Help with Brown Ale

[Mpavlik22]

So heres my report:
Ca-9
Mg-2
Na-10
Cl-9
S04-12
CaC03-22

So I plan on adding 2oz acidulated malt to the mash.
Strike vol: 4 gal
Sparge vol: 4.6 gal

I plan on adding:
2.4g CaCl2 - strike
2.8g CaCl2 - sparge or boil

What I estimate after adding salts:
Mash pH: 5.55
Ca-52
Mg-2
Na-10
Cl-85
S04-12
Cl/S04 ratio-7.12

Does this look ok for a brown ale?
Is it true that dark beers need higher alkalinity as a starting point?

 

[afr0byte]

What's the recipe? It's hard to say without knowing your base malt/etc.

 

[Mpavlik22]

Recipe is:
9.5lbs 2-row
1lb wheat
1.25 lbs c-40
.5 lbs chocolate malt

 

[afr0byte]

Recipe is:
9.5lbs 2-row
1lb wheat
1.25 lbs c-40
.5 lbs chocolate malt

I think you'll probably be fine with that water profile while adding 1% by weight of acidulated malt. However, if the 2-row is Rahr, you might consider not adding the acidulated malt, as Rahr American 2-row tends to have higher acidity.

 

[Mpavlik22]

I'm actually considering using marris otter now as the base.

 

[afr0byte]

I'd be tempted to say you could get away with not using any acidulated malt with Maris Otter. The Muntons Maris Otter I've used recently seemed to have a DI water pH of close to 5.6 (Or at least, when I set the MO DI pH to 5.6 in EZ Water 3 the estimated pH was close to my measured pH..my measured pH tended to be slightly lower).