Very high chloride count in tap water

[hopster997]

Just got into checking water profile and adjusting it. Ive been trying to make a decent all-grain pale ale or IPA for about 6 months now. Ive only been brewing for about a year, on batch number 24 next, and although I almost gave up on the hobby, i think (and hope) I finally figured out what was going wrong.
My water profile (living in south korea) is 250 ppm chloride and 200 ppm sulfate, and pretty much nothing else. All of my IPA’s and pale ales have been tasting off, maybe medicinal, sometimes a bit sour.. i usually describe them as confusing. Apart from this water profile, I have been very careful with sanitation, PH levels and temperatures.
The only thing I can think of at this point as being my main problem is the high chloride to sulfate levels. I plan to try my next batch with about 20% tap water and 80% bottled water, and adjust using gypsum, baking soda and chalk (using beersmith) to get my chloride down to about 50ppm and sulfate to around 250, also calcium 140 and bicarbonate 120. Has anyone ever brewed with chloride amounts above or around 250? (Not purposefully I imagine)

 

[hout17]

In US tap water there is usually chlorine or chloramines in the water. I'm not sure about South Korean water but if this is in the water it would give your beer a medicinal taste. To alleviate that I add half a campden tablet to about 10 gallons of water.

 

[Bramling Cross]

You mentioned that you're using Beersmith. Be aware that Beersmith now has two water models, the MPH3 model, which is the author's own water model, and the BW model, which is Beersmith's emulation of Martin Brungard's well regarded model. I would strongly suggest using the BW model. Several years ago, I decided to use Beersmith to its fullest and put my trust in the MPH3 model. It made for a very frustrating brewing year. For the life of me, I don't understand why the MPH3 model insists that baking soda is an integral part of damned near every beer.

Fortunately, Beersmith's BW model tracks much closer to reality. While its predictions are reliably a tenth low on darker beers and two tenths low on lighter beers (using my water), it at least seems to be grounded in reality.

I hope these remarks save you from a similar year of frustration.

 

[hopster997]

Thanks for the input. I did end up getting and trying half a campden tablet on my most recent brew, but from what Ive read, that will only solve the chlorine and chloramine problem, and do little to fix the chloride issue. I also checked beersmith and changed to BW instead of MPH3 model. Will report back in a little over a month when I test the brew with mostly bottled water.

 

[hout17]

Anyway you can get distilled or RO water? Then you can adjust your water profile appropriately.

I'm sure some more experienced water folks will chime in soon.

 

[hopster997]

RO is the plan. Looking into buying a filtration system now.

 

[jerrylotto]

You can usually buy gallons of distilled water in the market. I use RO as well but in the meantime, having a few gallons of distilled water on hand will help you out immensely. What you do with your water will depend on the profile you're targeting. West Coast and British ipas have higher sulfate and lower chloride. New England ipas have higher chloride. You're going to need to do a lot of math but getting close to a good starting profile for the style that you're brewing is key.

 

[hopster997]

thanks for the tip. Making an IPA tomorrow, found the mineral content on the back of the bottled water I buy from costco, will mix with 20% tap water. After feeding both water profiles in beersmith, I should be pretty close to the water I need. I also found 20L jugs of RO (roughly 5 gallons i believe) online, so will test a couple of those out the following brew. Will update when tasting is possible.