Building Water Profile

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017.

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  1. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    I'm not sure if this specific question has been ask. I have been digging through the forums trying to find out.

    When building a water profile how do you determine if you want to add your salts/minerals to the mash or the kettle?

    What effect does it have on finished product?

    Is one way better than the other? or a mixture of both?
     
    #1 TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017
  2. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Put salts in mash/sparge to adjust ph primarily
    Put salts in kettle for flavor adjustments of final beer
    Typically for me (I brew a lot of IPAs) that means 2 tsp CACL in mash and 1 tsp gypsum and 1/4 tsp Burton or epsom salt in boil
     
    #2 GreenKrusty101, Jan 26, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2017
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  3. Supergenious

    Supergenious Maven (1,273) May 9, 2011 Michigan

    I always add to both, but sometimes you can get away with just mash additions.

    You only should add enough minerals and/or acids to mash to achieve your desired ph. The kettle additions are for flavor. Its how you adjust your Cl/SO4 ratios. Higher SO4 accentuate bitterness, leading to drier, cleaner finish. Higher Cl leads to a fuller, malty finish. If you added all of them in mash, more than likely your ph would be off. It's also a good idea to get your Ca count up to at least 50. Good luck!
     
    #3 Supergenious, Jan 26, 2017
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  4. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    Thank you! That explains a lot and makes more sense now. I get how to use the spread sheet to reach desired levels, I just didn't know how they should be split up between mash/kettle :slight_smile:
     
    #4 TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017
  5. hezagenius

    hezagenius Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2011 Iowa

    If you come up with your additions, you can plug them and your grains into Bru'n Water (I'm sure there are other programs as well) and get a guess on your pH.

    I do BIAB with distilled/RO water and based on my grains and mineral additions, Bru'n says if I add them all to the mash (I don't sparge anymore), my pH is around 5.4. I can't say how accurate that is. I purchased a pH meter to check next time.
     
    #5 hezagenius, Jan 26, 2017
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  6. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    I use brewcipher, I have never used bru'n, but brewcipher gives me all the calculations needed
     
    #6 TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017
  7. hezagenius

    hezagenius Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2011 Iowa

    Yep, lots of software out there. All should be giving you similar numbers I'd expect.
     
    #7 hezagenius, Jan 26, 2017
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  8. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    I really like brewcihper. I have tried a few and none of them seem to compare IMO. Its an all in one spread sheet to calculate everything for your brew day and its free! It was made by some people here on this forum
     
    #8 TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017
  9. hezagenius

    hezagenius Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2011 Iowa

    Yeah, I'm going to check that one out. I've built my own for recipe design and salts but I haven't worked out the pH and IBU stuff yet.
     
    #9 hezagenius, Jan 26, 2017
  10. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    http://homebrewstash.com/resource/brewcipher
    that's the link if you want to check it out.
     
    #10 TooHopTooHandle, Jan 26, 2017
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  11. ultravista

    ultravista Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2010 Nevada

    Subscribing
     
    #11 ultravista, Jan 27, 2017
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