Making the jump to adjusting my water

[waterconfusion]

Hi all, I've been brewing for a few years and after getting comfortable with the all grain process, I now (think) I am ready to begin building my water from scratch, using reverse osmosis water.

I have done a lot of reading and after getting comfortable with the bru'n water spreadsheet, I think I have figured it out. I will be brewing a 10 gallon batch of patersbier and will be treating a total of 20 gallons of RO water. I will be using the "yellow balanced" desired water profile and my intended additions are:

5 grams of gypsum

0.7 grams NaCl

2.5 grams Calcium Chloride.

My mash will be 20 pounds of pilsner malt and I will be adjusting the PH with 5ml of 88% lactic acid.


Do my additions look ok? I want to confirm I am interpreting the spreadsheet correctly.

 

[JLeuck64]

You are not far behind me. I too have just moved into the water chemistry part of home brewing. Only have 3 batches with water adjustment under my belt, and they are still fermenting. So... am patiently waiting on results ( ;

What helped me get comfortable with the Bru'n water spread sheet was spending time entering my AG recipes and adjusting water. What was most curious to me was looking at the differences of the projected mash pH between the adjusted water and the existing water. Not sure if you are using the same water before adjustments versus after trying them or not, but I found the difference in pH to be telling. For example, all my dark beers had been mashing in low on the pH and my lighter beers were mashing in on the higher side of optimal pH.

Looking forward to hearing how you beers improve!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Without running any numbers, I'd estimate the sodium added by the NaCl is going to be low enough that the sodium won't make much difference. I'd skip that, replace it with additional calcium chloride, and potentially need a smidge less acid as a result. I typically don't see much sodium impact until I get to ~50ppm, but I seldom raise it even to that level, and never raise it above that. And then I typically only do that for maltier and darker English beers.

 

[waterconfusion]

Without running any numbers, I'd estimate the sodium added by the NaCl is going to be low enough that the sodium won't make much difference. I'd skip that, replace it with additional calcium chloride, and potentially need a smidge less acid as a result. I typically don't see much sodium impact until I get to ~50ppm, but I seldom raise it even to that level, and never raise it above that. And then I typically only do that for maltier and darker English beers.

cheers. I'll take your advice then and drop the NaCl and adjust the calcium chloride and lactic acid I use in the mash accordingly.
I mostly made an account here to make sure I was interpreting the information correctly. Computers and spreadsheets aren't my strong suit and I'd hate to ruin a batch because I can't decipher a spreadsheet correctly.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Adding that level of sodium won't hurt anything, but won't help anything either. The chloride would, but so would the calcium, and more calcium chloride provides both. That's my 2c at least. I rarely use anything beyond gypsum, cacl, and lactic acid (and campden tabs). Canning salt or baking soda only when needed, which isn't particularly often. Granted, I start with tap water, not RO, but my ion levels are modest to begin with.

 

[waterconfusion]

Adding that level of sodium won't hurt anything, but won't help anything either. The chloride would, but so would the calcium, and more calcium chloride provides both. That's my 2c at least. I rarely use anything beyond gypsum, cacl, and lactic acid (and campden tabs). Canning salt or baking soda only when needed, which isn't particularly often. Granted, I start with tap water, not RO, but my ion levels are modest to begin with.

awesome. So my addition levels seem congruent with what you would expect to add for RO water?

 

[Qhrumphf]

awesome. So my addition levels seem congruent with what you would expect to add for RO water?

Like I said, I didn't run numbers, but I also use Bru'N water and it's been excellent for me, so (assuming you're using it correctly) if those numbers put you where you should be, I'd say you're good. Without actually calculating they seem reasonable starting from RO. What you're adding is more than I usually do, but my base numbers for calcium, chloride, and sulfate are higher than what you're starting with (and alkalinity notably higher as well), so it's not really comparable.

 

[waterconfusion]

Like I said, I didn't run numbers, but I also use Bru'N water and it's been excellent for me, so (assuming you're using it correctly) if those numbers put you where you should be, I'd say you're good. Without actually calculating they seem reasonable starting from RO. What you're adding is more than I usually do, but my base numbers for calcium, chloride, and sulfate are higher than what you're starting with (and alkalinity notably higher as well), so it's not really comparable.

Thanks for your help. My biggest concern is that I'm just plain not interpreting the data from the spreadsheet correctly.