Water analysis

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BrewRunning

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I've been doing a lot of reading recently about brewing water. A lot of articles and posts on these forums have helped me begin to understand the chemistry involved with brewing beer. I finally decided to order my water report from Ward labs and received the results today. Any input from some of you that are more experienced than I am will be greatly appreciated.

I have also downloaded Bru'n water and began playing around with it as well. I'm still trying to figure out all of the things I need to know.

Thanks in advance for any advice/input about my water report.
 
Alkalinity high enough that you will have to pay attention to it but not atypically high for an east coast source. The eye catcher is the sulfate at 105 mg/L (as SO4). This is pretty high for drinking water but certainly not high relative to what ale drinkers like. If you are a lager lover then this will be a problem for you with some beers. As always, a cut with RO can set that level anywhere you want it (and reduce the alkalinity too).
 
I've never made a lager, so that shouldn't be a problem. I normally brew IPA, Pale Ale, Brown Ale and Stout.

I have been planning to make a cream ale though, it will be the lightest beer that I've ever brewed. What would be my major concerns with that beer?
 
That water is a little more mineralized than desirable for delicate beer styles, but it should be OK for many styles. Dilution is recommended if you find your lighter and more delicate styles come out too minerally tasting...but that is unlikely. Do recognize that some ion levels are getting a little high and don't add too much more of those ions.

I used to brew with similar alkalinity in Tallahassee. That level is easily neutralized with lactic acid.
 
Thanks all, I'm thinking it's probably best to dilute 1:1 for my upcoming cream ale and then make additions from there. Brun'water spreadsheet still confuses me a little bit I'm still reading and studying on it. If I follow the recommendations in the water primer thread should that get me in the ball park for a cream ale with this water make-up?
 
The Primer is based on the assumption of alkalinity below 1 mEq/L (50 ppm as CaCO3). Thus you should cut 2:1 with RO water which will get your alkalinity (and everything else) down to 1/3 their current values). Do this and the Primer is a good way to start out
 
Ok, thanks, I'll play around in brun'water with a 2:1 dilution instead of 1:1 and see where that puts me
 
When diluting do I dilute only the mash water or the Sparge water as well? If diluting the sparge water do I still add the recommended amount of lactic acid to bring the ph down?
 
Ok, I think (or at least hope) that I have a better understanding of Bru'n Water and I'm beginning to understand a lot more about the water chemistry in brewing. So, for my upcoming attempt at brewing Cream of 3 Crops (modified slightly) I put together the attached Bru'n Water profile. I'm hoping some of you that are much more experienced can look over it and see if I made any major goofs or if I need to change anything. I'm also going to list the process that I think I should follow. This process is based on a ton of reading and watching videos over and over but, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Here is the recipe I'll be using (as posted int he COTC thread).

5.5 gal with 90 minute boil

6# Maris Otter
1.5# Minute Rice
1.5# instand grits
4oz Acid Malt
.75oz Hallertauer @ 60 min
US-05 rehydrated

Mash water will be diluted 3:1 with distilled water, I'll add my campden tablet and then add .3ml lactic acid.
Heat and mash for 90 min. shooting for a mash ph around 5.3ish

Here is where I'm kind of iffy, the sparge acidification tab tells me to add 3.7ml lactic acid to achieve the proper ph in the sparge water. Does it already take into account the 3:1 dilution with distilled water? This number still remains the same even if I change the dilution percentage to 0.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Sparge Acidification.PNG


Grain bill input.PNG


Water Adjustment.PNG
 
Looks good to me. Why are you using both lactic acid and acid malt? One or the other is fine.

Thanks, lactic acid was the only thing I could find that would bring the bicarbonate level down. Do you think it is unnecessary? Also, as far as the recommended addition of lactic acid to the sparging water, does it already account for the sparge water being diluted?
 
and stay away from acid malt?

Well, not necessarily. There is a place for acid malt, but its best suited to brewing when you have low alkalinity water and don't have to acidify your sparging water. But even with that limitation, the other concern with acid malt is that its acidity is not very consistent from a maltster or between maltsters. I feel that you can achieve higher consistency in pH results when using a liquid or solid acid with known strength.
 
Well, not necessarily. There is a place for acid malt, but its best suited to brewing when you have low alkalinity water and don't have to acidify your sparging water. But even with that limitation, the other concern with acid malt is that its acidity is not very consistent from a maltster or between maltsters. I feel that you can achieve higher consistency in pH results when using a liquid or solid acid with known strength.

Thanks for all of your help!
 
The advice to stay away from acid malt is bad advice indeed. In order to use it properly you must, of course, know its properties just as you must know the properties of any malt you employ in order to use it correctly. The thing about acid malt that so many people overlook is that it is MALT. Not just lactic acid in a bottle. As such it contribute malt flavors which add to the complexity of the beer. Now if you don't care about that then stick with the bottled stuff.
 
I feel its incorrect to claim that adding some maltster's pale or pils malt that has been infused with saurgut, is going to add 'malt' flavors to a brew. I don't buy that in the least. I am more than willing to concede that the saurgut adds significant complexity to the brew, when acid malt is used in sufficient percentage. I sour my Berliner Weisse's with a lacto starter made with a handful of grain in wort. The complexity of flavor and aroma from that mixed culture is wonderful. So saurgut can add complexity to the brew...just not with respect to malt flavor.

I still stand by my advice to consider the utility of using acid malt when a brewer is also dealing with high alkalinity water.
 
So the malt onto which the sauergut is sprayed (if it is made that way) is somehow different that other malts. Interesting. Suggest you try tasting some, whether you buy it from Weyerman or make it yoursef. It is quite tasty. Of course the flavors it adds depend on the particular malt you innoculate if you make it yourself. Buy it and it's the maltsters choice.

Of course Weyermanns advertises this quality. You should consider the source but I've certainly found it to be true.
 
Interesting, when I've tasted it at the LHBS and I don't find differing malt flavor. I like sours and lactic acid, but a lot of others that don't have my appreciation, have a much lesser opinion of acid malt when tasted from the bin. I guess its an acquired taste.
 
De gustibus non est disputandem and all that but it wasn't a taste I aquired, When I first made some from some light malt (by natural innoculation) I remember how good it tasted and attributed that first, of course, to the lactic acid and then to conversion of starch to sugars when I dried the stuff. The commercial product has also tasted pretty good to me to the point that I usually chew on a bit of it every time I use it.

This isn't to say that I think everyone should use it to the exclusion of bottled lactic acid. My only objection is when people are advised to avoid something that may very well improve their beers or at least make them more interesting. If brewers didn't like what sauermalz does they wouldn't buy it (exception being Germany where they more or less have to if they don't want to keep a sauergut production line running).
 
Thank you both for the input. My conclusion: it's an individual taste thing and I'll have to try it out to see where that fits into the beers I plan to brew. I think I'll brew the same beer both ways so that I can distinguish the differences and go from there.
 
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