Water mineral content with mashing

Brewing Processes
1

New to all grain brewing and trying to figure out minerals to achieve a desired ph while complimenting the style being brewed.  I have a few questions.  I live in an area of very hard water (according to local city data)
Ca- 49 mg/l or ppm (out of range)

Mg- 21mg/l

Na- 73mg/l

Cl- 87mg/l

SO4- 133mg/l (out of range for IPA’s I mostly make)

HCO3-128mg/l (out of range for IPA’s)

PH- 8.14

Important to note that ppm is equivalent to mg/l

I’m using Beersmith home brewing blog as a reference to guide me to recommended ranges for minerals—  Brewing Water – Hard or Soft? – BeerSmith™ Home Brewing Blog
It states:
Ca- “Calcium levels in the 100 mg/l range are highly desirable”

Mg-“Levels in the 10-30 mg/l range are desirable”

Na- “Sodium levels in the 10-70 mg/l range are normal, and levels of up to 150 mg/l can enhance malty body and fullness, but levels above 200 mg/l are undesirable”

Cl- “Normal brewing levels should be below 150 mg/l and never exceed 200 mg/l.”

SO4-“Normal levels are 10-50 mg/l for pilsners and light beers and 30-70mg for most ales. Levels from 100-130 mg/l are used in Vienna and Dortmunder styles to enhance bitterness”

HCO3- " Recommended levels are 25-50 mg/l for pale beers and 100-300 mg/l for darker beers. Note that bicarbonates and temporary hardness can be reduced by pre-boiling the water "
It goes on to say that controlling bicarb is the most important  ion in controlling mash.  If too low mash too acidic.  If too high, loss of efficiency.

question 1- Is it easier or more beneficial in this instance to use distilled water and add the mineral content needed or use the hard water and try to balance the out the unbalanced levels

2- If my desired calcium level is around 100 and is currently 49 it looks like because I would have a high PH I would add calcium chloride.  1gm per gallon adds 72 ppm calcium and 127 ppm chloride.  Adding this would overshoot desired chloride levels by far.  Even using distilled water, to get calcium up to 100ppm I would use 1.5gms per gallon but that would bring the chloride levels to 190. Other  products like gypsum and calcium carbonate appear to also increase one desired mineral at the expense of another. I realize each of the products mentioned have different affects on the PH.

3- If my HCO3 is 128 and I want it at 25-50 for pale beers, how do I do that?  Beersmith recommends boiling the water pre mash to rid bicarb but doesn’t say how much boils off. Or if I dilute with distilled how do you know how much?

4- Anyone know of a chart out there that has style specific optimal mineral ranges?

5- So, basically what’s the best way to manage ph and keep minerals in check on specific style being brewed?

2

Read this.

Download this. It does have pull down selections for types of beers, like “amber malty”.

I don’t agree with all of the levels you posted. 50 ppm of Ca is good for most ales, and I have been going lower and lower on some lagers. For German Pilsners I higher SO4 than listed, so that the beer has a dry lingering finish like Jever Pilsner.

RO water or Distilled are ways to start with a clean slate, then add minerals, or blend with your tap water to hit a profile for a beer.

You need to know the beer grist composition and the target profile for that grist to formulate the water. Some iterations are sometimes required. Hitting the right mash pH is very important. Getting the right flavor ions (SO4, Cl, Na) is also important.

Hope this helps.

3

If you’re just starting out, there’s no need to think about your water too hard.  Seriously.  Just throw into your mash a teaspoon of calcium chloride per 5-gallon batch, and call it good.  It will turn out beautifully every time.

4

Eyeballing your numbers, your water is probably going to make pretty good beer without any adjustments due to the middle of the road alkalinity.  Bru’n water is the way to go to dial in your pH and flavor ions for ales.

5

Excellent!  Bru’n water is such a huge help!  Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

6

A couple of other tips - especially for beginning to look at water chem.

Focus on your mash pH… it’s the top priority, and gets the most our of your malts.

Prioritize Gypsum (sulfate+calcium) and Calcium Chloride (chloride+calcium) for your major flavor enhancers. Sodium and Magnesium can also be used, but can easily be overdone. I like using the color profiles for most of my beers, and use the Pale Ale profile for many hoppy pale beers (but reduce the sulfate a bit).

I ignore bicarbonate in matching a profile. In most cases you will need acid, not alkalinity to match your target estimated mash pH. Only for very dark beers should you require baking soda or pickling lime to raise the mash pH. Don’t use chalk (calcium carbonate) unless you know how to properly dissolve it.

Use dilution strategies with RO or Distilled water to achieve some of the very soft profiles needed for some lagers, or to control some of your ion levels - 50% distilled will cut your ion counts in half.

Do not use both acid and an alkali (baking soda or lime) in the same mash. No sense adding in more -ions than necessary. And if you measure your mash pH (at room temperature always!), using both can cause the mash pH to swing more dramatically than expected - and possibly trick you into adding more.

Get a good pH meter and learn to use it. Make sure it is stable and calibrated before you make measurements, and store it properly.