re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

PREPARE FOR TEXT WALL

okay gentlemen, you've got me down the rabbit hole on water chemistry. I've called the local water office and received a much more detailed water report than just ph and contaminants. all readings in mg/L which is equivalent to ppm unless otherwise noted. other measurements available on request.
ph 8.18
Cl 11.02
Fe 0.01
Manganese <0.01
sulfate 59.09
hardness 75
ca 30
Na 13

My recipe calls for calcium and sulfate additions to achieve 125-150mg/L Ca, 75-100mg/L sulfate, and 175-200mg/L Cl.

From what I am finding, hardness is the addition of the cations, usually Ca and Mg. Does that mean I can subtract the Ca (30) from the total hardness (75) to estimate my Mg at 45? That doesn't seem right at all. Mg is the only mineral requested by online calculators that is not listed on my water report.

Moving from chemistry to brewing technique, do you find that you need 2qt of water per lb of fermentable? This would put us at 6.3gal mash volume and with 1.5 times the mash volume of sparge volume would put us way over 10gal in the boil pot. I should probably make a more concentrated mash and then dilute to the desired volume of the boil. How concentrated can the mash be before it starts to clog? Do I need to sparge 1.5 times the mash volume? How much volume do you want in the boil pot prior to boil to reach a final post boil volume of approximately 5gal? I know that this can vary by how vigorously you boil, but as a general rule of thumb how much of the pre boil volume can I expect to evaporate off in an hour?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am trying to crash course this in a few days while figuring out chemistry, procuring salts, and formulating a brew plan so I don't screw this whole thing up. Please help and wish me luck.