Help with bru water setup

[SBOB]

27ppm sodium? Is it always that high?

seems so, even the average values that Coalminer posted from MHB's data shows 24ppm

 

[rude]

32 to 130 at 79 ppm mean of sodium in Melville

55 to 190 at 120 ppm mean chloride

This has steered me to R/O water

 

[wobbly]

25 to 140 at 105 ppm mean of sodium in Bibra Lake

43 to 220 at 165 ppm mean of chloride

This is what made me switch to Rain Water

Wobbly

 

[Kingy]

Thanks for all the input so far I should note that I've had a problem with beers not attenuating enough for me. Always finishing around 1.012-14 for standard strength beers,and higher as the alcohol content goes up.
Ive just realised my mash temp controller was reading 3° out so that's going to make a big difference but the world of water that I've been studying could also help if I moniter and lower the ph. As it turns out the few beers I've put into the program gave showed high mash ph levels.

Ok go easy on me I've input the water report data that coalminer posted up and I've input my IPA recipe and have come up with that the previous mash ph was 5.7.

After putting in the pale ale profile and adding a few water additions in to suit the profile my ph has dropped to 5.42.

It's my understanding that this could help with attenuating my IPA more (which is better as the last time it finished with a high fg and was to sweet.)

So these additions of gypsum, calcium chloride and Epsom salt go into the mash water.
And the sparge water is left untouched as the sparge water doesn't need to be treated?

I should also note I double batch sparge my beers if that makes any difference.

Could someone check out my attached photo to check I'm on the right path with this water stuff, cheers.
Oh I tried to get the ph lower but it affected the target bicarbonate ppm.
View attachment 94605

 

[Kingy]

Thanks for all the input so far I should note that I've had a problem with beers not attenuating enough for me. Always finishing around 1.012-14 for standard strength beers,and higher as the alcohol content goes up.
Ive just realised my mash temp controller was reading 3° out so that's going to make a big difference but the world of water that I've been studying could also help if I moniter and lower the ph. As it turns out the few beers I've put into the program gave showed high mash ph levels.

Ok go easy on me I've input the water report data that coalminer posted up and I've input my IPA recipe and have come up with that the previous mash ph was 5.7.

After putting in the pale ale profile and adding a few water additions in to suit the profile my ph has dropped to 5.42.

It's my understanding that this could help with attenuating my IPA more (which is better as the last time it finished with a high fg and was to sweet.)

So these additions of gypsum, calcium chloride and Epsom salt go into the mash water.
And the sparge water is left untouched as the sparge water doesn't need to be treated?

I should also note I double batch sparge my beers if that makes any difference.

Could someone check out my attached photo to check I'm on the right path with this water stuff, cheers.
Oh I tried to get the ph lower but it affected the target bicarbonate ppm.

 

[Kingy]

Does anyone know a program to open this software with other than excel as I don't have the full excel version it limits some things I can do with it. Cheers

 

[timmi9191]

Where did you get your information that sparge water doesnt need to be treated?

 

[nosco]

Try open office?

 

[wobbly]

You should target your sparge water to be pH 6.0 or a bit lower

Do you add any Acid Malt to your mash. 1.5 to 2 per cent of your grain bill will assist a lot in getting your mash pH closer to where you want to be depending on your overall grain bill

If you haven't already have a read of the first couple of pages of the following topic aj delange is one of the more authoritative publishers on forums on the subject of pH control of mash water

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[Kingy]

Thanks mate yea I'll definately read that, I'm actually enjoying learning about water this time around all the other times I've gave up.
I have read that you should get your sparge water at 6 but then also read some people don't bother.
I think it makes sense to treat sparge water as it makes up 2/3 of my final product.
I will do a bit more reading on adding acid malt.
So still add the minerals but use acid malt to get the ph lower?

 

[rude]

If PH isnt where you want it after mash mineral addition yes add acid to lower more

300ppm sulfate first up going hard for hop pop

 

[Kingy]

I'm brewing a galaxy pacific ale beer and after a bit of reading the only water adjustment I think I need for a beer like this is to add a bit of gypsum to the mash along with 2% acid malt to get the ph down a bit
and 1.1mls lactic acid to the sparge water to get the ph of 6. How does that sound (looking for reassurance)

 

[timmi9191]

You have selected that you want your water to be the pale ale profile but you have not treated the water enough to create that profile. Its more than just mash ph.

you are not hitting the target levels for calcium, magnesium, sulphate and chlorides. If you want that profile you need more treatment.

Having said that, the profile you have created will still make beer, its just whether you want to hit those numbers exactly.

You also appear to have ignored treating the sparge water, except for an acid addition. Why?

I would be treating the sparge water as recommended by Bru'n. I, however leave the acid addition to just before the sparge commences to avoid excessive calcium being precipitated out of solution.

 

[Kingy]

Like this

 

[timmi9191]

Yes.

Just be careful of using too much acid malt along with lactic acid as excessive amounts of lactic acid can effect flavour. For this reason I use acid malt in the mash and phosphoric acid in the sparge water

 

[Kingy]

Thanks Timmi in that updated picture of the profile the acid malt was omitted. But that's something I will look into. Thanks for ya help mate.

 

[wobbly]

If you are concerned about lactic acid impacting on flavor you could always use phosphoric acid instead. YTou can get it from Grain and Grape and they will post it as well

Wobbly

 

[SBOB]

If you are concerned about lactic acid impacting on flavor you could always use phosphoric acid instead. YTou can get it from Grain and Grape and they will post it as well

Wobbly

I doubt his acid additions would be enough to impart a detectable flavour using lactic..
Newcastle area water is a pretty decent starting point so should only be a few ml in a 20l batch (based on my last few pale coloured brews)

 

[Kingy]

Just playing around with my water additions on a previous brewed esb. That I'm going to brew again but this time using salts. After I've input the data it says the mash ph is 5.15
This seems rather low but I could be wrong. If all my inputs are good. What is the best way to add alkalinity to the mash? Pretty sure I'm on the right track .
Cheers.

 

[wobbly]

Try removing your crystal and roast malts from the mash and either steep them separately or add them to the main mash at mash out

Being Crystal malts they don't need to be mashed anyway

Cheers

Wobbly