Water adjustments for Scotch Ale, boil down technique

[BrewDawg79]

I have recently caught the home brew "water bug" and would like to start monitoring/controlling pH during the mash. I am brewing a Scotch Ale (Skotrat's Traquair House Clone) this weekend and would like to use Bru'N Water (FYI, I am a total noob at this) to hit/maintain optimal mash pH. When entering the recipe in Beersmith I noticed that the predicted SRM is low for the style (between 8 - 10, if I remember correcly). I think the predicted SRM in the recipe ranges from 12 - 22. This variation is in part due to the fact that the recipe calls for 1 gallon of the 1st runnings to be boiled down to 1 pint (or so). The resulting beer is dark and malty, but the means by which the color is achieved is through a "caramelization" and not necessarily from a lot of roasted malt. In fact the recipe only calls for 1% roasted malt and 99% Golden Promise (Pale Ale 2-row). I guess my question is, how should I approach water adjustments for this beer? Recipe and my Ward water report listed below. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Batch size: 5.5 gallon

Recipe
Grain Bill
16.5 lb (98.5%) Golden Promise Pale Ale 2-row
0.25 lb (1.5%) Roasted Barley

Hops
1 oz No. Brewer @ 45min
0.5 oz No. Brewer @ 35 min

Single Infusion Mash
90 min @ 154

Predicted OG: 1.085
Predicted FG: 1.020

Yeast: Wyeast 1728

Notes: Boil down 1 gallon of 1st runnings to 1 pint and add back to main boil.

My current water profile below. All values ppm.

Sodium, Na 4
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 8
Magnesium, Mg 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3 28
Nitrate, NO3-N <0.1
Sulfate, SO4-S 1
Choride, Cl 7
Carbonate, CO3 <1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 10
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 8


Thanks.

 

[mabrungard]

That's pretty nice water to start with, nearly RO quality. It could be OK for this beer with minor mineral additions. That grist is not dark at all and the minor amount of roast shouldn't drive the pH down too much.

Regarding the boil down technique, you can just use a few ounces of light LME and heat that until it caramelizes to the degree you want. Add that back into the main wort and you have accomplished nearly the same thing. Its quick too.

 

[BrewDawg79]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I was kind of surprised by the results of the water report.

So what water adjustments should I be considering for this recipe given the water report and/or boil down? Also if trying to use Bru'N Water what color should I be using in the spreadsheet to best predict mash pH? Am I over thinking this?

 

[BrewDawg79]

It dawned on me as I hit send on my last post that if my water is nearly RO, all I need to do is follow the water chemistry primer sticky for any mineral additions. Does that sound about right?

Thanks.

 

[mabrungard]

I think the Water Primer recommendations will be fine for this brew. Just remember that the caramelized LME is not part of the mash, so it doesn't enter your consideration regarding the mash.