Vienna lager water profile.

[Jakeyboi]

Hi everyone.

I’m brewing 60L of Vienna lager at the weekend, which will be one of 3 beers for a friends wedding in June.

I’ve brewed this beer before with good results, however I’m really trying to dial in everything I can this time. My understanding of water profile/chemistry is extremely basic, I pretty much aim for a calcium level, then balance up the chloride/sulphate ratio.

My water source has a very low mineral content.
Calcium is 35ppm
Chloride (from local report) 37ppm
Sulphate (from local report) 30ppm

which I believe is pretty decent pales/lagers.
Im just wondering if anyone could give me advice on how best (if at all) to adjust for this style.

I’ve read that the water in Vienna is pretty hard, so I was thinking of aiming for a calcium level around 200ppm and going 2:1 chloride\sulphate to enhance the maltiness.

Any help or previous experience with this style would be warmly welcomed.

jake

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Here is a recipe I've just made. I thought the water was perfect!

I used Tesco water as a base, and then added salts to what I thought would work, with the help of Brewfather.

 

[SMP Brewery]

I kegged mine tonight, so not much experience but I used Ashbeck water and added salts to get to the following profile.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

That’s the same profile I was trying to get to. But couldn’t quite make the calcium without going too far over on the other stuff.

It’s a great profile. Brewfather has some great info on it.

What it suggests is dead in the middle of the style guidelines.

A couple of the members tasted mine as well so they’ll be able to give you honest feedback.

 

[Jakeyboi]

Thanks, I will prob go for the 2:1 ratio but keep the calcium down like both of you then.

 

[Hanglow]

You still want at least 80ppm calcium in the mash, but you can use your softer water as is for sparge etc If you want to keep it as soft as possible. I personally don't think any lagers, especially if you are using noble hops, are improved with harder water that you may find in a bitter for example, they always seem more rounded with lower mineral levels.

 

[SMP Brewery]

Just checked mine and it was 99 in the Mash and then just the Ashbeck in the Sparge giving 64 in total.

First time using bottled water so I hope that's right.

 

[foxbat]

Hi everyone.

I’m brewing 60L of Vienna lager at the weekend, which will be one of 3 beers for a friends wedding in June.

I’ve brewed this beer before with good results, however I’m really trying to dial in everything I can this time. My understanding of water profile/chemistry is extremely basic, I pretty much aim for a calcium level, then balance up the chloride/sulphate ratio.

My water source has a very low mineral content.
Calcium is 35ppm
Chloride (from local report) 37ppm
Sulphate (from local report) 30ppm

which I believe is pretty decent pales/lagers.
Im just wondering if anyone could give me advice on how best (if at all) to adjust for this style.

I’ve read that the water in Vienna is pretty hard, so I was thinking of aiming for a calcium level around 200ppm and going 2:1 chloride\sulphate to enhance the maltiness.

Any help or previous experience with this style would be warmly welcomed.

jake

I would use a pilsner profile and your water profile is perfect for lagers as it is. An example profile from one of my Helles (based on Ashbeck) is. Ca:29, Mg:4, Na:10, SO4: 11, Cl:46. Too many minerals ruin the delicate flavour profile of a lager. To quote Martin Brungard of Bru'n water fame:

As with any fine lager, keeping the calcium content low, is an important factor for improving yeast performance. The roughly 30 ppm Ca content of the boiled Vienna profile is appropriate, although it can be good to have 40+ ppm in the mash to help with oxalate removal.

 

[Jakeyboi]

Thanks for all the replies.

I brewed this today and kept my water as it comes. It turned out good before and I didn’t tamper with it that time.

57L In the fermenter