Beer Forum

He does: Ca-110ppm, Mg-18ppm, Na-17ppm, SO4-350ppm, Cl-50ppm
I am going to start building water from RO for a while.
What I would like to do is make a few "batches" of the salts for easy access during brewing to dump in the mash.
I am new to adding salts to water and even looking at water profiles as a whole, and wondering if anyone knows a round about breakdown of how much to add of each one.
I don't need his exact outcome. BUt something in the slightly bitter to balanced range. If needed I can adjust latter for other styles.
It would be nice to make up a bunch of the batches of the salts to just dump right in the mashtun to save some time on brew day. Anyone know of the amounts of salt of each to give a round about profile like his or in that range?

Have a look at http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/

ajdelange wrote:Have a look at http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/

That's what I've been using since switching to RO. Simple, easy and working great so far.

helpful somewhat...BUt there only adding one or two things? When I plug some of those number into ez water calc I am still missing some things with RO water

grainbelt wrote:helpful somewhat...BUt there only adding one or two things? When I plug some of those number into ez water calc I am still missing some things with RO water

I add a bit of gypsum to the base for most American styles and a little more where more bitterness helps. I'm not a water expert (obviously) so hopefully AJ or someone who is can chime in about what's missing. All I can is that after switching to RO and using AJs primer my beer (especially light colored) has improved. So missing or not it's at least a solid starting point.

jm wrote:

ajdelange wrote:Have a look at http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/

That's what I've been using since switching to RO. Simple, easy and working great so far.

What have you been adding for salts and amounts?

I have been playing around with the ez water calcultor
and adding
2 g of gypsum
1g calc chloride
3g of epsom salt
2g baking soda
2g non iodized salt
2 g of chalk

Then just adjusting sour malt to keep ph in balance
THis is about 10lb of base malt and 2 of crystal srm about 15 just for playing around sake.
THe profile is then
81 Ca
15Mg
71Na
89Cl
121 SO4
alkalinity 115
residual alk 48
Unless I am missing something here this would not be to bad of a baseline? I am a complete idiot when it comes to water shit.

As for mixing these salts together for future brews I can jiust measureout the salts mix together and throw in a small container and adjust if I choose to from there? SOme salts dont dissolve well in water so best to add all right to the mashtun?

grainbelt wrote:

jm wrote:

ajdelange wrote:Have a look at http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/

That's what I've been using since switching to RO. Simple, easy and working great so far.

What have you been adding for salts and amounts?

Pretty much exactly what AJ recommends. From the notes from my last APA:

2tsp calcium chloride, 1/2tsp gypsum added to 38L RO water and 110g acidulated malt added to mash with the 5.6kg grain bill.

That beer was 10 SRM, 30 IBU and very quaffable.

grainbelt wrote:I have been playing around with the ez water calcultor
and adding
2 g of gypsum
1g calc chloride
3g of epsom salt
2g baking soda
2g non iodized salt
2 g of chalk

Then just adjusting sour malt to keep ph in balance
THis is about 10lb of base malt and 2 of crystal srm about 15 just for playing around sake.
THe profile is then
81 Ca
15Mg
71Na
89Cl
121 SO4
alkalinity 115
residual alk 48
Unless I am missing something here this would not be to bad of a baseline? I am a complete idiot when it comes to water shit.

I can't even venture a guess being a complete water idiot myself. That's why I just take AJs advice. Over time I found that I liked some beers a little more with a little bit of gypsum .

grainbelt wrote:As for mixing these salts together for future brews I can jiust measureout the salts mix together and throw in a small container and adjust if I choose to from there? SOme salts dont dissolve well in water so best to add all right to the mashtun?

I've never had a problem with stuff dissolving but I'm only using the two salts. I keep a surplus of water in a separate vessel treated with just the 1tsp calcium chloride per 19L. Then with the appropriate amount in the HLT (before I heat it up) I add gypsum at 1/4tsp - 1tsp per 19L depending on the beer (some beers don't get any).

Sorry I don't have any answers to the water questions I was just chiming in as a happy user of the advice AJ provided in the primer. I'm sure one of the smart people around here will be able to help you out.

grainbelt wrote:

jm wrote:

ajdelange wrote:Have a look at http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/

That's what I've been using since switching to RO. Simple, easy and working great so far.

What have you been adding for salts and amounts?

I have been playing around with the ez water calcultor
and adding
2 g of gypsum
1g calc chloride
3g of epsom salt
2g baking soda
2g non iodized salt
2 g of chalk

Then just adjusting sour malt to keep ph in balance
THis is about 10lb of base malt and 2 of crystal srm about 15 just for playing around sake.
THe profile is then
81 Ca
15Mg
71Na
89Cl
121 SO4
alkalinity 115
residual alk 48
Unless I am missing something here this would not be to bad of a baseline? I am a complete idiot when it comes to water shit.

As for mixing these salts together for future brews I can jiust measureout the salts mix together and throw in a small container and adjust if I choose to from there? SOme salts dont dissolve well in water so best to add all right to the mashtun?

The chalk will not dissolve unless you add acid (carbonic acid is how it happens in nature).

You rarely need any chalk so what makes sense to me is to keep the chalk handy and add it to the mash after dough-in if and when you have measured a pH that is lower than you want.