Adjusting my water for an oatmeal stout

[8gallonalchemy]

According to my city's water report, this is roughly the water chemistry coming out of my tap:

Ca2+: 5.49
Mg2+: 1.09
SO42-: 9.2
Na+: 30.4
Cl-: 36.9
HCO3-: 40.7

I'm having a little trouble figuring out exactly what needs to be done to adjust this for an oatmeal stout. Can anyone give me a hand?

 

[Day-Day]

Are you just looking for a target profile for oatmeal stout...do you have brewing salts and software to help you make the calculations ?

 

[8gallonalchemy]

Are you just looking for a target profile for oatmeal stout...do you have brewing salts and software to help you make the calculations ?

Trouble is, the recipe doesn’t include a water profile and I can’t find much info on a “standard” oatmeal stout profile.

 

[Jag75]

Here is my water report and it's great for stouts .
Maybe you can compare and access from there

 

[Day-Day]

Do you have Bru N' Water... there's a free version and it has target profiles in it...I've used the profile "Black Full Bodied" for stouts and it works well...I start with distilled or RO and build from there.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If it was me, and I had no clue about pH or how to measure it, or anything else about water, this is what I would do for specifically an all grain oatmeal stout and specifically your water.

For every 5 gallons of your mash water add:
--------------------------------------------------
2 g. of calcium chloride
1 gram of calcium hydroxide.

For every 5 gallons of your sparge water add:
---------------------------------------------------
8 mL of 10% Phosphoric Acid
2 grams of calcium chloride

Also remember to add 1/4 of a crushed Campden tablet to each 5 gallons of your water to rid it of chlorine and/or chloramine biocides.

 

[Jag75]

@ Silver is Money - if your water isnt treated with chlorine or chloramine would it hurt to still use Campden ?

 

[Day-Day]

It's much safer just to start from distilled or RO water then build from there utilizing Bru'N Water... there's lots of good Youtube videos on how to do the calculations.

Considering the time and money you are investing to make a 5 gallon batch... I'd just bite the bullet and spend the $10 on distilled and a few dollars on brewing salts then download Bru N' Water.

I see no reason to adjust tap water if you haven't had a water analysis done... that just seems silly.

Take an extra day before you brew and buy some distilled and salts... do the calculations and it'll be worth it.



Also pay attention to ph... Bru N' Water will get you close enough if you don't have ph meter.

Good luck on your stout !!!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

@ Silver is Money - if your water isnt treated with chlorine or chloramine would it hurt to still use Campden ?

Unless you are using it to scavenge oxygen, I can't imagine using it with water for which there is no added chlorine or chloramines. No harm that I can imagine though. Both types will add a small amount of SO4, and the sodium version will also add some sodium.