Water help

[Glock]

Hi Everyone, Looking for a little help with my water profile. I know there are some very good brewing chemistry calculators to use, but after a few weeks now I don’t seem to be getting the hang of it, unless the numbers below are correct, then I would be using them right. Basically I have good base water to use for stouts and porters but would like to improve my light colored hoppier styles. Profile reads as follows in ppm:

Ca – 72
Mg – 36
Na – 9.9
Cl – 17
SO – 10.1
Alkalinity as CaCO3 – 360
Total Hardness – 340
pH 7.4

So I’m wondering if I treat 10 gallons of mash and sparge water with about 9 grams (~2 tsp) of Calcium Chloride (CaCl) and pre-boil and decant would my numbers leave me with:

Ca – 16.1
Cl – 131.7
Alkalinity as CaCO3 – 61.6 or bicarbonate at 75.15?

If so, at this point I wouldn’t treat the sparge water except maybe for some lactic acid to bring the pH down, but in the mash I would add about 8 grams (~2 tsp) of Gypsum CaSO bringing my numbers to:

Ca – 65.3
and SO – 128
pH should be around 5.56 with the grain bill I plan on using.

Now in the boil kettle if I add another 8 grams (~2 tsp) of Gypsum it would leave my final numbers at:

Ca – 114.5
Mg – 36
Na – 9.9
Cl – 131.7
SO – 245.9
Alkalinity as CaCO3 – 61.6

Leaving me with about a 1.9 Sulfate to Chloride ratio suited for lighter, bitter beers? This seems like I am using a lot of gypsum, is it too much? Do these numbers seem right? Aka, am I using Bru’n Water and the Brewer’s Friend calculator correctly?
I’ve also considered using slaked lime to remove some of the bicarbonate, but I’m not yet familiar with how much would precipitate out, and if I’m supposed to use CaCl with it, etc. But that's a question for later.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[mabrungard]

Your water is well suited for lime softening. No, you won't need to add calcium chloride for the treatment. Since the magnesium content of that water is fairly high and should be reduced, you will want to bring the water pH to at least 12 to cause the magnesium hydroxide to precipitate out. You really should have a calibrated pH meter on hand if you intend to conduct this form of softening.

After recarbonation following the lime softening, you should have a decent water as a starting point. You will have to acidify, but everyone does! That final sulfate level of 245 may be OK for hoppy styles, but that is a personal decision. You may want to start with a little lower sulfate content and explore if your preference is for more or less sulfate.

 

[Glock]

Thanks for the response Martin. Prior to posting I was reading some materials and realized that this water profile would be a good candidate for lime softening, but haven't yet done much research into it. Plus no pH meter, just strips. For the time being I was more concerned with doing a preboil and adding salts to get to a good range for light colored hoppy styles.

From your response it sounds like I'm in the ballpark and the process I described would work and achieve that?

Also if I preboil with CaCl should I be plugging those numbers after boiling into your software as my starting water? As far as the sulfate level I may back off to 6 grams to bring the level down to Ca 102 and SO 215. Which would still give me a ratio of 1.6

 

[mabrungard]

It's also a good candidate for pre-boiling, but that won't reduce the magnesium content. So the resulting water may still pose problems in brewing some styles.

 

[Glock]

Thanks for your help. This gets me so much closer to what I am trying to do with the lighter colored hoppy beers. I realize the Mg level is high, but I haven't yet grasped how to properly work with slaked lime. So I'll have to go with this process till working with the slaked lime clicks. Thanks again.