another AG water calc question/ sourmashing???

[wilsoa1111]

Hi guys, on my latest "investigation", it seems its not just the bairds malt thats causing me efficency problems atm but my water aswell...

i live in scotland, so im basing my calcs on the edinburgh water profile- cos its close enough right? anyway ive been brewing dark to amber beers- my personal preference, ie generally at least 500g of well kilned crystal in a 20-23l brew

lately ive been playing with paler beers and discovered they dont play well with the local water (at least thats the reasoning as i did ok with a dark brew), as such im guessing i need to reduce mash pH and alkinatity (like dark malts would)

so im thinking epsom salts(1tsp) and gypsum (2-3tsp) ???-
kinda end up with a burton water profile as dont have access to RO water cheaply atm

Also this may explain why ive been finding the noble hops like saaz yucky in my brews

anythoughts/ help plz just want an easy, cheap fix???

Also planning a bohemian plisner as rumoured they use similar water but no point till sort the mash ph issue- any easy cheap way to measure this???

 

[wilsoa1111]

also have just read about sour mashing??? reduces acidity for free and without adding ca (already got plenty)- flatmate being german has plenty of sourdough starter spare :grin:

shame ive had to buy some Ph strips for £11! who said this homebrewing saves money lol :

got 100 from these guys- seemed cheaper vs ebay and well reviewed:
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/precisi ... -1720.html

 

[wilsoa1111]

Also found this and this and now v confused :rofl: :
http://deceasedcanine.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... -soft.html

Adding Calcium
As already discussed in [[#Calcium and Magnesium]|Calcium and Magnesium] calcium and magnesium salts are able to lower mash pH trough a reaction with phosphates brought in by the malt. This is of particular interest for beer styles that benefit from water with high permanent hardness. In permanently hard water the anions (negatively charged ions) balancing the calcium and magnesium cations are chloride and sulfate which have no effect on the mash pH. This is not true for temporary hard waters where the balancing anion is bicarbonate.
Examples for these styles of beer are English Ales and Dortmunder Export. A mash water calcium content of 150 mg/l and little or no alkalinity can yield a mash pH drop of 0.1 – 0.2 pH units depending on mash thickness.
Due to its lower effectiveness with respect to changing the mash pH and its lower desired concentration in brewing water, magnesium salts are generally not used to affect mash pH in any meaningful way.

abv from here: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... mash_pH.29

 

[wilsoa1111]

Right using the bru'n water tool (https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/), and v good it is to, have spent a merry time playing with figures to double check my assumptions :grin:

anyway defo the lack of crystal in my recent recipes (why did i try to go into the light, why :lol: ) my mash pH was probably around 5.8, ie pretty messed up but just about convertable hence the low efficency,
to fix this in future will be taking mash ph methinks and having some epsom salts and gypsum to hand if brewing a pale ale (following the burton water profile in beersmith fixes it) and making a sour mash if brewing a authentic german lager (may have to take pics for that one :P ),

who knew my nooby impulse to through special grains in there was so vital

i suspect i will still have to stay clear of saaz though, so probably going to bitter my lager with aurora and styrain goldings instead as they seem to come out alright.

case closed, hopefully useful to someone out there :hat: