Building Water Profile from RO

Craigerrr

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Planning to brew an 8 gallon NEIPA this weekend, and want to build the water profile from RO water.
Here is my target profile
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl SO4-2 HCO
96 12 28 128 70 27

Grain Bill
15.67lbs 2 row
1.5lbs Munich 10L
0.67lbs carafoam
0.67lbs crystal 60
0.67lbs melanoidin

I have played around with the water calculator, but I don't really understand what additions do what to the profile.

Could someone help me out with what to add. I have lactic acid, and gypsum. I can get whatever other additives I may need when I go to pick up my ingredients this week.

Thanks in advance,
Craigerr
 
Gypsum will add Ca++ and SO4--, both beneficial. You'll need epsom salt for the Mg++ and some more SO4--. Na+ can come from either table salt, which will provide Cl-, or baking soda, which will provide the HCO3-. Start with the baking soda, there's really no other source of bicarbonate, and see where that lands you with sodium. If you're there, move on to the epsom salt; otherwise, round out your sodium with the table salt. Now that your sodium is set, move on to the epsom salt, your only source of magnesium. If your chloride is Ok, move on to gypsum; otherwise, add calcium chloride until you have enough chloride. The rest is gypsum. Add enough to bring the sulfate up to your spec and accept the error in calcium, as long as you have more than 50 ppm. Use the calculator to make sure your mash pH is 5.4 or lower and add acid to bring it down. Piece of cake, no?

Or use Nosy's quick and dirty method: Add enough calcium as Gypsum, get the Chloride you need from table salt and adjust the mash pH with food grade acid. You really don't need magnesium or bicarbonate.
 
somewhere long ago I saw a post with a huge selection of RO profiles, I would do a long google search, not sure what site it was on either
 
oh and RO is not distilled water so there is a starting profile other than 0, I would check with the company if you buy it or the filter company if you have a local system before even adding any salts you could be way off and I wouldn't personally try to adding magnesium at all, thats a crapper salt, you add it you crap, I keep mine as low as possible with all profiles
 
You can assume 0 for all salts, but as OMB says, you don't know. If you can't get the profile, assume zero. Being off by a few ppm isn't that big of a deal. Make sure your mash pH is in the right range and all will be well.
 
Thank you, I really appreciate the input!
I have yet to get the RO water TDS detail, but assuming zeros, and adding to mash only:
2 grams baking soda
9 grams epsom salts
13 grams calcium chloride
I get good levels accross the board, and mash pH 5.51
2 ml lactic acid gets me to 5.43
Once I get the RO water TDS, I will make further adjustments accordingly.

NEIPA water adjustments.JPG
 
The local water store tests their TDS every day, today it is 14, is that low enough to consider 0? Should I add another 1 ml lactic?
 
14 ppm? Consider it zero.
 
Thought so Nosy, my mama told me that the only dumb questions are the ones that you don't ask.

Thanks for the education!
 

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