SALT ADDITIONS FOR RO BIAB

[Tim Schmidt]

I have done 1 biab batch so far and am looking to improve.
Next batch will be a 5.5 gallon brown ale BIAB.
water will be walmart ro water.
recipe is Fall down brown.
I have done a couple online salt addition forms.
does this look right or close to right for salt additions for ro water.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Starting with RO water in 3-5 easy steps:
1. Optional: Add magnesium sulfate to target magnesium level. Malt provides plenty of magnesium, normally you don't need to add it.
2. Add calcium sulfate to target sulfate level (dry, bitter, crisp).
3. Optional: Add sodium chloride to target sodium level.
4. Add calcium chloride to target chloride level (full, sweet, malty).
5. Adjust mash pH via acid or sodium bicarbonate. Target [room temperature] pH 5.2-5.7, generally 5.3-5.5 for most styles.

Decide whether you want any of these ions before randomly adding them.

It's counter-productive to target a specific locale's water profile. Having that amount of bicarb isn't doing you any favors, with regard to mash pH.

Hope this helps.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

It's counter-productive to target a specific locale's water profile. Having that amount of bicarb isn't doing you any favors, with regard to mash pH.

Hope this helps.

^^This. The colour of the beer doesn't tell us enough about how much alkalinity or acid is needed for a suitable mash pH. You need to work it out for your specific grain bill.

If you need help, post your recipe and mash/sparge water volumes.

Also, you have your source minerals at 0. RO water does have some in it though. From memory, most are negligible but the bicarbonate somewhere in the 15 to 20 ppm range.

 

[Tim Schmidt]

9.5 # pale 2 row
1# crystal 120
1/2# biscuit
1/2# chocolate
Full volume boil 7.5 gallons
Mash 152 degree 60 min
Mash ph 5.4 to 5.6
The other water Calc I did says add approx 5 ml acid
I have 88% lactic acid for mash ph adjustment

 

[brew703]

7.5 gal doesn't seem like enough water. I brew 5.75 gal batches and usually use about 8.7 gal of water (full volume). If you have used that volume before and you end up with your target volume then disregard what I said.
For me, 1 gal boil off/hr is what I see.
I use Lactic acid for ph adjustment, usually 2.5-4 ml in the mash. I never use chalk or baking soda.
I've only used Gypsum, Cal chloride, salt & Epsom.

 

[Shawn3997]

I started off by just adding 1/2 tsp. CaCl and then went on to adding 1/2 tsp. of CaSO4 and so on. Our water here has pretty much nothing in it so it's pretty close to RO. Add a tiny bit of one in one batch and then a tiny bit of of something else in another batch, etc. See what difference each makes.

 

[Tim Schmidt]

7.5 gal doesn't seem like enough water. I brew 5.75 gal batches and usually use about 8.7 gal of water (full volume). If you have used that volume before and you end up with your target volume then disregard what I said.
For me, 1 gal boil off/hr is what I see.
I use Lactic acid for ph adjustment, usually 2.5-4 ml in the mash. I never use chalk or baking soda.
I've only used Gypsum, Cal chloride, salt & Epsom.

My first batch I did 8.75 gallons at the start and finished with 7 gallons. That was to be a 6 gallon batch. Perhaps I squeezed the bag a bit to much.

 

[ong]

Yeah, I do BIAB and generally use 7.75 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the keg. Maybe just different boiloff rates.

 

[Yooper]

9.5 # pale 2 row
1# crystal 120
1/2# biscuit
1/2# chocolate
Full volume boil 7.5 gallons
Mash 152 degree 60 min
Mash ph 5.4 to 5.6
The other water Calc I did says add approx 5 ml acid
I have 88% lactic acid for mash ph adjustment

You don't want to add baking soda, and then add acid to neutralize that baking soda. Figure out the projected mash pH without baking soda, and then if the pH is too low (not likely), you can add baking soda to raise it, or lactic acid to lower it, but not both.

 

[Tim Schmidt]

Ok with all the help here i think i may be headed in the right direction.
this pic has the ro water numbers added in from bru n water calc sheet.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Looks much better!

this pic has the ro water numbers added in from bru n water calc sheet.

FYI, Since you marked your water source as "100% distilled or RO", the calculator is using 0 for all the starting values instead of what you entered.


FYI you can experiment with ion levels in fermented beer to get a better idea of the effect each ion adds to the flavor.

Cheers

 

[Jayjay1976]

This might be a dumb idea, but I wish someone would build a streamlined water calc specifically for RO users. Enter grain bill, etc. and choose target locality from a drop down menu, then it outputs quantities of each salt, acid, etc. to add to achieve desired outcome. Maybe instead of entering grain bill, choose BJCP style from drop down menu and grain bill/mash pH is assumed based on established recipes. Does something like this already exist?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Does something like this already exist?

Yup.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/

 

[Tim Schmidt]

Thanks for all the help. I think i might just have this figured out with your help.
Now to get brewing me some brown ale.