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IPA / Pale Water Adjustements

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by trevord13, Oct 23, 2014.

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  1. trevord13

    trevord13 Initiate (0) Sep 30, 2010 Virginia

    Just started messing with my water adjustments, looking for some suggestions. Below is my local water report, which is less than ideal for brewing hop forward beers from what I can tell. 50% total water, 5gal, will be run through a Brita filter.

    pH: 7.6
    Sodium: 6.88
    Chloride: 9.9
    Alkalinity (as CaCO3): 126
    Calcium Hardness as CaCO3: 90
    Magnesium Hardness as CaCO3: 64
    Sulfate: 16.9

    For a 10 gal mash/sparge using 50% Distilled water EZ Water Calculator here are the additions I`ve come up with, and the results. Both additions are going into the mash and sparge water (5 gal each). Recipe calls for 9lb Pale Malt and 1.5lb Flaked Oats.

    3g Gypsum - 1g Calcium Chloride - 3g Epsom Salt
    4.5ml Lactic Acid (88%) into Mash

    Results:
    ph: 5.35
    Calcium: 95
    Magnesium: 47 ( I know way too high!)
    Sodium: 3
    Chloride: 30
    Sulfate: 159
    Chloride/Sulfate Ration: 0.19

    Any glaring issues, or suggestions? In particular with the magnesium
     
    #1 trevord13, Oct 23, 2014
  2. jamescain

    jamescain Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2009 Texas

    Check your magnesium in the report again. If its that high I would assume your water taste like metal.
     
    #2 jamescain, Oct 23, 2014
  3. trevord13

    trevord13 Initiate (0) Sep 30, 2010 Virginia

    Just double checked - it says Magnesium Hardness as CaCO3 (by calculation) 64ppm. It ranges from 7-37 from most other water sources on the report, and one other source is 63.
     
    #3 trevord13, Oct 23, 2014
  4. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    I believe that you do not have as much Ca and Mg as you think you have. 90 ppm Ca Hardness as CaCO3 corresponds to 36 ppm Ca, while 64 ppm Mg Hardness as CaCO3 corresponds to 16 ppm Mg. Also your alkalinity number corresponds to 154 ppm HCO3. Thus your base water is

    Ca 36 ppm
    Mg 16 ppm
    Na 7 ppm
    Cl 10 ppm
    SO4 17 ppm
    HCO3 154 ppm

    I used MpH Water Calculator to estimate your mash pH when diluted by 50% with distilled assuming 5 gallons for the mash and your suggested salt concentrations (1.5 gm gypsum, 0.5 gm CaCl, and 1.5 gm Epson salt per 5 gallons and acid addition (2.25 mL Lactic Acid per 5 gallons). I calculate a mash pH of 5.60, a bit higher than ideal. Diluted/treated water ions are

    Ca 46 ppm
    Mg 16 ppm
    Na 4 ppm
    Cl 43 ppm
    SO4 54 ppm
    HCO3 77 ppm
     
    #4 utahbeerdude, Oct 24, 2014
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  5. trevord13

    trevord13 Initiate (0) Sep 30, 2010 Virginia

    Wow - that helps a ton, thanks for going through and doing those conversions for me. I`ll play around with those numbers on the calculator to see if I can come up with better adjustments.
     
    #5 trevord13, Oct 24, 2014
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