Beer Forum

Hey guys,

I'm brewing a Kolsch over easter and would like some input on getting the water profile right. I have a fairly soft water supply here so was thinking maybe just some calcium chloride but the data available for Koln water suggests different.

Here's my water profile in mg/l

Calcium 4
Bicarbonate 12
Magnesium 1.5
Sodium 5
Chloride 7
Sulfate 2.2
Alkalinity 19

This is what I found for Koln:

Calcium 104
Bicarbonate 152
Magnesium 15
Sodium 52
Chloride 109
Sulfate 86

Should I simply concentrate on the chloride / sulfate ratio instead of adding a bunch of different salts?

Thanks in advance!

That profile has some errors in it. But more than that, I would be concerned with the level of mineralization and the slightly high RA. The sodium and chloride could be beneficial to flavor, while the magnesium and sulfate would probably not. I'd aim for about half the ion levels shown in that profile. The balance between the ions look appropriate otherwise.

Kolsch is a pretty delicate beer and doesnt really have much of a mineral character at all. I would keep the water pretty soft maybe bump your CA, CL, Sulfate. Like mentioned before no more than half i would probably just do a third

I get the best results with this style with calcium at about 25 and chloride at about twice that and nothing else i.e. in RO water with a small addition of calcium chloride. I tried going even lower with the chloride but the beer wasn't quite as good.

You are in pretty good shape with the water you have i.e. sulfate and alkalinity both pretty low. I'd just add 1.1 gram of calcium chloride to each 5 gal treated. If you don't get a fine Kölsch from that it won't be because of the water.

Thanks for all of the input guys! We'll see how this one turns out.

Cheers!