really improve efficiency?

Tap water profile:

PH 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 551
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.92
Cations/Anions, me/L 7.6/7.6

ppm
Sodium, NA 4
Potassium, K 283
Calcium, CA 2
Magnesium, Mg < 1
Hardness, CaCO3 9
Nitrate< NO3-N < 0.1 Safe
Sulfate, SO4-s 11
Chloride, Cl 45
Carbonate< CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate< HCO3 346
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 284

 

[khawk95]

I like this calculator. You can add the dilution percentage you are planning. http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/

Find the profile you want and you can play around from there. Less is more with water additions!


Roed Haus Brewery

 

[PastorofMuppets]

download bru'n water and put your numbers in.
It has a detailed and easy to follow explanation sheet.
Even I could understand it and that is saying something.

It will give you down to the gram what amount of each salt to add to acheive what you want from your water.

there is no point in guessing.

 

[RM-MN]

Will building our water and checking PH during mash really improve efficiency?

Probably not a great amount. Efficiency comes from converting as much of the sugars from the grain as possible, extracting those sugars from the grain, and getting as many as possible into the fermenter. The biggest gain in efficiency comes from getting the grain crushed as fine as your system will allow such that you can still laurter and drain the tun. The second gain is getting all the wort out of the tun, no dead spots. Third is from the boil pot to the fermenter as a lot of people get hung up on getting clear wort into the fermenter and use whirlpool to try to keep the trub out. People who have tried getting clear wort and then tried dumping everything into the fermenter claim they can't taste any difference in the final product and that their beers clear up either way.

 

[mabrungard]

The main improvement comes with creating a proper mash pH. I see that the tap water has fairly high alkalinity and it would require acidification to bring the pH down to desirable level. While the dilution with RO is welcome, the need for acidification is still paramount when brewing a style that isn't black.