Water question

[foste1cc]

This is the first batch that I'm making RO water and adding salts to get my brewing water. I've been using Brewers Friend's calculator and determined how much salts I need to add to hit my target water. I've heard it's best to use straight RO water for sparging though.

So my question is do I want to calculate JUST my strike water salts? so if i need 12g water for the recipe, (6g strike/6g sparge), do I want to calculate for 6g or the full 12g? reason I ask is I wasn't sure if adding the RO water from the sparge will lower my target water by 50% in the boil kettle. So just wondering if I calculate my water for 6g or 12g to compensate for the RO sparge

I hope I explained that good enough to make sense..

 

[matchrocket]

So my question is do I want to calculate JUST my strike water salts?

If this is your first time treating water, I would say NO, you don't want to do this. Just treating your mash will get you to a target pH range primarily, and diluting with RO will give you a different target profile for the Boil, which means a change in flavor, clarity, yeast profiles, etc. Start simple, treat both.

Diluting with RO to hit a water profile is also common, but again is typically done for both Mash/Sparge equally.

Interesting blog post: http://beersmith.com/blog/2016/04/06/should-you-treat-your-sparge-water-for-home-brewing/

One variable at a time. Pick a beer, pick a profile (water) treat both and brew. Do it again, exactly the same way, treat mash only, see what the difference is.

The MOST important part here is to have fun. Its a hobby after all.

 

[foste1cc]

Thanks for that link. After reading it I've decided to treat both my strike and sparge the same for this batch. If I do another in the future I'll switch up the sparge with straight RO and see if I can tell a difference. Thanks

 

[MrHadack]

Some additional commentary:
Salts should be used to modify the flavor profile, and acids should be used to modify pH.

More specifically to your question:
Some additions are not recommended for use in sparge water. For example, Calcium Hydroxide (lime) or baking soda. But generally, as stated above, you do want your water profile to be uniform across mash and sparge; otherwise as you alluded to, the flavor profile you're shooting for would be dilluted once it reaches the kettle. Sparge water also should be under pH 6 (I typically go for 5.5) to avoid extraction of tannin. RO water might have a pH low enough to use untreated, but it's good to check it.

 

[doug293cz]

^^ This ^^

Brew on