Opinions on water profile

[thehaze]

I decided to change to another source of water for brewing and this is how it looks like

Ca: 10.19
Mg: 2.56
Na: 2.65
Cl: 3.32
SO4: 6.02
HCO3: 42.7
pH: 7.2

I am planning on brewing an ESB with Maris Otter and a combination of English Crystal malts to get the colour and hopefully a bit of flavours from the crystal malts.

Thse are additions I have come up with:

Mash water: 2.7 gr CaCl2, 5.2 gr MgSO4 and 0.5 ml Lactic Acid 80%. ( 70:110 / CaCl2:MgSO4 )
Add 1 gr of table salt. ( Not sure if needed as I do not have Gypsum )
pH Target: 5.35
Sparge water with 2.5 gr CaCl2 and 5.1 MgSO4 + 1.2 ml Lactic Acid ( 80% )

Would this water be good for brewing? This is actually my question or is it lacking something in terms of minerals and salts?

Thank you for reading.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

What will your final water profile look like after all the additions? Take that and compare to what an accepted water profile is for an ESB.

 

[Lefou]

Is that base water good for brewing?
Yes, it is. You are starting out with low mineral soft water that will make some very good malty or balanced light beers! Pilsners, blondes, cream ales, wheat beers, and Munich Helles will all benefit from this starting water.
This is very close to the water profile I use, but the pH of my low carbonate water is near to 6.5-6.8 with no salts added.

 

[thehaze]

Water profile after adding salts:

Ca: around 45
Mg: around 27
Na: 2.65
Cl: around 70
SO4: around 110
Bicarbonate: 11
pH: 5.35

This is for a light 5% ESB. I am unsure about the pH and the bicarbonate. I would like to use this water also for dark ales, such as porters and Black IPAs, which I believe will need to me to use some baking soda ( small amounts ) to get the pH in range, but I am fairly unsure.

I used another water for my latest brews and they turned out OK and I found this new source, which has a lower pH and bicarbonate, along with less minerals to start with. My impression is it will be easier to build water for other styles starting with this specific profile.

Correct if I am wrong. I am currently using Brun Water, EZWater and Mash Made easy to run my recipes thru and I am trying to choose the middle ground. EZWater seems like the one that wants me to add more salts and acid to the mash and sparge, whereas the other 2 are pretty similar.

 

[Yooper]

I'd keep the sulfate lower, and not use so much MgS04, lowering the Mg to about 20. Increase the calcium to 50 ppm or slightly more, and you can use calcium chloride for that. Target a pH of 5.4 or so, and you should be all set.

 

[thehaze]

I'd keep the sulfate lower, and not use so much MgS04, lowering the Mg to about 20. Increase the calcium to 50 ppm or slightly more, and you can use calcium chloride for that. Target a pH of 5.4 or so, and you should be all set.

Great, I can certainly do that. Thanks for the reply.

If not too much, would the same water work for darker, hoppier beers, with apropriate salt additions?

 

[Yooper]

Great, I can certainly do that. Thanks for the reply.

If not too much, would the same water work for darker, hoppier beers, with apropriate salt additions?

Yes, with minor changes.

 

[thehaze]

I am planning on doing an ( hoppy ) Imperial Porter with the following grain bill:

77.8% Crisp Maris Otter
5.6% Crisp Black Malt
5.6% Crisp Pale Chocolate
5.6% Crisp Crystal 90L
5.6% Crisp Crystal 150L
IBUs: 70
ABV: around 9%
80:110 / CaCl2:MgSO4 ( Ca: 45 ppm / Mg: 28 ppm )

To get pH in the 5.4 range, I need to add around 4 gr Baking Soda according to the Mash Made Easy spreadsheet and around 10 gr according to the BrunWater spreadsheet.

I am however unsure how much to add in the end. I do not have a pH meter, so that makes things even harder, but I have used both sheets in the past and it was OK. ( actually I always added the amount from somewhere in between the two values )

Would it be OK to add say 6 gr Baking Soda? Would the pH rise too much?

 

[thehaze]

I do not think the % of specialty malts are too much, but maybe it would be better to cut some of the roasted malt to reduce the need for baking soda.

Would that work, without losing too much aroma and taste ( complexity ) in the beer?