Roadie
Well-Known Member
We haven't been happy with some of the flavors we're getting in our beers which I believe can be traced back to our water chemistry and am seeking help with understanding the correct usage of the EZ Water Calculator. We start with 100% RO water and build up profiles from scratch.
What I do when calculating water profiles in EZ Calculator:
Leave Starting Water Profile all at 0 since again we've using RO water.
Calculate Mash Water based on 1.5 qts per pound as a thicker mash doesn't hit the temp probe in our MT.
Percent that is Distilled or RO is set to 100%.
Input grain bill.
Uncheck the Adjusting Sparge Water box. Input brewing salts at bottom to give me the mineral profile I'm looking for.
Look at Mash pH and adjust as necessary to get between 5.4 and 5.45 which usually call for adding lactic acid.
I ignore Effective Alkalinity and Residual Alkalinity.
When brewing I add all salts to the mash water prior to dough-in.
On a recent 5 gallon batch of IPA here is how the numbers worked out:
Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 0
Mg: 0
Na: 0
Cl: 0
SO4: 0
HCO3: 0
Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 5.5/7.5
RO or distilled %: 100% / 100%
Total Grain (lb): 14.3
Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaSO4: 17.8 / 0
CaCl2: 5.1 / 0
MgSO4: 9.5 / 0
NaHCO3: 2.85 / 0
CaCO3: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid (ml): 2.5
Sauermalz (oz): 0
Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 261 / 110
Mg: 42 / 18
Na: 37 / 16
Cl: 118 / 50
SO4: 655 / 277
Cl to SO4 Ratio: 0.18 / 0.18
Alkalinity (CaCO3): -60
RA: -271
Estimated pH: 5.42
(room temp)
In doing some reading over the weekend I noticed reference to adding just the pH salts in the mash and using the others in the boil kettle which is something that I've never done.
Which salts should I be adding to the MT and which to the BK?
Should I be more focused on Alkalinity/Residual Alkalinity?
Am I doing anything incorrectly with this program?
What I do when calculating water profiles in EZ Calculator:
Leave Starting Water Profile all at 0 since again we've using RO water.
Calculate Mash Water based on 1.5 qts per pound as a thicker mash doesn't hit the temp probe in our MT.
Percent that is Distilled or RO is set to 100%.
Input grain bill.
Uncheck the Adjusting Sparge Water box. Input brewing salts at bottom to give me the mineral profile I'm looking for.
Look at Mash pH and adjust as necessary to get between 5.4 and 5.45 which usually call for adding lactic acid.
I ignore Effective Alkalinity and Residual Alkalinity.
When brewing I add all salts to the mash water prior to dough-in.
On a recent 5 gallon batch of IPA here is how the numbers worked out:
Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 0
Mg: 0
Na: 0
Cl: 0
SO4: 0
HCO3: 0
Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 5.5/7.5
RO or distilled %: 100% / 100%
Total Grain (lb): 14.3
Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:
CaSO4: 17.8 / 0
CaCl2: 5.1 / 0
MgSO4: 9.5 / 0
NaHCO3: 2.85 / 0
CaCO3: 0 / 0
Lactic Acid (ml): 2.5
Sauermalz (oz): 0
Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 261 / 110
Mg: 42 / 18
Na: 37 / 16
Cl: 118 / 50
SO4: 655 / 277
Cl to SO4 Ratio: 0.18 / 0.18
Alkalinity (CaCO3): -60
RA: -271
Estimated pH: 5.42
(room temp)
In doing some reading over the weekend I noticed reference to adding just the pH salts in the mash and using the others in the boil kettle which is something that I've never done.
Which salts should I be adding to the MT and which to the BK?
Should I be more focused on Alkalinity/Residual Alkalinity?
Am I doing anything incorrectly with this program?