I recently saw a talk from John Palmer regarding adjusting brewing water. Palmer discussed lots from his new book on water and called himself out on being wrong on a few things about pH from the past. He stressed the importance of appropriate pH for the mash and getting in the right range for the mineral adjustments. So here I’m going to state the Baton Rouge city water profile and adjustments for the beers I make in milligrams and estimated teaspoons. Hopefully I can take some of the hand grenade estimation out of my brew day. I’ve be using Brewers Friend Water Calculator for this little exercise.
Baton Rouge Tap Water Options for 10 gallons brewing water American Pale Ale:
| Beginning | Start | APA | Adjustments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | 8.8 | 5.2 | 10ml lactic | |
| pH | 8.8 | 5.4 | 8ml lactic | |
| pH | 8.8 | 5.6 | 9 ml lactic/90ml phosphoric | |
| Sodium, Na | 75 | 75 | ||
| Calcium, Ca | 1 | 86 | 2 tsp /8g gypsum | |
| Magnesium, Mg | < 1 | 14 | 1.1 tsp / 5g Calcium Chloride | |
| Total Hardness, CaCO3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Sulfate, SO4-S | 3 | 173 | ||
| Chloride, Cl | 6 | 70 | ||
| Bicarbonate, HCO3 | 145 | |||
| Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 | 154 |
