Water additions to tap water, NE IPAs, Bicarbonate

[Imburr]

Water addition question for the pros:

I have my water profile here:

Calcium 45
Magnesium 0
Sodium 15
Sulfate 21
Chloride 10
Bicarbonate 0

I am brewing a NEIPA, and I have built the following target profile:

Calcium 125
Magnesium 19
Sodium 7
Sulfate 75
Chloride 175
Bicarbonate 220

In order to meet that, beersmith tells me to add:

Baking Soda 7.5g
Calcium Chloride 9.75g
Epsom Salt 3g

The problem is that when I make those additions, my estimated mash PH is 5.79, which means I need potentially 13 mL of Lactic Acid to get down to 5.2.

If instead of the major water adjustment, I just go with blanket NEIPA rules (5 spoons of Chloride and 2 spoons of gypsum) this yields an estimated mash PH of 5.56, which means only 8 mL of lactic acid to reach 5.2.

I would prefer not to wing it, and instead use exact water calcs based on my tap water profile and desired profile... but not at the risk of making the beer nasty.

Insight is appreciated.

 

[Big Monk]

Water addition question for the pros:

I have my water profile here:

Calcium 45
Magnesium 0
Sodium 15
Sulfate 21
Chloride 10
Bicarbonate 0

I am brewing a NEIPA, and I have built the following target profile:

Calcium 125
Magnesium 19
Sodium 7
Sulfate 75
Chloride 175
Bicarbonate 220

In order to meet that, beersmith tells me to add:

Baking Soda 7.5g
Calcium Chloride 9.75g
Epsom Salt 3g

The problem is that when I make those additions, my estimated mash PH is 5.79, which means I need potentially 13 mL of Lactic Acid to get down to 5.2.

If instead of the major water adjustment, I just go with blanket NEIPA rules (5 spoons of Chloride and 2 spoons of gypsum) this yields an estimated mash PH of 5.56, which means only 8 mL of lactic acid to reach 5.2.

I would prefer not to wing it, and instead use exact water calcs based on my tap water profile and desired profile... but not at the risk of making the beer nasty.

Insight is appreciated.

Remove the Baking Soda. It’s counterproductive to add alkalinity with a zero alkalinity source water. You absolutely don’t need it.

Also, please watch out for the acid estimation coming out of BeerSmith, as there have been some known errors and issues, and even though it’s model is based on Riffe’s MpH, it seems to have corrupted somewhere.

 

[Imburr]

I actually lowered my Bicarbonate a lot and made my target this:

Then the additions recommended are:

Mash PH is 5.63, and to get it down to 5.4 is only 5 mL of Lactic.

Right direction? Baking Soda additions now are tiny, like 1.x g.

 

[Imburr]

And what your saying is that I need to use Bru'n Water instead?

 

[Big Monk]

I actually lowered my Bicarbonate a lot and made my target this:

View attachment 609105

Then the additions recommended are:
View attachment 609104

Mash PH is 5.63, and to get it down to 5.4 is only 5 mL of Lactic.

Right direction? Baking Soda additions now are tiny, like 1.x g.

You don’t need any bicarbonate. I would remove it completely to further reduce the acid dose.

 

[Big Monk]

And what your saying is that I need to use Bru'n Water instead?

For the acid addition, I would use something other than BeerSmith or at least crosscheck it against another program.

 

[mabrungard]

While its possible that a bit of alkalinity is needed to offset the pH drop produced by the elevated calcium content, I don't typically see a NEIPA water needing it. My experience is that a NEIPA can benefit from a low wort pH since dry hopping typically raises beer pH and the low wort pH provides a teeny resistance to that rise. Post fermentation acid addition can help a NEIPA if the beer pH rises too high and the beer tastes flabby.