Please help me understand my water additions

[NEWOLDRUNK]

Hi everyone,
Long time brewer but I'm just getting into building water and could use a little help with my water additions. I recently had my water tested and it appears to be very low mineral.
Na=4
Ca=7
Mg=1
CaCO3 (total hardness)=22
SO4=4
Cl=4
HCO3=19
CaCO3(total Alk)=16
According to Bru n water and through experience on my last 2 beers, I am able to hit a mash ph of roughly 5.4-5.5 with only small additions of acid malt.
I have 3 beers that I'll be brewing on the next few weeks that I want to add "salts" to. An American Blonde (yellow balanced), an IPA(pale ale), and a Cream Stout(dark balanced). Building these with Bru n Water, it looks like I can get away with adding different quantities of Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, Epsom Salt, and Baking Soda to the boil.
1.) Am I doing this right? Lol I just add these flavoring "salts" to the boil kettle? Surely it's more difficult than that? What am I missing?
2.) Using the mineral parameters that Bru n Water states, the lighter beers fall within the Bicarbonate level my water has but what about darker beers? So, I just need to add Baking Soda to the boil?
3.) I've been reading lots on the net and also have Palmer's "Water" book and I suppose Alkalinity and Total Alkalinity are the concepts that I'm having the most trouble understanding? Is it possible for someone to explain this in layman's terms or point me to a source that can? ISO "Water for dummies"

Thanks in advance everyone!
-N.O.D.

 

[ajdelange]

Building these with Bru n Water, it looks like I can get away with adding different quantities of Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, Epsom Salt, and Baking Soda to the boil.
1.) Am I doing this right? Lol I just add these flavoring "salts" to the boil kettle? Surely it's more difficult than that? What am I missing?

What you are missing is that before consideration of 'stylistic ions' for flavor you must control for pH in the mash. With a low mineral water like yours this would amount to the addition of some calcium chloride for body, some calcium sulfate for that quality which sulfate lends to hop bitterness if you like that effect and some sauermalz or lactic or phosphoric acid for pH. See the Primer.

2.) Using the mineral parameters that Bru n Water states, the lighter beers fall within the Bicarbonate level my water has but what about darker beers? So, I just need to add Baking Soda to the boil?

No! You would never add bicarbonate to the boil as it would raise the wort pH and we are not trying to do that. In fact you would seldom if ever add bicarbonate anywhere in the process with the exception being beers that use inordinate amounts of roast or high kilned malts. Just because a given 'profile' that you got from a spreadsheet or calculator shows some bicarbonate content doesn't mean that the brewmaster who had to deal with the water on which the profile is based didn't wish that the bicarbonate were not there.

3.) I've been reading lots on the net and also have Palmer's "Water" book and I suppose Alkalinity and Total Alkalinity are the concepts that I'm having the most trouble understanding? Is it possible for someone to explain this in layman's terms or point me to a source that can? ISO "Water for dummies"

Alkalinity is 50 times the number of mL of 0.1 N acid that must be added to 100 mL of a sample of water in order to lower its pH to some standard value. If that value happens to be 5.4 then the alkalinity is the Total Alkalinity. If it is some other number then the alkalinity is with reference to that pH. In any case it is clearly a measure of the resistance of the water to acidification (which we must do in order to get pH in the mash tun down into the range we want. Malts also have alkalinities and the whole business of adding acid to mash is in order to overcome this water and malt resistance to pH lowering.

 

[NEWOLDRUNK]

Thank you for the reply!

What you are missing is that before consideration of 'stylistic ions' for flavor you must control for pH in the mash. With a low mineral water like yours this would amount to the addition of some calcium chloride for body, some calcium sulfate for that quality which sulfate lends to hop bitterness if you like that effect and some sauermalz or lactic or phosphoric acid for pH. See the Primer.

So you're saying it's still better to add some additions of minerals in the mash rather than to the boil, even if the mash ph is correct? As I mentioned, I'm able to control the mash ph pretty well with just some acid malt.

No! You would never add bicarbonate to the boil as it would raise the wort pH and we are not trying to do that. In fact you would seldom if ever add bicarbonate anywhere in the process with the exception being beers that use inordinate amounts of roast or high kilned malts. Just because a given 'profile' that you got from a spreadsheet or calculator shows some bicarbonate content doesn't mean that the brewmaster who had to deal with the water on which the profile is based didn't wish that the bicarbonate were not there.

Thank you. I was just looking at what Bru n Water suggested. I just assumed this was what I should shoot for?

Alkalinity is 50 times the number of mL of 0.1 N acid that must be added to 100 mL of a sample of water in order to lower its pH to some standard value. If that value happens to be 5.4 then the alkalinity is the Total Alkalinity. If it is some other number then the alkalinity is with reference to that pH. In any case it is clearly a measure of the resistance of the water to acidification (which we must do in order to get pH in the mash tun down into the range we want. Malts also have alkalinities and the whole business of adding acid to mash is in order to overcome this water and malt resistance to pH lowering.

Looks like I have some more studying to do. I appreciate the feedback

-N.O.D

 

[ricshayne]

AJ is the man and his primer has helped a lot of us here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460