I've been homebrewing for a few years, and have only recently started using the Brewer's Friend water calculator to adjust my water chemistry before a brew day. I'm using distilled water and adding salts from there. I have two questions. (1) What do folks recommend for an IPA profile? (2) For many of my recipes the HCO3 is always too low, but I'm making sure the mash pH level is correct. I know that adding baking soda and targeting mash pH compete against each other. My question is whether I can just ignore the bicarbonate HCO3 number if it's in red and everything else is green (within targeted range)? It seems to me I should ignore where my HCO3 number is as long as my mash pH number is within the target range. Thanks!
New to water chemistry
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1. Definitely lean on SO4 (Gypsum) as Minbari says. Exactly what value of SO4 is a personal choice but 100-150 is not unreasonable. You will want some Cl in there as well of course.
2. HCO3 is never a target. You are correct that you can ignore it. As long as your pH is in line, you are good to go.
The big minerals are calcium, sulphate, chloride, and to a lesser extent magnesium and sodium. It us worth your time to look up what each does to your beer. Also look up the sulphate-chloride ratio and its effects.
Yes, HCO3 can be ignored.
Yes, HCO3 can be ignored.
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It is good to get your Calcium up near 100ppm for starters for yeast health
Magnesium, you want some, but not a lot 5-15ppm
Na+, again some but not a lot 5-25ppm
Chloride to Sulfate ratio is where you can adjust the ratio to accentuate hops, or malts, as well as mouth feel
For hazy brews I go between 2:1 and 3:1 Chloride to Sulfate
Dark beers, or malt forward beers 2:1 Chloride to Sulfate
To accentuate Hops and bring a bright bitterness 1:2 Chloride to Sulfate
Beers that call for a "balanced profile" are referring to a 1:1 ratio
Magnesium, you want some, but not a lot 5-15ppm
Na+, again some but not a lot 5-25ppm
Chloride to Sulfate ratio is where you can adjust the ratio to accentuate hops, or malts, as well as mouth feel
For hazy brews I go between 2:1 and 3:1 Chloride to Sulfate
Dark beers, or malt forward beers 2:1 Chloride to Sulfate
To accentuate Hops and bring a bright bitterness 1:2 Chloride to Sulfate
Beers that call for a "balanced profile" are referring to a 1:1 ratio
In general, use:
Gypsum for dryness/bitterness,
Chloride for fullness, maltiness, juiciness,
Both if you want both, and
Don't use baking soda except for stouts, or maybe black IPAs or other black beers, because dark roasted grains are acidic.
Also it pays to keep in mind that even if you used zero salts, you can still make good beer because the malt contains hundreds of ppm's of each of these all by itself. Tweaking the water is almost, almost, a waste of time. Overthinking it IS a waste of time.
Gypsum for dryness/bitterness,
Chloride for fullness, maltiness, juiciness,
Both if you want both, and
Don't use baking soda except for stouts, or maybe black IPAs or other black beers, because dark roasted grains are acidic.
Also it pays to keep in mind that even if you used zero salts, you can still make good beer because the malt contains hundreds of ppm's of each of these all by itself. Tweaking the water is almost, almost, a waste of time. Overthinking it IS a waste of time.
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You've got some great advice already- but if you want to learn a bit about why you would add certain things and what they do, there is a three part article here for those beginning to delve into water chemistry: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
