Hey everyone,
I was previously using local well water to brew with, and had some great results, but our well yield has dropped significantly since my last couple brews, so I've been using RO water (without any additions) with just OK results. I'm interested in building up my brew water from scratch, something I have no experience with yet. I've looked at Bru'n Water and EZWater, and I think it's starting to click, but I just wanted an opinion or two.
I'll be brewing a moderately hoppy pale ale this weekend starting from RO water, and from what I'm seeing I can safely consider that RO would be starting at zeros for Ca/Mg/Na/Cl/SO4 for the starting profile. I know it varies depending on original water source, but can I assume RO should be close enough to zero without doing a water report for just a 5gal batch? If that's the case do these additions seem reasonable for this grain bill:
9lb 2-Row
1lb Munich
.5lb Crystal 20
.5lb White Weat
.3lb Biscuit
.25lb Aromatic
.25lb Carapils
5.25 into fermenter, 8.95 gal mash and sparge water total
For 4.75gal Mash Water add the following:
4g Gypsum
4g Cal Chloride
4g Epsom Salt
For 4.2gal Sparge Water add the following:
3.5g Gypsum
3.5g Cal Chloride
3.5g Epsom
According to EZ Water, this results in the following ppms:
Calcium 111ppm
Magnesium 21ppm
Sodium 0ppm
Chloride 107ppm
Sulfate 211ppm
Chloride/Sulfate Ratio 0.51
Intuitively, that seems like hefty amount of salts to add, but starting with RO perhaps it's necessary. Thanks in advance for any input and let me know if this is the wrong forum to post this question in!
I was previously using local well water to brew with, and had some great results, but our well yield has dropped significantly since my last couple brews, so I've been using RO water (without any additions) with just OK results. I'm interested in building up my brew water from scratch, something I have no experience with yet. I've looked at Bru'n Water and EZWater, and I think it's starting to click, but I just wanted an opinion or two.
I'll be brewing a moderately hoppy pale ale this weekend starting from RO water, and from what I'm seeing I can safely consider that RO would be starting at zeros for Ca/Mg/Na/Cl/SO4 for the starting profile. I know it varies depending on original water source, but can I assume RO should be close enough to zero without doing a water report for just a 5gal batch? If that's the case do these additions seem reasonable for this grain bill:
9lb 2-Row
1lb Munich
.5lb Crystal 20
.5lb White Weat
.3lb Biscuit
.25lb Aromatic
.25lb Carapils
5.25 into fermenter, 8.95 gal mash and sparge water total
For 4.75gal Mash Water add the following:
4g Gypsum
4g Cal Chloride
4g Epsom Salt
For 4.2gal Sparge Water add the following:
3.5g Gypsum
3.5g Cal Chloride
3.5g Epsom
According to EZ Water, this results in the following ppms:
Calcium 111ppm
Magnesium 21ppm
Sodium 0ppm
Chloride 107ppm
Sulfate 211ppm
Chloride/Sulfate Ratio 0.51
Intuitively, that seems like hefty amount of salts to add, but starting with RO perhaps it's necessary. Thanks in advance for any input and let me know if this is the wrong forum to post this question in!