We just got our local water source tested and we have extremely high chloride levels. We figure to get the water profile we need we will have to use 100% distilled water for the mash and 50% distilled for sparging. That's awful. We plan on doing fairly large scale brewing, so we need a better solution. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I see malty beverages in your future. For hoppy beers you could cut by 50-75% and add gypsum. For Dark some CaCO3 although that does not dissolve well. I am sure others know more than me.
I don`t see major problems with your water chemistry.I just would add CaSo4(gypsum) to counteract the malty flavor product of a high concentration of Cl,this way you can increase the calcium content to low down mash Ph.It is a pretty soft water,very nice to brew pale beers.In case you want to brew dark beers you must add CaCo3 or/and NaHCo3(baking soda) to rise carbonates, hence Ph will rise as well counteracting dark grains present . Cl: 195 is not out of alowed range for brewing. The relation between Cl and So4 conduct beer to be more or less malty/bitter flavored. In a ratio of 1-1 it is balanced , 1.5 So4 -1 Cl it is bitter, 1 So4 - 1.5 Cl it is malty. There are many water for brewing calculators free on the net.
According your given numbers, if you add 3.25 tsp of gypsum to 13,2 gals of water , you will get a water chemistry like this: Ca : 112 Mg : 8 So4 :199 Na : 81 Cl : 195 HCo3 : 21 Alkalinity : 17 RA : -67.65 That is a very suitable water for pale beers,with a balanced Cl/So4 ratio. Edit : Try it here :http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/
No, it simply removes free chlorine. Salt (sodium chloride) has featured in brewing since Day 1. For example http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/courage-water-treatment-in-1916.html
Palmer lists the max sodium as 150 ppm. Diluter it down with RO water, keep the Ca above 50 ppm. You need to read on how to match the water for the grist/beer. The SO4/Cl ratio is a guideline. I am no longer too hung up on it.
Was going to say something similar. Dilute with distilled or RO to get the Cl down to where you want it and rebuild the rest of the ion profile with salts. The OP can use Palmer's spread sheet for water chem, which allows you to account for the dilution and match your beer to your grist's color, which probably gets you close to an ideal water profile for a great majority of recipes one would brew.
The color to RA model is linear, and does not do a good job on darker beers, as the alkalinity additions are very high. John has said it needs to be updated. Search for Bru'nwater and look that one over, read the water knowledge section. State of the art right now. My last beer was within 0.04 of the target pH when I measured the mash pH, so I just said close enough. Edit - John is working on a book covering brewing water. It will now be published in 2013. The people he is working with are top notch also. If it is like his other works, it will set the standard for brewing water.
