bpottsy56
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- May 26, 2014
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Hey guys,
So I am putting together a recipe for an oatmeal stout. Actually, tweaking a recipe I found in one of Papazian's books. I am running into problems with my water chemistry, as often happens with me. I feel like when I research water chemistry, there is absolutely no consensus. I am hoping ya'll can help me out
The Papazian recipe calls for 4tbsp of gypsum added per 5 gallons, if using very soft water. I use R/O water from a grocery store which I consider "very soft water" (maybe I am wrong in that consideration). Anyway, the amount of gypsum seemed to be way overboard, so I researched a bit online and came to the bertusbrewery.com "How to Build Your Water" article...
http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/02/water-chemistry-how-to-build-your-water.html
Here, he says he uses R/O water but doesn't use gypsum. His baseline basic profile is adding 1tsp. of CaCl per 5 gallons, and 2% acidulated malt. Then, he says for a stout, he just skips the acidulated malt. Still no gypsum.
Now, of course, Papazian is clearly the giant who has a wealth of knowledge, but why am I seeing such contradicting information from what seems to be a pretty successful homebrewer? This will be my first stout I have ever brewed and I know the water profile is typically softer for a stout, but I am not sure what source to listen to.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys!
- Brad
So I am putting together a recipe for an oatmeal stout. Actually, tweaking a recipe I found in one of Papazian's books. I am running into problems with my water chemistry, as often happens with me. I feel like when I research water chemistry, there is absolutely no consensus. I am hoping ya'll can help me out
The Papazian recipe calls for 4tbsp of gypsum added per 5 gallons, if using very soft water. I use R/O water from a grocery store which I consider "very soft water" (maybe I am wrong in that consideration). Anyway, the amount of gypsum seemed to be way overboard, so I researched a bit online and came to the bertusbrewery.com "How to Build Your Water" article...
http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/02/water-chemistry-how-to-build-your-water.html
Here, he says he uses R/O water but doesn't use gypsum. His baseline basic profile is adding 1tsp. of CaCl per 5 gallons, and 2% acidulated malt. Then, he says for a stout, he just skips the acidulated malt. Still no gypsum.
Now, of course, Papazian is clearly the giant who has a wealth of knowledge, but why am I seeing such contradicting information from what seems to be a pretty successful homebrewer? This will be my first stout I have ever brewed and I know the water profile is typically softer for a stout, but I am not sure what source to listen to.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys!
- Brad