Smoked Rye Porter Water Chemistry

[Bad Raccoon Brewing]

Help! I've just spent about 3 hours reading posts on water profiles, chemistry, etc., and am struggling to get some clarity on what I need to add to modify my water (about 6 gals mash water, sparging as necessary post mash). I'm brewing a smoked rye porter:

Grain Bill
5 lb Briess - Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
5 lb Weyermann - Pale Rye
1.50 lb Weyermann - Chocolate Rye
1 lb Maple Syrup

Hops
1 oz Willamette 60 min
0.50 oz Chinook 60 min

I figure I will aim for a London water profile. I'm using distilled water, as our municipal water is terrible. I cannot find consensus on what I need to add. I'm doing an all-grain BIAB setup.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Donoroto]

A Porter, even a smoked one, should be a fairly malty beverage, not really bitter. That means the chloride and sulphate ratio should be about even, about 100 for each. You also need some calcium, also about 100 and be sure there's some magnesium maybe about 20.

You might cut the chocolate a little, and consider regular chocolate malt instead of rye. But that's more of a preference thing, Do you want it really dark and with a lot of rye character? Then maybe the way it is would be your preference.

Hops seems good, It'll might up a (very) little more bitter than a typical Porter might be, but then again that could be what you're aiming for.

That's my two cents anyway, others will surely have better advice.

I'd love to hear how it comes out!

 

[Bad Raccoon Brewing]

A Porter, even a smoked one, should be a fairly malty beverage, not really bitter. That means the chloride and sulphate ratio should be about even, about 100 for each. You also need some calcium, also about 100 and be sure there's some magnesium maybe about 20.

You might cut the chocolate a little, and consider regular chocolate malt instead of rye. But that's more of a preference thing, Do you want it really dark and with a lot of rye character? Then maybe the way it is would be your preference.

Hops seems good, It'll might up a (very) little more bitter than a typical Porter might be, but then again that could be what you're aiming for.

That's my two cents anyway, others will surely have better advice.

I'd love to hear how it comes out!

Thanks so much for your advice! Definitely going for a strong rye character, but I appreciate the thoughts on color and bitterness.

I'll follow up after we taste it.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks so much for your advice! Definitely going for a strong rye character, but I appreciate the thoughts on color and bitterness.

I'll follow up after we taste it.

And shoot for a mash pH in the 5.55-5.6 area- a higher mash pH really helps inhibit any astringent flavors from the roasted grains. Usually, my sulfate is under 70ppm for these types of beers, and chloride is good at 60-90 ppm or so. But that’s splitting hairs really- just keep your sulfate low as to not create a drier finish and it’ll be fine.

 

[Bad Raccoon Brewing]

And shoot for a mash pH in the 5.55-5.6 area- a higher mash pH really helps inhibit any astringent flavors from the roasted grains. Usually, my sulfate is under 70ppm for these types of beers, and chloride is good at 60-90 ppm or so. But that’s splitting hairs really- just keep your sulfate low as to not create a drier finish and it’ll be fine.

Full confession--not an expert on how to adjust my mash pH! Advice welcome...

 

[Ward Chillington]

https://brulosophy.com/2017/07/24/w...e-impact-of-high-mash-ph-exbeeriment-results/

Give that a look and go into their podcasts, I wanna say they did a show on this topic...you have a pH meter?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Full confession--not an expert on how to adjust my mash pH! Advice welcome...

Usually in these darker styles the roasted malts naturally lower your ph value if anything sometimes you gotta counter this to keep your mash PH high I use bicarbonate soda.

 

[Yooper]

Full confession--not an expert on how to adjust my mash pH! Advice welcome...

If you finish the recipe in the software, under the ‘water’ area you can link a water calculator and that will give you the predicted mash pH of your mash. Starting with distilled water, you may need some baking soda to get the desired mash pH- but you may not so it’s important to take a look and see where you are.