Water for Pilsner and acidulated malt

[Rocker1986]

I wonder if that is why all my pilsners I've been brewing with distilled water with tiny amounts of brewing salts added back into it have been turning out really well. I tried one with straight tap water once and wasn't as nice.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Lyrebird, this post and the one on page 2.

Thanks, always good to have the sources.

 

[SBOB]

No, the ratio is of only modest utility and it tends to point brewers in the wrong direction...as witnessed here. I can have 3 ppm Cl and 1 ppm SO4 and I'm pretty sure any of you would guess that it would have far less effect in beer than if I had 300 ppm Cl and 100 ppm SO4.

wouldnt my 'within reason' caveat come in there though

for instance if you were aiming for 2:1 then something like 200ppm:100ppm and 300ppm:150ppm would give a pretty similar end result etc

(Im just taking my knowledge from way too many Brew Strong podcasts and listening to the likes of Jamil and John)

 

[Mozz]

Reading with interest.
It occurs to me that I've actually been mashing using only pale malt for some time in my ales with really good efficiency, minimal salt addition and no acidulation (is that a word..acidification)
Drinking an absolute corker today with a great fresh grain flavour that I've been chasing (I'm putting it down to the big starter).
I'm still waiting on ingredients to arrive but swinging voter at this stage. Some really good comments thanks all.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

My (novice/no expert) water recipe for a 40lt brew is: (In Beersmith software)
Ca = 51.1
Mg = 2.5
Na = 49.2
S04 = 51.6
Cl = 102.2
HCO3 = 30

Melbourne water filtered through a Pure Water Systems filter I take it as a blank sheet.

Gypsum = 3g
Epsom Salt = 1g
Calcium Chloride = 2g
Chalk = 2g
Pure salt = 5g (I sometimes just add this to the boil but in the mash whatever)

Acidulated malt between 2 to 3%. Hits the mash ph at 5.2 to 5.4.

 

[mabrungard]

wouldnt my 'within reason' caveat come in there though

Sure it does. However, most brewers aren't aware of any limitation to applying the ratio. In my opinion, the ratio is most useful when the chloride content is between 25 and 100 ppm. Outside of that range, the ratio can deceive you.

 

[amarks6]

Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it also depend on the type of base malt being used?

For example, Weyermann Bohemian PIls malt has a pH of 5.2 versus other types of Pilsener malts at up to 5.8.

 

[mabrungard]

Because it is typically the largest component of your grist, the acidity of the base malt usually has the greatest effect on the resulting mashing pH. Some base malts can have a lower than typical distilled water pH. A typical 2L to 3L base malt often has a distilled water pH in the 5.7 to 5.8 range. However, some maltsters can either purposely or mistakenly have batches of base malt that is more acidic. In the case of that Boh Pils malt, Weyermann confirmed that they made a mistake and contaminated a batch with acid malt. That 5.2 pH is NOT typical.