Help with what salts to add when please..

Hop fiend

Hop fiend

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Hi there, I'm not a very active member as I've been unable to brew for a few years now, but I'm dusting off the gear and getting right back into it! I'm brewing my favourite, an american style IPA but as I'm fairly new to all grain I'm a bit confused as to what I add when regarding salts and acids.
So.. I'm using Tesco Ashbeck bottled water.
It's profile is:
pH: 6.2
Calcium (Ca): 10
Magnesium (Mg): 2.5
Sodium (Na): 9
Sulfate (SO4): 10
Chloride (Cl): 12
Bicarbonate (HCO3): 10
(per mg/l)

I've used the website to see what I need to make a nice bitter DIPA, which can be found here:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=D6QXXMB

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/205561

I've followed recommendations on adding salts and AMS/CRS acid, and I'm guessing it's been calculated on my total 60 litres (15.8 us gallons) of water? Or do I add all these to just my mash? I'm not sure how i's been calculated but I'm trying for a mash PH of 5.4. Thanks for any help, and feel free to look over my recipe and make any suggestions you feel might be needed. Thank you kindly, Ollie.
 
You can just treat your mash water, the mash pH during the mash is what is important. I see no reason to treat that bottled water for sparging. Others may comment that it wouldn't hurt to add a bit of lactic to the sparge water.

Glad you have decided to get back into the hobby, this making beer thing is still pretty new to me (2 years now).
I love it, and I am astonished at how much I have learned. The folks here on BF are top shelf, friendly, and always helpful!

Cheers,
Craigerrr
 
Craigerrr said:
You can just treat your mash water, the mash pH during the mash is what is important. I see no reason to treat that bottled water for sparging. Others may comment that it wouldn't hurt to add a bit of lactic to the sparge water.

Glad you have decided to get back into the hobby, this making beer thing is still pretty new to me (2 years now).
I love it, and I am astonished at how much I have learned. The folks here on BF are top shelf, friendly, and always helpful!

Cheers,
Craigerrr
Click to expand...

Ok cheers Craig. When's the best time to check mash PH? I'm guessing it's best done near the begining so additions can be made while there's still time for the mash to convert? How long does a mash need to sit before getting the PH of it? Thanks!
 
Hop fiend said:
Hi there, I'm not a very active member as I've been unable to brew for a few years now, but I'm dusting off the gear and getting right back into it! I'm brewing my favourite, an american style IPA but as I'm fairly new to all grain I'm a bit confused as to what I add when regarding salts and acids.
So.. I'm using Tesco Ashbeck bottled water.
It's profile is:
pH: 6.2
Calcium (Ca): 10
Magnesium (Mg): 2.5
Sodium (Na): 9
Sulfate (SO4): 10
Chloride (Cl): 12
Bicarbonate (HCO3): 10
(per mg/l)

I've used the website to see what I need to make a nice bitter DIPA, which can be found here:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=D6QXXMB

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/205561

I've followed recommendations on adding salts and AMS/CRS acid, and I'm guessing it's been calculated on my total 60 litres (15.8 us gallons) of water? Or do I add all these to just my mash? I'm not sure how i's been calculated but I'm trying for a mash PH of 5.4. Thanks for any help, and feel free to look over my recipe and make any suggestions you feel might be needed. Thank you kindly, Ollie.
Click to expand...
Because it's bottled, I'm assuming no chlorine or chloramine so no need to dechlorinate. For any beer, you need about 50 ppm or more of calcium. Since it's a DIPA and you are going to bitter the fool out of it, I'd add it as calcium chloride. For my taste, hoppy beers tend to benefit from a higher finished pH than lighter beers (more basic) so some bicarbonate, about 100 ppm, is probably good for it. You might add some sulfate if you want dryer beer. It really is such a matter of preference it's hard to give you an absolute answer. Look for a DIPA recipe that gives a water profile, then try that out as a starting point.
 
Hop fiend said:
Ok cheers Craig. When's the best time to check mash PH? I'm guessing it's best done near the begining so additions can be made while there's still time for the mash to convert? How long does a mash need to sit before getting the PH of it? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Good advice from Nosy
Personally, I have come to trust the pH prediction from the recipe editor, and have been very pleased with my results.
Give it 15 minutes for the grains have fully incorporated with the mash water, give it another stir, and take a sample.
You then need to cool the sample, so a bowl of ice water on hand would be good.
Having done this a number of times myself, and finding that I was just confirming what was expected, I dropped this routine from my brew day.
 
You need to select share in the recipe drop down at the top and get the link there. But I wouldn't stress to hard, mix in the salts during the mash and let er buck.
 
Hawkbox said:
You need to select share in the recipe drop down at the top and get the link there. But I wouldn't stress to hard, mix in the salts during the mash and let er buck.
Click to expand...


Try this..

