Newbie question about Beersmith Water Profile and Mash pH

[lhommedieu]

I used Beersmith to convert my base water profile (Poland Spring water) to a Burton on Trent profile. This is for an English Bitter.

Beersmith suggested that I add the following to the 8.69 gallons of base water (I am heating all of my water at once and want to add all of my additions at the same time):

Gypsum 29.8 g
Table Salt 0 g
Epsom Salt 18.1 g
Calcium Chloride 1.1 g
Baking Soda 7.7 g
Chalk 6.2 g

However, when I plug these numbers into the EZ Water 3.0 Spreadsheet I get a mash pH of over 5.8; taking out the Calcium Chloride, Baking Soda, and Chalk lowers it back to 5.28.

My question is whether the addition of just the Gypsum and Epsom salt is the preferred way to go?

Best,

Steve

 

[vinpaysdoc]

Chalk is apparently difficult to dissolve.

I would suggest that you use Bru'n Water:

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

If you don't feel comfortable with that, if you'll post your base water profile and recipe I can try to help.

 

[lhommedieu]

Chalk is apparently difficult to dissolve.

I would suggest that you use Bru'n Water:

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

If you don't feel comfortable with that, if you'll post your base water profile and recipe I can try to help.

Thanks for the suggestion - it was very helpful. I've been playing with the Bru'n Water spread sheet and I am really enjoying it - especially since I was able to plug in my local water numbers (Long Island, NY). I guess my next question is as follows: I'm aiming for a pale ale similar to Fuller's "London Pride." Should I use the "Pale Ale" profile as my target profile or the much harder "Burton" profile? I have read that Fuller "Burtonizes" its water but am not sure to what extent.

 

[vinpaysdoc]

Happy you found it useful. I'm relatively new to this, so, I'm not sure how to tell you to proceed to match the Fuller's. I'm going about this (working on ESBs) by simply attempting to get my mash pH in the ball park and then tweek the bitterness by using the sulfate to chloride ratio. Ray Daniels suggests that most entries in competitions for British Pale Ales and Bitters make no water adjustments. I would suggest that you not attempt to 'Burtonize' the water and simply see what you get by adjusting your mash pH.

BTW, if you send in a donation for Bru'n Water they'll send you a personalized copy of the spread sheet that has the pH listed on the 'Water Adjustment' sheet AND the pH is calculated to the hundredths on the 'Mash Acidification' sheet.

Good luck!

 

[lhommedieu]

Thanks again. The more that I use Bru'n's spread sheet, the more that I like it. As per your suggestion and that of another HBT member, I'm not going to Burtonize my water but use the "Pale Ale" target profile tweaked to reflect Terry Foster's suggestions in his "Pale Ale":

He recommends Ca 50 - 100 ppm, SO4 100 - 200 ppm, and Cl2 20ppm.

Best,

Steve

 

[BackAlley]

What many do (including me) is to adjust mash for pH and any additional salts for taste go into the boil kettle. For example, If I were to try and get me mash water at 200 sulphates with gypsum my pH would beach to acidic

 

[mabrungard]

Don't try and duplicate a Burton profile. It will not produce a good beer. I strongly recommend rolling back the mineralization to a level recommended by Terry Foster or Bru'n Water for pale ales. Either of those profiles are much more likely to produce a result most consumers will enjoy.

Burtonization is an inexact science. Many brewers have found that modest levels of the typical ions found in Burton profiles (Ca, Mg, SO4, Cl) will produce more palatable beers than going full bore Burton.