I have been all grain brewing all summer ( 8 batches) with successful results and I want to take it to the next step. The next step is water chemistry. To this point, the only thing I have been doing on brew day is running my water through a carbon filter, getting rid of any chlorine.
I have been reading on the topic for the past month or so, got a lab report of my local tap water and I need a bit of guidance.
The following is the lab report of my tap water:
Calcium - 21.1 ppm
Magnesium - 6.1 ppm
Sulfate - 52 ppm
Sodium - 34.6 ppm
Chloride - 19 ppm
Total Alkalinity (HCO3) - 83.0 ppm
PH - 7.47
Plotting this info on John Palmer's PH Mash Chart I end up with this:
I am brewing an 11 gal batch of an English Brown Ale (14 SRM) tomorrow and based on the chart I think my water is suitable to produce a decent product. However, I want this beer to be malt forward and to achieve this I would need to increase the chloride.
My water is soft and I would like to harden it up a bit. Using Beersmith's water profile calculator I have increased the calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride and bicarbonate into the recommended range:
Calcium - 104.3 ppm
Magnesium - 13.3 ppm
Sulfate - 80.4 ppm
Sodium - 44.6 ppm
Chloride - 121.8 ppm
Total Alkalinity (HCO3) - 147.1 ppm
Plotting these numbers into John Palmer's PH Mash Chart I now end up with this:
Now, I understand that this chart is guideline and measuring the PH during the mash is a necessity but does this look good? Any constructive advise would be much appreciated by you experts. Cheers.
I have been reading on the topic for the past month or so, got a lab report of my local tap water and I need a bit of guidance.
The following is the lab report of my tap water:
Calcium - 21.1 ppm
Magnesium - 6.1 ppm
Sulfate - 52 ppm
Sodium - 34.6 ppm
Chloride - 19 ppm
Total Alkalinity (HCO3) - 83.0 ppm
PH - 7.47
Plotting this info on John Palmer's PH Mash Chart I end up with this:
I am brewing an 11 gal batch of an English Brown Ale (14 SRM) tomorrow and based on the chart I think my water is suitable to produce a decent product. However, I want this beer to be malt forward and to achieve this I would need to increase the chloride.
My water is soft and I would like to harden it up a bit. Using Beersmith's water profile calculator I have increased the calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride and bicarbonate into the recommended range:
Calcium - 104.3 ppm
Magnesium - 13.3 ppm
Sulfate - 80.4 ppm
Sodium - 44.6 ppm
Chloride - 121.8 ppm
Total Alkalinity (HCO3) - 147.1 ppm
Plotting these numbers into John Palmer's PH Mash Chart I now end up with this:
Now, I understand that this chart is guideline and measuring the PH during the mash is a necessity but does this look good? Any constructive advise would be much appreciated by you experts. Cheers.