First time brewing a Porter - Need help!

Obviously, you want to set the boiloff rate to match what you get with your process. If you're not able to change the setting, you could deduct the difference from your total water to use.

Gypsum and Calcium Chloride reduce mash pH. Baking soda increases it. For most beers, I wouldn't be doing both in the same mash. An exception would be if I wanted to get a small amount of calcium (via gypsum or calcium chloride) into the mash (because it's an amylase enzyme co-factor), but also needed the baking soda to increase pH (sometimes needed for mashes with lots of roasted malts).

 

I'm not familiar with Brewer's Friend. What do you mean when you say it doesn't account for what's in the recipe?

When targeting a mash pH, IMO pH is king. Salts that aren't needed for the pH can be added to the kettle if you want them for flavor/mouthfeel. And speaking of targets being in the green... if you're trying to hit an HCO3 target or a total alkalinity target, don't. Alkalinity (which is mostly HCO3) is something that usually has to be overcome in order to hit the desired pH. Most time, you don't need to add any, and there's really no reason to want to.

 

Yes, any salts that you don't want in the mash, but do want in the final beer, can be added to the boil.

If you are hitting a mash pH range that's acceptable to you, yes, you could do that. But as I mentioned, calcium helps enzymes in the mash, so I would at least add a small amount of calcium to the mash. But you'd still probably want to add some salts in the boil.

There's an intro to brewing water treatment you can look at here...
http://sonsofalchemy.org/library/
Page 9 in particular shows one approach when starting with RO water.

I use BrewCipher, which has the MpH calculator built into it. If you want a standalone mash pH calculator, then I'd recommend downloading MpH.

There are three things that can overcome alkalinity. The first one is the grain bill, particularly when there are lots of dark/roasted malts. But many/most grain bills can't do it alone, so there are salts (like CaCl2 and CaSO4), which react with phosphates from the malt and produce H+ ions, lowering the pH. Third, there are acids, like lactic acid or phosphoric acid) that can be used.

My previous point about alkalinity was that most often there is no reason to add any. RO water has very little alkalinity...you can treat it as if it has none. The only time to add alkalinity, IMO, is if you need to increase mash pH.

 

I would say a mash pH 5.7 is too high. 5.4 to 5.5 sounds pretty good for a porter.

The Gypsum and CaCl2 are lowering your pH, not raising it. They are fighting against the baking soda. You might want to use a very small amount of calcium (either gypsum or CaCl2) in the mash for enzyme support, but be aware that it is also reducing the mash pH.

In the mash (i.e. the "strike water") the primary concern is mash pH. And, whatever you put in the mash will also affect flavor and mouthfeel. Salts added to the boil do not affect mash pH, but do affect flavor and mouthfeel. So there are really two goals here... mash pH and flavor/mouthfeel. Mash additions affect both. Boil additions only affect the latter.

Mashes without any roasted malts usually need something to lower the mash pH. That could be gypsum, CaCl2, and/or an acid addition like lactic acid or phosphoric acid. And, even if the mash pH were okay without any additions, I'd still recommend a little calcium in the mash for enzyme support and whatever salts fit your preferences (or the beer style) in the boil for flavor/mouthfeel.

 

My own independent response from another web page:

https://homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/25198/first-time-brewing-a-porter-biab-need-help

 

If you build your recipe in Brewers Friend, then select the green "Link" button at bottom of page it will import your grain bill to their water calculator. You can input your desired water target, but I would suggest their "London" profile will be more than adequate for a Porter. Then, you can "what if" any combination of salts and see how that effects ph. Or modify grain bill to see if that helps.

It's been a while since I used Beersmith, but pretty sure if you build a recipe the water tab can "auto compute" salts to add to meet a given water profile/ph. As stated by Vikeman, without inputting your grain bill, the salts alone gives an incomplete picture of ph.

Philosophically speaking: You stated your previous brews were disastrous to pretty bad. IMO, water profile alone will not correct these type serious problems. Water chemistry is important, but many homebrewers make good beer using untreated tap water. I suggest your large problems might be along the lines of yeast health, ferm temp, oxidation, even quality of grain . . . these can be tough for a new brewer but I would put energy into these areas. Good luck.

 

Good idea, that other forum doesn't get much traffic at all. Even this one, not much anymore these days...

Yes, a mash pH of 5.5 is actually just about perfect! You could even like I said add about 1/16 tsp baking soda to bring it to 5.6 and still be alright too.

Cheers!

 

It's your beer, do what you think you will like. Generally American hops are not used in porter, so if it were me, I might only use the Magnum. But make it your own, you're the one who's drinking it. Cheers.

 

I am with Dave (@dmtaylor) in that when I brew my Porters I prefer to not use American aroma hops. I would just use Magnum and solely for bittering.

Let the dark malts shine!

Cheers!

 

Porter is a malty beer style, so don't try to make your porter shine with shiny hops or you'll end up with a black pale ale or IPA. But it is your beer.