So, I'm delving into the somewhat tricky business of figuring out my water mineral content and adjusting it as necessary.
I'm finding that my pale beers (APA/IPA) tend to not be as "crisp" and prominent on the hops, and have an overall subtle malty profile to them, even if they are bitter.
Here's a link to last year's Seattle water supply (I believe I get mine from the Cedar supply)
http://www.seattle.gov/util/groups/public/@spu/@ssw/documents/webcontent/01_009501.pdf
I've plugged all this info into the EZ Water Calculator that TH built and wanted some feedback to see if I'm on the right track.
Below is the raw dump from the spreadsheet:
Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 23
Mg: 0.94
Na: 1.9
Cl: 3.6
SO4: 1.4
CaCO3: 20.2
Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 4.3 / 3.5
Dilution Rate: 0%
Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 1 / 0.813953488
CaSO4: 4 / 3.255813953
CaCl2: 0.5 / 0.406976744
MgSO4: 3 / 2.441860465
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
NaCl: 0.5 / 0.406976744
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0
Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 112 / 112
Mg: 18 / 18
Na: 14 / 14
Cl: 37 / 37
SO4: 210 / 210
CaCO3: 50 / 50
RA (mash only): -40 (2 to 7 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 0.18 (Very Bitter)
I guess my questions are specifically:
1. Do these salt additions look appropriate? Any issues?
2. When I entered the amount of grams of each mineral to add, it populated the "Sparge Additions" box automatically. The spreadsheet says this should be added to the boil kettle not the sparge water. Does this mean I add the amount it calculated IN ADDITION to what I put in the mash or instead of? If the former, would I add them at the beginning of the boil or near the end? Slightly confused on this.
Thanks and I hope I'm on the right track here. Seattle water is VERY low in everything so I'm thinking with the proper adjustments I can get my beers to go from good/great to AMAZING!
Thanks!
Julian
I'm finding that my pale beers (APA/IPA) tend to not be as "crisp" and prominent on the hops, and have an overall subtle malty profile to them, even if they are bitter.
Here's a link to last year's Seattle water supply (I believe I get mine from the Cedar supply)
http://www.seattle.gov/util/groups/public/@spu/@ssw/documents/webcontent/01_009501.pdf
I've plugged all this info into the EZ Water Calculator that TH built and wanted some feedback to see if I'm on the right track.
Below is the raw dump from the spreadsheet:
Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 23
Mg: 0.94
Na: 1.9
Cl: 3.6
SO4: 1.4
CaCO3: 20.2
Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 4.3 / 3.5
Dilution Rate: 0%
Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 1 / 0.813953488
CaSO4: 4 / 3.255813953
CaCl2: 0.5 / 0.406976744
MgSO4: 3 / 2.441860465
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
NaCl: 0.5 / 0.406976744
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0
Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 112 / 112
Mg: 18 / 18
Na: 14 / 14
Cl: 37 / 37
SO4: 210 / 210
CaCO3: 50 / 50
RA (mash only): -40 (2 to 7 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 0.18 (Very Bitter)
I guess my questions are specifically:
1. Do these salt additions look appropriate? Any issues?
2. When I entered the amount of grams of each mineral to add, it populated the "Sparge Additions" box automatically. The spreadsheet says this should be added to the boil kettle not the sparge water. Does this mean I add the amount it calculated IN ADDITION to what I put in the mash or instead of? If the former, would I add them at the beginning of the boil or near the end? Slightly confused on this.
Thanks and I hope I'm on the right track here. Seattle water is VERY low in everything so I'm thinking with the proper adjustments I can get my beers to go from good/great to AMAZING!
Thanks!
Julian