[AnimALE]

Alright so im trying to get an understanding of water for brewing and how it effects beer flavor..My question is can you brew a fine beer that lacks certain ions? For example say you have 50 ppm calcium and 60 ppm chloride but zero everything else, would the beer suffer? Do you absolutly need sulfates or chlorides or sodium etc..please excuse me if the question seems dumb..I want to brew a boston lager tomorrow but do not have any gypsum to add sulfates i only have calcium chloride on hand

[a10t2]

You don't absolutely need any of the flavor ions (Na, Cl, SO4). They're just there to provide relatively minor tweaks to the flavor of the beer, like seasoning a dish. For a malty lager, I would add only calcium chloride.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

That's fine but leans all your beers to the malty side without any or little perception of dryness or hop character. If that's what you want - if not some sulfate from gypsum and a little Epsom can balance the beer or at higher levels favors more bitter/dryness and hop perception of the beer. It's all about your preferences and the beer style.


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[erockrph]

You don't absolutely need any of the flavor ions (Na, Cl, SO4). They're just there to provide relatively minor tweaks to the flavor of the beer, like seasoning a dish. For a malty lager, I would add only calcium chloride.

+1 - I often add only CaCl and lactic acid to adjust the water for my malty lagers.

[AnimALE]

i was able to get some gypsum i added a small ammount..followed the amber balanced profile..My extraction was very high compared to previous brews where i did not treat the water..I quess the ph was on point and the enzymes were happy cause i used 9 lbs of 2 row and 1lb caramel 60 was shooting for an og of 1.049 ended up with 1066 so i diluted the batch a little bit..hope it turns out good..thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge

[Wort-H.O.G.]

i was able to get some gypsum i added a small ammount..followed the amber balanced profile..My extraction was very high compared to previous brews where i did not treat the water..I quess the ph was on point and the enzymes were happy cause i used 9 lbs of 2 row and 1lb caramel 60 was shooting for an og of 1.049 ended up with 1066 so i diluted the batch a little bit..hope it turns out good..thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge

just asking- are you sure on post boil OG of 1.066? at 100 mash efficiency you might have gotten around 1.044 gravity pre-boil, and then after boil about 1.062.

edit:realized that was on my 5.8 gal volume,.at 5gal at 100% efficiency would be preboil OG of 1.049 and post boil OG 1.066

[AnimALE]

i was able to get some gypsum i added a small ammount..followed the amber balanced profile..My extraction was very high compared to previous brews where i did not treat the water..I quess the ph was on point and the enzymes were happy cause i used 9 lbs of 2 row and 1lb caramel 60 was shooting for an og of 1.049 ended up with 1066 so i diluted the batch a little bit..hope it turns out good..thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge

just asking- are you sure on post boil OG of 1.066? at 100 mash efficiency you might have gotten around 1.044 gravity pre-boil, and then after boil about 1.062.

You know i think it might be the boil off factor which i did not mention combined with higher extraction rate in the mash..Thats probably the real reason why i over shot my OG so much. but the wort did have a full richness that alot of my other (untreated water) brew lacked ..I took a hydro sample @ 60*F and it was 1066 then i diluted the batch to lower the OG and raise the voulme..To be honest i really dont know the answer..i could have took a false hydro reading or did something wrong in the process..im not sure..i just hope it tastes good in the end