Water profile question for a robust porter

[flananuts]

Hi there

I'm using TH's EZ water adjustment calc to figure out my additions for a 10 gallon batch of robust porter. I'm using the Dublin profile as my target. My biggest issues up front is my CL is higher than the target and even with 50% distilled dilution. I'm still above the target and my RA is still low affecting my SRM. Any suggestions or an alternate profile would be great

Thanks


The target:
Dublin Dry Stout 118 4 12 19 54 319 175 0.35

Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 19
Mg: 4
Na: 33
Cl: 53
SO4: 5
CaCO3: 37

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 10 / 5.2
Dilution Rate: 50%

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 8.5 / 4.42
CaSO4: 3 / 1.56
CaCl2: 0 / 0
MgSO4: 1 / 0.52
NaHCO3: 0 / 0
NaCl: 0 / 0
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 118 / 118
Mg: 4 / 4
Na: 17 / 17
Cl: 27 / 27
SO4: 57 / 57
CaCO3: 153 / 153

RA (mash only): 66 (11 to 15 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 0.46 (Very Bitter)

 

[BigEd]

I would suggest a London water profile for a porter.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'd do this

 

[flananuts]

So I watched your video in the past, are you telling me that what i watched for instruction is also what I ideally want for my porter? That's great. Overall question, how much concern is having more sodium in the mash adjustment? Can it end up too salty?

 

[wildwest450]

I would suggest a London water profile for a porter.

I second this, my robust porter turned out great with that water profile!
So much better than the last batch brewed with my pale ale only water.

 

[Bobby_M]

So I watched your video in the past, are you telling me that what i watched for instruction is also what I ideally want for my porter? That's great. Overall question, how much concern is having more sodium in the mash adjustment? Can it end up too salty?

In my opinion, sodium really applies to the overall profile because it's a flavor component. If it has to be temporarily elevated in the mash to achieve a higher RA via baking soda, that's a great reason to leave it out of the boil addition.

 

[Julohan]

So unchecking adjust for sparge means the salt additions are just for the mash, not the boil?

 

[flananuts]

Bobby, you are my Emperor and I your Darth Vader!!!!!

 

[Bobby_M]

So unchecking adjust for sparge means the salt additions are just for the mash, not the boil?

Correct. Once you have any salt addition entered greater than 0 and the adjust for sparge is unchecked, you'll see a difference between the mash profile numbers and the overall profile. Of course, this also assumes you have volumes entered into both the mash/sparge volume field. If you have like 2 gallons in mash, 0 in sparge, the checkboxes don't affect anything.

 

[flananuts]

I watched the vid and went through. Additions look good except Mg is low, about half the target. I' don't think I can do much more unless I use some percentage of distilled and add in more minerals. Thoughts?
Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 19
Mg: 4
Na: 33
Cl: 53
SO4: 5
CaCO3: 37

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 10 / 5.2
Dilution Rate: 0%

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaCO3: 3.5 / 1.82
CaSO4: 0 / 0
CaCl2: 0 / 0
MgSO4: 7 / 0
NaHCO3: 10 / 0
NaCl: 0 / 0
HCL Acid: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid: 0 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 56 / 56
Mg: 21 / 15
Na: 105 / 81
Cl: 53 / 53
SO4: 77 / 52
CaCO3: 284 / 219

RA (mash only): 232 (24 to 29 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 1.01 (Balanced)

 

[Bobby_M]

Close enough. At least the Mg is acceptable range.