Bru'n water help

Ok - I am trying to figure out how to use Bru’n water. I think I have everything input correctly as far as my base numbers. I input my grainbill, and selected the pale ale profile. I am brewing a hoppy IPA tomorrow. This is the water adjustment summary page - not sure if it looks correct or not.

Thoughts, suggestions? I can post other pages if they would be more helpful than this page.

I have water that is very high in bicarbonate. I am going 40% tap water, 60% R.O. water
Some of my key water numbers: Ca 65, Mg 24, Sulfate 13, Chloride 3, Bicarbonate 268

Thanks

Looks good to me. You took care of the high bicarb which is the main thing.

Is my S04/Cl ratio off too much? I was thinking about adding a bit of CaCl2 and maybe a bit of epsom salt. I am also using about 4 ounces of acidulated malt in the Mash (16 pound grain bill).

This is with those other additions (CaCl to bring ratio down some, and some epsom salt)

. Am I adding too much stuff? Seems like I would have to add a lot of gypsum to get the SO4 up into the suggested range. Should I just go with the tsp+ of Gypsum and call it good, or add more?

It looks fine to me. No need for chlorides in an IPA - not that there’s anything wrong with adding them if you want.

Calculating the ratio is just a bad way to look at the issue IMHO.

Agreed

Youre making a hoppy beer so maybe add gypsum to the boil.

Given the very low Cl concentration, the ratio is meaningless. Add sulfate as you desire to improve the hoppiness and dryness of the beer flavor. Do be aware of the high alkalinity of that water and the potential for higher than desirable mash pH. A pH of 5.5 is indicated and that may be slightly higher than desirable for a lighter colored beer. Add acid to bring the bicarbonate and alkalinity down and the pH will fall too.

Is there a point at which you are just “adding too much stuff” - even if it is still falling within the style parameters? For instance, I can get the projected mash down to 5.3 by going 80% R.O. water and 1.5 grams per gallon gypsum (plus .25 grams per gallon of epsom salt and CaCl). Is it “ok” to be adding 7-10 grams of gypsum to your 5 gallon mash? Adding another 7-10 grams of gypsum to your sparge water?
If I plug that in, my calcium is 123, my sulfate is 255, bicarbonate is 63, mash is 5.3. Other minerals are all at or within range. Just seems like a lot of additions though…

At some point, is there a “limit” to the amount you should be adding?

Skip the epsom salt entirely - AG mashes have enough Mg from the grain. Concentrate solely on the mash pH as your first step while keeping an eye on the calcium (to make sure you have enough) - so add enough gypsum to hit ~50ppm Ca, then use phosphoric or lactic acid to drop the pH into place. Then adjust the salt additions for the kettle to hit the desired sulfate level (and you might also add a little chloride to get it up around 30ppm).

There is a point at which a brewer adds too much stuff to their water. Considering this is a hoppy ale, the proposed levels are not too high. I routinely bring sulfate to 300 ppm and Mg to around 20 ppm. The calcium is high just because its the cation associated with all that sulfate I want in the water. The other ions are all modest in my pale ale water.

As mentioned above, you don’t need Mg in your water. But I find that I prefer a modest level in my pale ales to help accentuate bitterness. You could easily leave it out since its otherwise unneeded in the wort.

The quantity of gypsum proposed is not excessive IMHO.