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: AIPA (AG)
Author: Hop fiend

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 80 min
Batch Size: 48 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 48 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.061
Efficiency: 75% (ending kettle)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.24%
IBU (tinseth): 90.69
SRM (morey): 5.18
Mash pH: 5.47

FERMENTABLES:
10 kg - Golden Promise (80%)
500 g - Carapils Malt (4%)
2 kg - Pale Ale (16%)

HOPS:
100 g - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 56.85
50 g - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 18.91
50 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 0.39
50 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 4.63
40 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 3.67
50 g - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 6.25
50 g - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
60 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 66 C, Time: 80 min, Amount: 30 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 75 C, Time: 30 min, Amount: 33 L, Batch sparge
Starting Mash Thickness: 2 L/kg

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
4 g - Epsom Salt, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
15 g - Gypsum, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
26.48 ml - CRS/AMS (6.3% HCl, 8.6% H2SO4), Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 20 - 22.78 C
Fermentation Temp: 22 C
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

PRIMING:
CO2 Level: 2.25 Volumes

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Light colored and hoppy
Ca2: 75
Mg2: 5
Na: 10
Cl: 50
SO4: 150
HCO3: 0
W
 
That works but this is what you want to do to share.
upload_2020-3-30_13-13-0.png
 
Oh maybe. I don't have much experience using chinook in general. I normally only use Columbus for bittering too so no idea how that will turn out.
It's gonna be strong as hell hop wise, however it turns out.
 
Hawkbox said:
Oh maybe. I don't have much experience using chinook in general. I normally only use Columbus for bittering too so no idea how that will turn out.
It's gonna be strong as hell hop wise, however it turns out.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't necessarily agree with you on that Hawk, 12g batch, 16oz hops. I am enjoying this one right now, 18.5oz 10 gallon batch.
My next brew is a hazy session, 26oz, but 25oz are either whirlpool, or dry additions:eek:
 
Hop fiend said:
Try this..

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: AIPA (AG)
Author: Hop fiend

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 80 min
Batch Size: 48 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 48 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.061
Efficiency: 75% (ending kettle)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.24%
IBU (tinseth): 90.69
SRM (morey): 5.18
Mash pH: 5.47

FERMENTABLES:
10 kg - Golden Promise (80%)
500 g - Carapils Malt (4%)
2 kg - Pale Ale (16%)

HOPS:
100 g - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.4, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 56.85
50 g - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 18.91
50 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 0.39
50 g - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 4.63
40 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 3.67
50 g - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 92 °C, IBU: 6.25
50 g - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
60 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 66 C, Time: 80 min, Amount: 30 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 75 C, Time: 30 min, Amount: 33 L, Batch sparge
Starting Mash Thickness: 2 L/kg

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
4 g - Epsom Salt, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
15 g - Gypsum, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
26.48 ml - CRS/AMS (6.3% HCl, 8.6% H2SO4), Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 20 - 22.78 C
Fermentation Temp: 22 C
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

PRIMING:
CO2 Level: 2.25 Volumes

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Light colored and hoppy
Ca2: 75
Mg2: 5
Na: 10
Cl: 50
SO4: 150
HCO3: 0
W
Click to expand...
I might suggest that you can get your 56.85 IBU's with a smaller bittering addition at 60 minutes.
Hops are spendy man!!!
Heck, even go with a first wort addition.

Unless you have a real good control of mash temp, you may want to bump that up a degree or two, or not.
 
You used AA > 10% hops for everything in the brew and it wasn't strong as hell?
 
Hawkbox said:
Oh maybe. I don't have much experience using chinook in general. I normally only use Columbus for bittering too so no idea how that will turn out.
It's gonna be strong as hell hop wise, however it turns out.
Click to expand...

Yeah I hope so! I made a clone of Russian River Hopfather from Dogfish head's book and that's very Columbus dominated and it blew me, and a brewer I know away! I can say that because it wasn't my recipe! And it was made with DME and steeped crystal malt.
 
Hop fiend said:
Yeah I hope so! I made a clone of Russian River Hopfather from Dogfish head's book and that's very Columbus dominated and it blew me, and a brewer I know away! I can say that because it wasn't my recipe! And it was made with DME and steeped crystal malt.
Click to expand...

TBH it was originally a DIPA recipe but I've decided to make it more quaffable! Perhaps I should back off the IBU's a bit and use some cascade. I've got no end of various hops..
 
This is the recipe I am referring to that I am enjoying right now, embarrassed to say that I don't really know what my hop utilization percentage is, or should be.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/650670/cit-ruby-cit
I would say that the bitterness may be higher than the recipe suggests, but as we all know that is also a very subjective thing.

Sorry if we are hijacking, but hopefully our convo is helpful there Hop Fiend!
 
Yes definitely helpful thanks! Your brew looks tasty- similar hops to mine. Funny I've got simcoe and was wondering if I should add them to the mix. I thought maybe too piney for the golden promise malt?
 
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