New to All grain water help please

[draaiv]

I have jump into the realm of AG and have had mixed results. My stouts and ambers are fine but my wits, hefes and blondes taste very astringent.
The following is my water report:
Ca 46 ppm
Mg 9 ppm
Na 90 ppm
K 7 ppm
HCO3 336 ppm
SO4 21 ppm
Cl- 44 ppm
pH 6.87
Alkalinity 276 ppm CaCO3

 

[HotbreakHotel]

That makes sense because your water is high in bicarbonates.

I use John Palmer's spreadsheet to do my water. You'll probably have to cut the water with RO or distilled or add acid or both.

This page links to the spreadsheet, but the whole chapter is definitely worth reading.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Residual Alkalinity and Mash pH

 

[boredatwork]

Another alternative that is also based on How to Brew is:
Brewing Water Chemistry Calculator | Brewer's Friend

It says your residual alkalinity is 6.2 which is pretty high. The darker colored malts are probably bringing that pH down closer to the 5.2-5.8 range so that is why they seem to be working out OK.

Another option to fix it is to boil the water to get the carbonates to fall out - the problem with that method is that you can't measure how much are remaining. So I think mixing with distilled/RO water is the best option.

 

[draaiv]

I have RO water but it still has 13 ppm HCO3 in it. Do you know if there is a link to the actual dilution equations to adjust the spread sheet? I was also thinking of using 5.2...any thoughts? Thanks for the help!

 

[lamarguy]

I have RO water but it still has 13 ppm HCO3 in it. Do you know if there is a link to the actual dilution equations to adjust the spread sheet? I was also thinking of using 5.2...any thoughts? Thanks for the help!

As a guide, in San Antonio, the CaCO3 ppm is 218 and the Ca ppm is 76. To brew a light pilsner (~3 SRM), I have to dilute with 70% RO water (similar residual bicarbonate ppm as yours) and add 1.5 tsp of calcium chloride (seven gallons) to hit a reliable 5.2 mash pH with pale malt.

There is a thread discussing the reliability of test strips. Instead, I would recommend using the water chemistry spreadsheet to get in the ballpark and 5.2 buffer to achieve your target pH. Much less effort and it's repeatable.

Also, if you dilute over 50%, I would recommend adding a 1/4 tsp of epsom salt to adjust the magnesium ion count. Magnesium is essential for proper yeast growth.

 

[Nurmey]

+1 on Buffer 5.2. I tried the 50% distilled with my water and it still didn't get rid of the flavor.

I used Buffer 5.2 on my last batch and it came out really good without that astringency I've been fighting with my crappy hard water.

In case you don't know what the product is, see link below.
Buffer 5.2 - 1 lb. - Water Treatment - Brewing Salts, Finings, Etc. - Ingredients

 

[draaiv]

I found the equations and modified the spreadsheet to account for my RO concentrations

 

[draaiv]

I think that between the 5.2 and adjusting my RO water with salts I will be able to brew light beers. For better ambers I'll use dilutions