Water Building & Residual Alkalinity

Mashing
1

I am using RO water and building my beer with salt additions. My question is if I get the right mineral content for say a porter, should I be concerned with the Residual Alkalinity(RA) being around -50? I 've read that the RA should be higher for darker beers and lower for lighter beers. So in theory, my porter will not be as complex with a lower RA?

2

I usually add baking soda to get RA up for darker beers.

3

I can guarantee that the mash pH will be depressed lower than desirable and the effects will likely cascade into the beer. There are a couple of partial work-arounds. One is to not add the calcium and magnesium minerals to the mash, thereby not depressing the RA as much. The other work-around is to reserve the crystal and roast malts to avoid their extra acidity in the main mash. Both will provide some relief from the excessive mash pH drop.

4

Thanks guys for the info…