EZ Water Calculator

[jonmuni]

Hi guys,

I have finally turned my attention to brewing water and came across the "EZ Water Calculator". Bru'n water I am still getting to grips with, so...

EZ link here: http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

I use bottled water from Dunnes and label indicates:

Calcium:45
Magnesium: 20
Sodium: 20
Bicarbonate: 252
Chloride: 14
Sulphate: 34
pH: 7.5

The pH level checks in at 5.9 for a basic malt bill with 2.2 kg of 2 row and crystal .31 kg ( 40L )

Do I actually need to adjust my pH for this apart from sparge? It would be for a hop forward pale ale of about 6-7 SRM

I know that water can get very geeky very quickly so please keep it simple!

Cheers,
jon

[Dr Jacoby]

5.9 is at the outer limits of the standard ph range. It'll produce beer but if you want to improve the chances of making a great beer I'd aim to bring the mash pH down to 5.3 - 5.4. You could do this by adding some calcium chloride (which is quite low in the dunnes water) and by using some lactic or phosphoric acid to bring the pH down the rest of the way.

The calculator will help you determine exactly what additions to make on both counts.

[jonmuni]

so do I need both ?

Can I not use a few grams of gypsum?

Or can I use both gypsum and some acidulate malts??

thanks!

[BrewDorg]

I found that the EZ water calculator is a fair bit off compared to Bru'n water in regards to pH anyway. It makes me question how accurate it is for other mineral additions.

I BIAB so I only occasionally batch sparge, but most of what I've read online suggests that acidifying your sparge water might not be necessary. The main mash gets a pH adjustment to help the enzymes do their job and convert the starch to sugars. When you sparge, this process has mostly been completed, so you're only collecting and washing out the sugars that are already present in the mash. Unless you're final product is tannic or astringent, I wouldn't bother with acidifying the sparge water. I'm open to correction here though, because like I say, I have limited sparging experience.

You should definitely lower your mash pH to at most 5.5 however. Any light styles will want a pH around 5.3-5.4 even. My first few batches had colour issues and tasted a bit off and I've figured it was because my mash pH used often be 6.2+!! Adjusting this has improved my final product tenfold.

[nigel_c]

It is a lot to get your head around but when you do it really is the difference between an ok beer and a savage beer. Lots of research.

[Leann ull]

Massive update on beersmith viz water and loads other things released today

[Greg2013]

Massive update on beersmith viz water and loads other things released today

Just updating that now,can't wait for September when the mobile update comes out.

[Leann ull]

Changes are subtle but powerful, interesting focus on Mash ph

[jonmuni]

Ha!

I knew it would go this or a similar way...

BACK to the pH lads!

So to drop my mash pH should I be looking at gypsum and acidulated malt or similar?

Can anyone help given the above figures???

Cheers,
j

[molc]

Changes are subtle but powerful, interesting focus on Mash ph

I checked a few of my past recipes against the Brun water calculator with new profiles setup in Beersmith and it matches quite well. I found it easier to use Brun to dial in the additions, then save them as a profile which I drop into my recipe for the mash water amount. Once you've done the recipe, then just tweak the mash PH on the mash screen to match your target and away you go.

Must say, it actually makes doing the water quite easy.

[molc]

Ha!

I knew it would go this or a similar way...

BACK to the pH lads!

So to drop my mash pH should I be looking at gypsum and acidulated malt or similar?

Can anyone help given the above figures???

Cheers,
j

I use lactic acid, though phosphoric is more neutral in taste profile if you need to use large amounts. As for the above figures, using brunwater, just set them as your base water type, add the grains and then add your acid to get to the ph range you want. Simplez!

[jonmuni]

thanks lads...

so can I just use a singe addition line lactic acid in different amounts to achieve the right pH or different additions for different brews???

[molc]

Each brew is different. You need to look at your starting PH (water changes from the public supply), then the effect your gain has on the mash, then fix ph with minerals or acids as required.
The screenshots I did from Beersmith show my new process where I account for each of those.
Step1: Get the mineral balance set for flavour. This, for me, seems to boil down to getting the right level of sulphate and chloride into the water. I've got proviles in beersmith for each of these.
Step2: Add your grains and figure out the ph
Step3: Tweak PH to 5.2-5.5 range using acids.

[Leann ull]

Changes are subtle but powerful, interesting focus on Mash ph

I checked a few of my past recipes against the Brun water calculator with new profiles setup in Beersmith and it matches quite well. I found it easier to use Brun to dial in the additions, then save them as a profile which I drop into my recipe for the mash water amount. Once you've done the recipe, then just tweak the mash PH on the mash screen to match your target and away you go.

Must say, it actually makes doing the water quite easy.

Yellow Balanced,  You pissing in it?

[molc]

Blame Brunwater! I just used their terms