Selecting a water profile.

Lowlyric · Friday at 11:15 PM

Maybe it's me but I find the selection for water profiles confusing and limited. I've never Heard of most of them.
Is there no section for color , malt or hops degree?

Josh Hughes · Friday at 11:47 PM

There are for color, malty, or hoppy. Or locations where certain styles were brewed.

Josh Hughes · Friday at 11:58 PM

For example

Lowlyric · Saturday at 1:18 AM

Yeah thanks I seen this but it seems fairly confusing. For example what if I want a Amber malty. Maybe I need to study those styles to obtain this information.

Josh Hughes · Saturday at 1:21 AM

Basically more calcium chloride than gypsum and you’ll be heading that way. Give me a sec and I’ll find amber malty

Josh Hughes · Saturday at 1:26 AM

Lowlyric · Saturday at 1:52 AM

Lowlyric · Saturday at 1:53 AM

Awesome, thanks Josh.

Craigerrr · Saturday at 3:43 PM

What is your starting point for the water you are using to brew?
It is important to know this before you start adding to it.

Lowlyric · Saturday at 4:04 PM

I use distilled and I basically know how to ADD salts to a point. My observation was that the website doesn't offer much of a choice in picking a water profile. I'm sure I need to learn the different name's they have listed. I'm brewing a maibock and don't see a malty amber choice for instance.

Craigerrr · Saturday at 4:26 PM

Lowlyric said:
I use distilled and I basically know how to ADD salts to a point. My observation was that the website doesn't offer much of a choice in picking a water profile. I'm sure I need to learn the different name's they have listed. I'm brewing a maibock and don't see a malty amber choice for instance.

Okay, gotcha, I look at it like cooking. There is some trial and error, but some basics to follow.
You want to get your Ca up in the 100 area
Keep magnesium from getting to high, In the teens max.
Na could be higher than that, maybe into the 40's

Then you want to consider your Chloride to Sulfate ratio based on what you are brewing.
For malt forward beers like stouts, porters, and NEIPA, you want a chloride:sulfate ratio of 2:1, or as much as 3:1.
For a hop forward beer you would want the opposite ratio, but I wouldn't go any higher than 1:2.
For Amber's, and other less hoppy beers you would want a more balanced profile with a ratio of 1:1.

Much like with a beer recipe itself in that there is no right or wrong recipe for a particular beer, there is also no right or wrong water profile (seasoning) for any particular beer.

I don't use the software here so I am not familiar with what you might be seeing in the water calculator. If you like Icould post some screen shots of typical water profiles that I use for different recipes.

Craigerrr · Saturday at 4:29 PM

Sorry, I missed the maibock part of your post. I don't know, or brew the style, so I can't offer any input on what a good water profile would be for that. Personally I would be inclined to use a balanced profile and then see if I got the results I was looking for. Based on your results you can decide if you want to adjust your Chloride:Sulfate ratio for your next attempt.

Lowlyric · Saturday at 5:13 PM

Thanks for your input. Yes a screenshot of the profile would be awesome. Much appreciated.
Patrick

Craigerrr · Saturday at 10:04 PM

Water profile for a Coffee Porter I make, making this one soon actually. Cl to SO4 ratio will help accentuate the malts

Craigerrr · Saturday at 10:08 PM

Hazy, or NEIPA water profiles, similar Cl to SO4 ratio as above. Seems counterintuitive, but NEIPA is a beer that has a soft pillowy mouth feel. The hop characters that come out in this style are the flavor and aroma, not so much the bitterness. Couple of examples here.