Water Chemistry Question

[John Coo's Brews]

I use distilled water, and then add salts to meet a specific profile depending on beer type. My question is

• Treat all the water (mash and sparge) as one, or
• Treat mash water separate from sparge water

In other words, is it more important to have the water profile in the mash, or in the boil? (I'll also use some weak acid for pH adjustment, if needed, to ensure a mash pH of around 5.3)

Comments are appreciated - I've only been doing all grain for the last 3 batches, so still working on techniques.
Thanks.

 

[VikeMan]

If you are trying to hit a certain profile overall, you can treat all the water together, or treat it separately (but proportionally).

 

[John Coo's Brews]

Thanks. Good to know. Proportional sounds easier on my back! (I've been doing total, and then lifting and pouring - duh!)

 

[couchsending]

If using distilled water I’d add the salts meant for your sparge water to the kettle or at least most of them. A lot of the Ca ions stay behind in the mash. Adding them to the boil ensures that they actually make it into the final beer.

 

[mabrungard]

The needs for mashing and sparging water can be wildly different. They should be treated separately, as needed.