Water profile for English Porter

[nemesis2a]

Hey guys!
I am almost ready to start my first all grain batch, but having problem with water profile. I was going to use spring water, but thinking of using RO water instead. I tried using Beersmith to do the calculations but it only gives me distilled water for my base profile. I am using London as my target profile. If I use distilled as my base and do the calculations the totals are not the same as my target. Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers!

 

[mabrungard]

Spring Water is a vague specification and its not really indicative of how that water will perform for your beer. The main things you need to know are the hardness (calcium and magnesium content) and the alkalinity (bicarbonate content). The rest of the water stuff is less important at this stage.

Since you are brewing a Porter, some alkalinity is desirable in the mashing water. That will help keep the mash pH from dropping too low like it will if you use RO or distilled water. The beer flavor is improved when the wort pH is in the 5.4 to 5.6 range. With distilled or RO water, the wort pH could easily be in the 5.0 to 5.2 range. Its still going to be a good tasting beer, but may be more tart than you prefer.

If you can obtain hardness and alkalinity information on the spring water you intend to use, you may be able to assess if its suitable. I suggest that an alkalinity in the vicinity of 100 ppm (as CaCO3) may be good for mashing a Porter.

For sparging water, RO or distilled water are good choices. Low alkalinity is what is desirable for that use. Do be sure to add a bit of calcium chloride and possibly some gypsum to boost the calcium level of the sparging water. 50 ppm calcium is a good target.

Given that this is your first AG batch, I wouldn't sweat the water too much. Concentrate on your methods first, ingredients second.

 

[boscobeans]

I use RO water for all my brewing. I make mostly English style brown ales and have been happy with two simple additions to my RO water.

For each 5 gallons of RO water I add 1 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride PLUS 1 teaspoon of Gypsum.

I always get close to if not spot on with the OG numbers expected and the ales all turn out very good.

bosco

 

[MaxStout]

If you can obtain hardness and alkalinity information on the spring water you intend to use, you may be able to assess if its suitable. I suggest that an alkalinity in the vicinity of 100 ppm (as CaCO3) may be good for mashing a Porter.

Here's a list that might be helpful.