TL;DR-Does Beersmith actually calculate the recommended water adjustments based on my actual water profile or just use default water adjustments for a given beer style?
I brew, mostly, with the well water at our farm. We had the water tested about 40 years ago when the well was drilled but that analysis was done by a lab that mostly did testing for the oil&gas industry and parameters and units expressed are much different than a test for brewing water. I knew that I had very soft, alkaline water with a ph of just over 8 and very low mineral content.
For years, my only water adjustments have been, for lighter beers, 2-3% acidulated malt and 1/2 tsp, about 9 grams, of gypsum. For dark beers I just eliminate the sauermalt.
I sent a sample to Ward Labs a couple of weeks ago and got the results today:
So, I plugged my numbers into Beersmith, using a Pale Ale recipe I’ve brewed quite a few times. Here’s what the app came up with:
Do these additions make sense to anyone? Why would I add bicarbonate to already alkaline water? Enquiring minds and all like that.
I brew, mostly, with the well water at our farm. We had the water tested about 40 years ago when the well was drilled but that analysis was done by a lab that mostly did testing for the oil&gas industry and parameters and units expressed are much different than a test for brewing water. I knew that I had very soft, alkaline water with a ph of just over 8 and very low mineral content.
For years, my only water adjustments have been, for lighter beers, 2-3% acidulated malt and 1/2 tsp, about 9 grams, of gypsum. For dark beers I just eliminate the sauermalt.
I sent a sample to Ward Labs a couple of weeks ago and got the results today:
So, I plugged my numbers into Beersmith, using a Pale Ale recipe I’ve brewed quite a few times. Here’s what the app came up with:
Do these additions make sense to anyone? Why would I add bicarbonate to already alkaline water? Enquiring minds and all like that.