Water/mash efficiency

You need to know your water report, knowing that your RO system will leave behind something around 10 % of the minerals you´ll be able to adjust your water more accurately.

 

Another question regarding getting rid or chlorine...

I've read in baking books that a simple way to get the chlorine out of your water prior to using it for bread etc is to simply draw your desired volume from the tap and just leave it out overnight. It simply "evaporates" out. I seem to recal that sources stated something like 20min per gallon should be enough time for the chlorine to dissapate.

Anybody know if this is reliable? I have been in the habit of filling my buckets and kettle with water the day before I brew thinking that it was chlorine free by mas-in

 

Alkalintity (as ppm CaCO3) = Bicarbonate (as ppm HCO3) * 0.83

 

This would depend on what you are brewing. Have you downloaded EZWater or Bru'nWater? They are both excellent tools for dialing in water for a given grain bill and the flavors you're looking for.

 

I don't think chloramine dissipates like chlorine. You can't boil it out like you can chlorine, so I seriously doubt you could "evaporate" it out either.

Not an expert though.

 

Exactly right. Chlorine will evaporate out. It's my understanding that because of this, many if not most municipalities have gone to using chloramine, which will not. Campden works on both, however.

 

With your water, chalk is probably your best bet. Just keep an eye on each individual salt so you're not sending one way out of whack in an effort to get another one in line. Matching residual alkalinity can be a PITA. If you find you're adding 8 grams of this and 7 grams of that and 6 grams of everything else, it may be best to dilute some of your water with distilled and start over, rather than end up with a minerally mess.

 

No sir, your calcium and magnesium should not go down, you just need to raise bicarbonates to counteract dark malts.

 

Also baking soda, this salt will raise your sodium content as well

 

The question isn't really 'how can I increase bicarbonates?' It ought to be 'how can I increase mash pH?' There are some choices...

Chalk - doesn't dissolve very well
Baking Soda - adds sodium, not usually desirable
Pickling Lime - maybe the best choice

But I would make sure that I really needed to increase pH. The models are not at their best in those situations. Someone once said something like "don't ever increase pH unless a pH meter is telling you it is too low." Probably good advice.

 

I am so glad to see brewers concerned regarding water chemistry because i think it is the first link of a long chain to get a good homebrew.I know there are many brewers that don´t mind water chemistry because they have a good water for brewing,but i am sure there are many others without such that luck,specially those that live near the shores( as me).I can assure you my beers have improved ENORMOUSLY after i realised that i would never be able to brew a decent pale beer using such a desastrous water as mine.
You could have a soft water,so you are happy brewing pale beers or you could have a hard water then you are happy brewing dark beers,but when you have a very hard-salty water there is no chance for pales and you only get mediocre darks.

 

This is excellent advice, Mick. If you are working with water chemistry you need to know the base water ion content, the target water ion content for the beer being brewed, and a pH meter that has been callibrated to measure the mash pH, and then adjust up or down to hit the target pH. I use phosphoric acid for the down, pickling lime for the up.

 

Jokelahoma, read the bold type again...I'm going to 10 gal batches...I plugged in 15 gals (total volume) for a 10 gal batch as advised by brewersfriend.com

Haven't heard otherwise, so I'm planning on only adding a proportional amount of CaCl to mash and everything else to the boil. (I occasionally add more gypsum/Burton salts if I'm brewing my usual IPA. Don't regularly fuck with the chalk though...I don't eat it either : )

 

Heh... I saw that, but wasn't sure if you meant ten gallons of water, or a ten gallon batch. It's the mash volume that matters here. If you're splitting things evenly between mash and sparge and only adding salts to the ~7.5 - 8 gallon mash, you'll be at the upper ranges, but fine. No magnesium, unless your RO left some behind. Otherwise I see no real problem, especially as the sparge water will level things out a bit.

 

I think the Burton salts have magnesium...I'm a little gun-shy of adding magnesium to every beer as I'm regular enough already : )
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If you use Burton, yes, they have magnesium. Unless you're adding it to Milk Of Magnesia levels, you shouldn't have to scout out every bathroom in town. :-)

As an aside, does anyone know when that changed? I seem to recall a time when Burton water salts were just gypsum and papain. Or I could have imagined the entire thing.

 

I think most of the brewing water software/spreadsheets are similar...I used brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry

something wrong with that one?