Water Profile for Bourbon

[Monmouth00]

Hello all,
Is there a water profile in Bru 'n Water that you would use for a kentucky bourbon?
Theoretically, should I be aiming for something low in Calcium Carbonate?
Thanks for any insights you can provide.
-Monmouth00

 

[DBhomebrew]

Do any flavor salts survive the distillation or do they all get left in the wash?

 

[doug293cz]

You're not going to get flavor contributions from the minerals in the wash making it thru the distillation process to the final product. You want to set up your water profile to get a good pH (5.3 - 5.6) in the mash and have some calcium (greater than 50 ppm) for yeast health. You want to minimize carbonate, as that will build up scale in your still.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

Do any flavor salts survive the distillation or do they all get left in the wash?

As I said, they get left behind in the depleted wash.

Brew on

 

[Monmouth00]

You're not going to get flavor contributions from the minerals in the wash making it thru the distillation process to the final product. You want to set up you water profile to get a good pH (5.3 - 5.6) in the mash and have some calcium (greater than 50 ppm) for yeast health. You want to minimize carbonate, as that will build up scale in your still.

Brew on

Right - this was the ultimate goal = to make sure my starting water results in desirable pH range when I'm done mashing.

If I start with 7 gallons of distilled water, what do you think the right additions would be to get a stable pH?

I think I start with the following mash bill:

9.375 Lbs. flaked corn
1.625 Lbs. rye
1.625 Lbs. barley

I've never used rye or flaked corn before, so I don't know what they do to water pH.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[doug293cz]

Right - this was the ultimate goal = to make sure my starting water results in desirable pH range when I'm done mashing.

If I start with 7 gallons of distilled water, what do you think the right additions would be to get a stable pH?

I think I start with the following mash bill:

9.375 Lbs. flaked corn
1.625 Lbs. rye
1.625 Lbs. barley

I've never used rye or flaked corn before, so I don't know what they do to water pH.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I don't know what corn does to mash pH either. All I can suggest is a small test mash, and measuring the actual pH.

Also, you may need to add some enzymes to that wash recipe, as there may not be enough diastatic power to self convert. Glucoamylase (aka amyloglucosidase) is good choice as it will also convert all of the limit dextrins to fermentable sugar.

Brew on

 

[Stormcrow]

On a related note, what about for proofing down? I'm assuming any water that tastes good would work pretty well.

 

[doug293cz]

On a related note, what about for proofing down? I'm assuming any water that tastes good would work pretty well.

I would go with low alkalinity, no chlorine/chloramine, very low iron, manganese, etc., and low TDS. Most bottled spring waters would probably be fine.

Brew on