Im going to brew Denny’s Old Stoner, and was just curious what I should make my water profile like. Any suggestions? Thanks
My water is fairly straightforward and neutral. Report is below. I add a tsp. or so of gypsum to the boil to accentuate the hops.
pH 7.4
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 164
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.27
Cations / Anions, me/L 2.8 / 2.7
ppm
Sodium, Na 11
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 34
Magnesium, Mg 7
Total Hardness, CaCO3 114
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 19
Chloride, Cl 3
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 90
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 74
My water looks fairly close to yours. In Brun water it looks like I mostly need to add a little chalk but I do want those hops to shine so gypsum will do that?
pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 42
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.07
Cations / Anions, me/L 0.6 / 0.5
ppm
Sodium, Na 6
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 4
Magnesium, Mg 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 14
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S < 1
Chloride, Cl 2
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 25
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 20
[quote=“Adam20”]In Brun water it looks like I mostly need to add a little chalk but I do want those hops to shine so gypsum will do that?[/quote]Your alkalinity is really low - in fact, that’s the best tap water (assuming it’s tap water and not from an RO system) I’ve ever seen. You need some carbonate (from chalk or lime) to hit proper mash pH and then I would add both CaCl2 and gypsum to the kettle, in a 1:2 ratio (something like 3g of chloride and 6g of gypsum).
Ok cool thanks. What you guys are suggesting looks pretty good in Bru’n’water too so I’ll go with it.
Yeah its my tap water. Im in Sacramento California. Its pretty tasty water anyways. Up till now I just kinda figured it doesnt taste bad so itll probably make beer. I was right, but I want to fine tune some of the process.
Great water but if you intend to use chalk, you would need to fully dissolve it in your water using air or CO2. If you’re not into that extra step, using pickling lime is a very good way to add alkalinity. Learning to use lime is probably a prerequisite for brewing any roast- or crystal-laden grists with that fine tap water!