Mineral Content is Good! But still high?

[FunkedOut]

So I made a beer clone of a mildly hoppy (dry hopped) amber lager.
While it was excellent and I really enjoyed it, when tasted side by side with the original, I could experience a very, very big difference between the two.
The original is unbelievably clean, crisp and dry. It's an amazing mouth feel.
My brew is round, smooth, and almost muddy after a few seconds on the palate. It's like, my tongue goes blind after a bit.
Yeast was W-34/70 and temp control tight at 55*F with d-rest at 68*F and a week long ramp to 32*F.

I am thinking it may be my tap water.
I've never adjusted it, never tested it.
I collect all of the water (~9 gallons), add 1/2 tablet of campden and brew the next day.
So my next brew, I collected a sample, post campden, for ward labs.
The results are in:

calcium is at 40ppm
magnesium is at 10ppm
sodium, sulfate and chloride are at 100ppm
bicarbonate is at 60ppm

Seems like good water. Everything is in the ranges provided by Bru'n Water and Beersmith.
What is making me scratch my head is that, any of the profiles for styles I pick in Bru'n Water (Yellow, Amber, Brown, Black, etc.), I need to dilute my tap water with at least 50% distilled to make the sulfate or chloride match. Forget about the sodium; that is way high.

I guess here is my question:
Why do the recommended ranges go so high, yet none of the recommended profiles do?

And let me not forget my original question:
Is that mouthfeel difference my water?
Mineral content, or ph?
My mash ph 15 minutes in is usually 5.5-5.6 for ambers to yellows.
No sparge, full volume mash with no ph adjustments.

I and thinking of just adding lactic acid to my next brew and leave the minerals alone to see if that makes a difference.

Appreciate any help you guys can through my way to help me get there faster.

 

[mabrungard]

Each of those 3 ions is at 100?? That is pretty mineralized and not well suited for brewing.

 

[bitteritdown]

Just because the recommended range for a mineral is say 0 - 300ppm doesn't mean that the entire range of values is appropriate in all circumstances.

The profiles provided in the software are suggestions that make use of values in those ranges to make an acceptable profile.

A profile that simply has all of the highest values in a range doesn't necessarily make any sense nor would it make good beer.

My suggestion to deal with the high mineralization in your water is to purchase a RO machine or purchase RO water from a RO machine that you know is well maintained.

A little bit of acid and a lower mash pH may help with a crisper beer.

If you'd like additional advice on your water simply post screenshots from your Bru N' Water calculations/recipe.

 

[myndflyte]

That's a lot of salt in there and I would guess that's your issue. I think your best best is to start with RO or DI water and add minerals to match your style.

 

[FunkedOut]

So am I crazy to really like the porters I brew more than commercial offerings?
Am I going to be blown away when I brew a porter with less mineralized water?

Around here, I cannot get RO water, and distilled water would add almost $10 to each brew.
I could pay for a $200 RO filter in a year's worth of savings.
How many of the ppm of the different minerals should I expect for the RO filter to remove?
I would plan to send a RO filtered sample to ward again to know what is what.

Back to beer...
Seems like compared to the profiles provided in Bru'n Water, my biggest offender is sodium.
If I dilute 70%-95% (black to yellow) with distilled to match the sodium levels in the profiles listed, I can match the rest by adding gypsum and calcium chloride.
The only deviation I see is that calcium will be a little high for yellow, in the 60's (ppm), pretty much spot on for the ambers, in the 30's for browns and in the 20's for blacks. Is any of that a problem?

 

[FunkedOut]

Also, is 0.92mL/gal too much 88% lactic acid?
This is what Bru'N Water estimates is required with the grain bill and 92% distilled water.

How much acid is too much?

 

[FunkedOut]

here's a screen shot:

 

[myndflyte]

Also, is 0.92mL/gal too much 88% lactic acid?
This is what Bru'N Water estimates is required with the grain bill and 92% distilled water.

How much acid is too much?

Flavor threshold, according to Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers by Colin Kaminski and John Palmer, for lactic acid is about 400 ppm, but that can differ based on people's pallets. There are 2 things you could do. Throw in some acidulated malt (<4%) into your mash to help lower your mash pH. Then you could use 10% phosphoric acid to take it the rest of the way as it imparts very little flavor since malt is loaded with phosphates.

 

[FunkedOut]

Flavor threshold, according to Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers by Colin Kaminski and John Palmer, for lactic acid is about 400 ppm, but that can differ based on people's pallets. There are 2 things you could do. Throw in some acidulated malt (<4%) into your mash to help lower your mash pH. Then you could use 10% phosphoric acid to take it the rest of the way as it imparts very little flavor since malt is loaded with phosphates.

Good to know that threshold; thanks.
It’s been a while since chem but, looked up the M1V1 = M2V2 equation.
My math tells me 400ppm means 1.72ml of 88% lactic in a gallon of water.
Did I miss something?

If that formula is applicable and my math is right, the 0.92ml/gal should yield 214ppm.

 

[FunkedOut]

I'm going to brew a couple of batches with distilled water and salts so I can taste the difference.
I have a bopils and an amber lager queued up.
Thanks for the help!

 

[FunkedOut]

Still going to brew with the distilled water and added salts.
I've been wanting to try that for a while now; no change there.

Here's a new development from my original post...
I have a new brew on tap now that is similar in style to the clone I referenced, but not dry hopped.
I sat here enjoying a glass of this fine brew and thought to myself, 'this is really crisp and clean tasting.'
So I finish the glass and decided to crack a can of the original beer reference in my OP.
In comparison, it tastes round, smooth and muddy compared to my new brew.
All of my brews up to this point have been brewed with the same tap water.
Maybe the differences I noticed are not water related at all?
Could the dry hopping cause these muddy flavors?
Maybe my clone's grain bill is off and thats the difference?

I know it's hard to describe tastes in words, but it's all I got.
If only I could pour you a pint across the internet.
One day.

 

[FunkedOut]

Good to know that threshold; thanks.
It’s been a while since chem but, looked up the M1V1 = M2V2 equation.
My math tells me 400ppm means 1.72ml of 88% lactic in a gallon of water.
Did I miss something?

If that formula is applicable and my math is right, the 0.92ml/gal should yield 214ppm.

Let me answer myself on this one. Yes, I did miss something.
I did a deeper dive to refresh my chemistry teachings and found that 400ppm means 1.25ml of 88% lactic acid in a gallon of final solution volume.