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Oh no, another water question!

Post #26 made 15 years ago
by iijakii
:)

So I'm bored at work, so what does that mean? Obsessing over beer, that's what!

Here's my water report, all are in ppm:
Bicarbonate: 95-117
Calcium: 139-156
Chloride: 16-34
Magnesium: 3-10
Sodium: 23-32
Sulfate: 27-39

Anything I missed?

Ok, so it looks pretty decent, no? I'm pretty much oblivious to water chemistry so far, but it seems like I severely need some more Sulfate for my Pale Ales! How do I really go about that in the easiest way possible?

Edit: It's pretty darn soft except for the calcium content I guess.
Edit2: Epsom salt would fix me up, right? Increase my sulfates and my magnesium. Gypsum salt would boost my Calcium too high.

Post #27 made 15 years ago
by dick
iijakii wrote::)

So I'm bored at work, so what does that mean? Obsessing over beer, that's what!

Here's my water report, all are in ppm:
Bicarbonate: 95-117
Calcium: 139-156
Chloride: 16-34
Magnesium: 3-10
Sodium: 23-32
Sulfate: 27-39

Anything I missed?

Ok, so it looks pretty decent, no? I'm pretty much oblivious to water chemistry so far, but it seems like I severely need some more Sulfate for my Pale Ales! How do I really go about that in the easiest way possible?

Edit: It's pretty darn soft except for the calcium content I guess.
Edit2: Epsom salt would fix me up, right? Increase my sulfates and my magnesium. Gypsum salt would boost my Calcium too high.
G'day iijakii

So you have high-ish levels of calcium carbonate in your water and not much else. When you put the minerals in Palmer's spreadsheet it says the ideal colour for you beers in 6-16EBC. That is really cool because you can make the paler beers quite easily. If you are going to make some really high IBU beers then adding some magnesium sulfate to temper the bitterness can help to round the beer out like you say (well that's the conventional approach - I don't make a lot of high IBU beers myself). If you are making darker beers then a bit more calcium carbonate or even a little sodium bicarbonate (bicarb soda)can help. It's something you can try yourself to see.

Just a word of caution - a lot of brewers with more experience than me don't recommend using bicarb soda. Doesn't taste good. So if you use this then take it easy. There was one time I used 2 grams of calcium carbonate and 9 grams of bicarb soda in 25L in a robust porter which had 500 grams of chocolate malt and it turned out very tasty (my base water is very soft). No problem. However I wouldn't use bicarb soda unless there is a lot of dark grains in the grain bill.

Cheers
Dick
Last edited by dick on 31 Dec 2010, 17:05, edited 5 times in total.

Post #28 made 14 years ago
by iijakii
dick wrote:
iijakii wrote::)

So I'm bored at work, so what does that mean? Obsessing over beer, that's what!

Here's my water report, all are in ppm:
Bicarbonate: 95-117
Calcium: 139-156
Chloride: 16-34
Magnesium: 3-10
Sodium: 23-32
Sulfate: 27-39

Anything I missed?

Ok, so it looks pretty decent, no? I'm pretty much oblivious to water chemistry so far, but it seems like I severely need some more Sulfate for my Pale Ales! How do I really go about that in the easiest way possible?

Edit: It's pretty darn soft except for the calcium content I guess.
Edit2: Epsom salt would fix me up, right? Increase my sulfates and my magnesium. Gypsum salt would boost my Calcium too high.
G'day iijakii

So you have high-ish levels of calcium carbonate in your water and not much else. When you put the minerals in Palmer's spreadsheet it says the ideal colour for you beers in 6-16EBC. That is really cool because you can make the paler beers quite easily. If you are going to make some really high IBU beers then adding some magnesium sulfate to temper the bitterness can help to round the beer out like you say (well that's the conventional approach - I don't make a lot of high IBU beers myself). If you are making darker beers then a bit more calcium carbonate or even a little sodium bicarbonate (bicarb soda)can help. It's something you can try yourself to see.

Just a word of caution - a lot of brewers with more experience than me don't recommend using bicarb soda. Doesn't taste good. So if you use this then take it easy. There was one time I used 2 grams of calcium carbonate and 9 grams of bicarb soda in 25L in a robust porter which had 500 grams of chocolate malt and it turned out very tasty (my base water is very soft). No problem. However I wouldn't use bicarb soda unless there is a lot of dark grains in the grain bill.

Cheers
Dick
I did some reading up on water chemistry this weekend, what do you think of my calculations so far? This is my first try, not quite confident in my aimings. It's going for a very malty RIS.

http://tinyurl.com/4o2ohbz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by iijakii on 21 Feb 2011, 09:45, edited 5 times in total.

Post #29 made 14 years ago
by dick
iijakii wrote: I did some reading up on water chemistry this weekend, what do you think of my calculations so far? This is my first try, not quite confident in my aimings. It's going for a very malty RIS.

http://tinyurl.com/4o2ohbz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Looks OK. Have you made this RIS recipe before? Was it OK? If this is your time to add minerals then maybe cut the bicarb addition in half, taking just take a small step at first.
Last edited by dick on 21 Feb 2011, 10:32, edited 5 times in total.

Post #30 made 14 years ago
by iijakii
No, I've never made this recipe before. But it's a clone of Old Rasputin with a minor mod to make it a little more chewy. Do you guys get that beer down under? It's fantastic.

You think I bumped the bicarb up too high? From my researchings it seems that's pretty ideal for stouts.

Post #32 made 14 years ago
by stux
zilwaukee_pete wrote:I just started using this water spreadsheet but a brewing friend of mine swears by this. check out this web page and you can download it from there. Hope it helps ya.
http://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That looks good, and the site is interesting too :)
Last edited by stux on 13 Sep 2011, 09:19, edited 5 times in total.
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On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
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5/7/12
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