Water geekdom here I come. Right now I know next to nothing.
pH 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 172
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.29
Cations / Anions, me/L 2.6 / 2.7
ppm
Sodium, Na 18
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 25
Magnesium, Mg 7
Total Hardness, CaCO3 92
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 4
Chloride, Cl 34
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 88
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 72
Total Phosphorus, P 0.01
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01
“<” - Not Detected
That is a decent starting point. You will have to neutralize the alkalinity for most brewing.
Right, thanks Martin!
For “Bitter Amber” (we are likely attempting a Heady Topper clone next), your report has me diluting with 60% RO, which would leave me with 45ppm total bicarbonate.
Aside from acidifying the sparge quite a bit, we don’t really require that many other adjustments (I don’t think).
Thanks again-
[quote=“Pietro”]Right, thanks Martin!
For “Bitter Amber” (we are likely attempting a Heady Topper clone next), your report has me diluting with 60% RO, which would leave me with 45ppm total bicarbonate.
Aside from acidifying the sparge quite a bit, we don’t really require that many other adjustments (I don’t think).
Thanks again-[/quote]
IF you are cutting that with 60% RO you are going to want to add some salts back to get that crisp bitter people usually want for an ipa. ( I do not see why you would dilute though except for a few very pale lagers)…I dont have the calc in front of me at the moment to see where numbers fall but you would want to add some salts for an ipa
Similar to mine. I would think a gypsum addition would negate the need to use RO for a bitter amber and the sulfate bump would be welcome. Never had HT but from what I can tell it is a hop bomb, and I can brew them. I would add gypsum to hit mash pH 5.4 and that should get you near 300ppm sulfate. Acidify sparge to 5.7 with phosphoric acid. Add no gypsum to sparge but to boil. Add hops until it hurts…
FWIW, my alkalinity is just a hair higher. For pils or triple, I cut it 30-60% with distilled. For mid-dark colored beers, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Seems like pretty soft water to me, I’ve tested RO water that was 60ppm alkalinity. Wish I had that as a starting point.
I see no reason at all to dilute that water. Acidification is about a million times better than dilution.
Hey, this is interesting. If I can be excused a side trip here…my total hardness is 114, bicarb 90, total alkalinity 74. Not far from what Pietro has. I’ve been diluting about 30% for stuff like German pils using the boiled Jever profile. But what you’re saying is that I can just use acid to get there, uh? Unless maybe other stuff is too high, too, in which case dilution might be a better way to go? I think maybe the next beer up will be a triple so I can test this!
I’m on the same page with zwiller here, I think after adding a couple tsp of gypsum you may not even need any acid. I also agree with Martin that with that amount of bicarbonate you could easily neutralize it with acid and not affect the flavor. (keep the acid close by just in case)
Pietro on a side note, I will be brewing the Heady clone tomorrow for national homebrew day. I will be using the Gigayeast Vermont Ale yeast, and am wondering what kind of attenuation most are getting from the commercial strain. What are your mash temps going to be and what yeast are you going to use? Any insight would be appreciated. :cheers:
Hey, this is interesting. If I can be excused a side trip here…my total hardness is 114, bicarb 90, total alkalinity 74. Not far from what Pietro has. I’ve been diluting about 30% for stuff like German pils using the boiled Jever profile. But what you’re saying is that I can just use acid to get there, uh? Unless maybe other stuff is too high, too, in which case dilution might be a better way to go? I think maybe the next beer up will be a triple so I can test this![/quote]
That makes sense to me. My alkalinity is 34. I don’t have to do much of anything to mine if I don’t want. But for some reason, I still like to use 100% RO for most lighter colored beers. Total hardness is 107. I guess I don’t really need to be using RO…
