Water report advice

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bert7cosby

Water report advice

Post by bert7cosby » Tue Jun 14, 2016 8:51 am

Hi, I have recently had my water analysed and was hoping for a little bit of advice (or lots).
When I enter my figures into the brewers friend water calculator and also ez water they don't actually recommend any additions as far as I can tell, my concern is that I may be doing it all wrong and don't want to screw up my brews. Or is it possible that my tap water is ideal for brewing a hoppy pale ale ??
Anyway here is my water results

17.7 Sodium as Na, mg/L
2.7 Potassium as K, mg/L
9.4 Magnesium as Mg, mg/L
48.7 Calciumas Ca, mg/L
26.3 Chloride asCl, mg/L
11.5 NitrateasNO3, mg/L
3.4 Phosphate as PO4, mg/L
62.1 SulphateasSO4, mg/L
89 Total alkalinityas CaCO3, mg/L
6.70 pH

Could someone with a little more experience at treating water cast there eyes over this please and let me know your thoughts.
Thanks

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Aleman
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Re: Water report advice

Post by Aleman » Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:11 am

So lets take a look at it

Calcium ~50 so just about sufficient for brewing

Sulphate : chloride ratio around 2.5 to 1 nice for pale ales,

Chloride low

The only fly in the ointment is the alkalinity which is too high for a pale beer, but good for beers with some coloured / crystal malts, and a bit low for stouts.

So for a hoppy pale ale, the US approach is to have a minimal amount of minerals in the liquor, as it may lead to 'excessive mineralization' of the beer. This is the approach that Bru'nwater and brewers friend take, personally I think it's bollocks, but I am surprised that they haven't recommended at least an acid addition to drop the alkalinity somewhat.

Personally, for the mash I would go for an alkalinity of 25-30 using CRS, and a 2 to 1 sulphate to chloride ratio, adding gypsum and calcium chloride to hit a calcium level of 100-125. For the sparge an alkalinity of 25, This time I would add calcium chloride and gypsum to teh boiler aiming for a 2:1 sulphate to chloride ratio with a calcium level of 100-125.

rpt
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Re: Water report advice

Post by rpt » Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:09 pm

I use the Brewer's Friend water calculator on their website. I didn't think it made recommendations so I tell it what salts I am going to use and it gives me a pH calculation. My water has slightly lower alkalinity than yours. I add gypsum and calcium chloride to get the pH and sulphate/chloride ratio (as calculated by Brewer's Friend) where I want it.

bert7cosby

Re: Water report advice

Post by bert7cosby » Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:33 pm

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping to find a rather simple calculator and like the look of this http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/water.php
I was hoping to try it out on my version of jims summer quaffer , here is the grain bill and water vols

---MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.40 ------
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3465.86 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 86.3 %
369.51 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (59.1 EBC) Grain 2 9.2 %
182.40 g Wheat, Torrified (4.0 EBC) Grain 3 4.5 %


Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 10.98 l of water at 70.3 C 64.4 C 60 min

---SPARGE PROCESS---
>>>>>>>>>>-RECYCLE FIRST RUNNINGS & VERIFY GRAIN/MLT TEMPS: 22.2 C/22.2 C
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD BOIL CHEMICALS BEFORE FWH
Fly sparge with 24.45 l water at 75.6 C

The beer style I chose was bitter as I think this was the closest
So according to my calculations I would need to add
CRS: 12.4 millilitres Carbonate Reducing Solution - add this to the total water volume!

Gypsum added to mash: 3.5 grams Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate) (Ca SO4 2H2O)
Chalk added to mash: 0 grams Chalk (Calcium Carbonate) (Ca CO3)

Gypsum added to boiler: 7.79 grams Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate) (Ca SO4 2H2O)
Table Salt added to boiler: 2.01 grams Table Salt (Na Cl)
Epsom Salts added to boiler: 0.22 grams Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulphate Heptahydrate) (Mg SO4 7H2O)
Calcium Chloride added to boiler: 3.52 grams Calcium Chloride (Dihydrate) (Ca Cl2 2H2O)

Does this look right
thanks in advance for your thoughts

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Eric
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Re: Water report advice

Post by Eric » Tue Jun 14, 2016 5:52 pm

12.4 ml of CRS in total water used will reduce alkalinity by 64ppm as CaCO3 to 25ppm and that seems fine. It will at the same time increase sulphate by about 31ppm and chloride by about 21ppm.
Calcium in mash liquor will be increased by 73ppm/l, raising that to 122ppm, probably sufficient for that stage.
If the combined sulphate additions from gypsum and Epsom salts were assumed to enter the boiler they would provide 256mg/l in 25 litres at the end of the boil in addition to that from the water and from using CRS to reduce alkalinity. Similarly chloride from calcium chloride and common salt would supply 119mg/l to provide a sulphate to chloride ratio of about 2:1, fine for the intended beer. The boiler additions will also ensure sufficient calcium at that stage and later.

Looks good to me.
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